WEBVTT 00:00:30.820 --> 00:00:33.618 I am going to talk about consciousness. 00:00:33.619 --> 00:00:34.870 Why consciousness? 00:00:34.871 --> 00:00:37.487 It is curiously a neglected subject 00:00:37.488 --> 00:00:41.204 both in our scientific and our philosophical culture. 00:00:41.205 --> 00:00:42.421 Why is that curious? 00:00:42.422 --> 00:00:47.581 It's most important aspect of our lives for a very simple logical reason, 00:00:47.582 --> 00:00:51.398 namely, it is a necessary condition on anything being important in our lives 00:00:51.399 --> 00:00:52.695 that we are conscious. 00:00:52.696 --> 00:00:55.855 [If] you care about science, philosophy, music, art, whatever, 00:00:55.856 --> 00:00:58.982 it is no good if you are a zombie or in a coma, right? 00:00:58.983 --> 00:01:01.451 So consciousness is number one. 00:01:01.452 --> 00:01:05.370 That's the first reason [that] we are talking about it. 00:01:05.372 --> 00:01:08.638 The second reason is that when people do get interested in it, 00:01:08.639 --> 00:01:10.036 as I think they should, 00:01:10.037 --> 00:01:12.471 they tend to say the most appalling things! 00:01:12.472 --> 00:01:15.078 I am not going to attempt to conceal from you 00:01:15.079 --> 00:01:18.140 some of the most appalling things that have been said about it; 00:01:18.141 --> 00:01:20.739 and even when they are not saying appalling things 00:01:20.740 --> 00:01:23.381 [and] they are really trying to do serious research, 00:01:23.382 --> 00:01:26.684 well, it's been slow, progress has been slow. 00:01:26.685 --> 00:01:30.507 Let me tell you a little bit about some of the difficulties. 00:01:30.508 --> 00:01:32.941 When I first got interested in this, I thought 00:01:32.942 --> 00:01:35.480 it's a straightforward problem in biology 00:01:35.481 --> 00:01:37.752 [so] let's get these brain stabbers to get busy 00:01:37.753 --> 00:01:39.955 and figure out how it works in the brain. 00:01:39.956 --> 00:01:43.450 I went over to UCSF and talked to all heavy-duty neurologists there 00:01:43.451 --> 00:01:45.202 and they showed some impatience, 00:01:45.203 --> 00:01:49.343 as scientists often do when you ask them embarrassing questions, 00:01:49.344 --> 00:01:50.997 and the thing that struck me 00:01:50.998 --> 00:01:54.451 is that a very famous neurobiologist said exasperated: 00:01:54.452 --> 00:01:57.927 "Look, in my discipline, it's OK to be interested in consciousness, 00:01:57.928 --> 00:02:00.077 but get tenure first! 00:02:00.078 --> 00:02:01.582 (Laughter) 00:02:01.583 --> 00:02:04.246 I've been working on this for a long time 00:02:04.247 --> 00:02:06.640 and now you might actually get tenure 00:02:06.641 --> 00:02:09.815 by working on consciousness, and if so, that's a real step forward! 00:02:09.816 --> 00:02:13.204 Why then, is this curious reluctance 00:02:13.205 --> 00:02:15.593 and curious hostility to consciousness? 00:02:15.594 --> 00:02:18.983 I think it's a combination of two features of our intellectual culture 00:02:18.984 --> 00:02:22.120 that like to think they are opposing each other 00:02:22.121 --> 00:02:25.892 but in fact they share a common set of assumptions. 00:02:25.893 --> 00:02:28.844 Consciousness is not a part of the physical world 00:02:28.845 --> 00:02:32.719 but it's part of the spiritual world, it belongs to the soul, 00:02:32.720 --> 00:02:35.685 and the soul is not a part of the physical world. 00:02:35.686 --> 00:02:38.698 That's the tradition of God, the soul, and immortality. 00:02:38.699 --> 00:02:41.507 There is another tradition that is opposed to this 00:02:41.508 --> 00:02:43.480 but excepts the worst assumption. 00:02:43.481 --> 00:02:47.282 That tradition thinks we are heavy-duty scientific materialists, 00:02:47.283 --> 00:02:50.361 consciousness is not a part of the physical world, 00:02:50.362 --> 00:02:53.284 either it doesn't exist at all or it is something else, 00:02:53.285 --> 00:02:55.663 a computer program or some damn fool thing. 00:02:55.664 --> 00:02:56.690 (Laughter) 00:02:56.691 --> 00:02:58.809 But in any case, it's not part of science! 00:02:58.810 --> 00:03:01.853 I used to get in an argument that really gave me a stomachache. 00:03:01.854 --> 00:03:02.972 Here is how it went: 00:03:02.973 --> 00:03:06.792 "Science is objective, consciousness is subjective, 00:03:06.793 --> 00:03:10.089 therefore, there cannot be a science of consciousness." 00:03:10.090 --> 00:03:11.287 I love that argument 00:03:11.288 --> 00:03:14.102 because it has got a wonderful fallacy of ambiguity 00:03:14.103 --> 00:03:15.917 over the concept of objectivity. 00:03:15.918 --> 00:03:18.216 And I have already used up too much time 00:03:18.217 --> 00:03:20.515 just to clearing my breath, sort of speak, 00:03:20.516 --> 00:03:22.127 but I want to get to that. 00:03:24.017 --> 00:03:27.952 These twin traditions are paralyzing us, 00:03:27.953 --> 00:03:30.978 and it's very hard to get out of these twin traditions, 00:03:30.979 --> 00:03:33.824 and I have only one real message in this lecture, 00:03:33.825 --> 00:03:35.320 and that is consciousness 00:03:35.321 --> 00:03:38.396 is a biological phenomenon, like photosynthesis, 00:03:38.397 --> 00:03:42.602 digestion, mitosis, and all that biological phenomena. 00:03:42.603 --> 00:03:44.289 And once you accept that, 00:03:44.290 --> 00:03:46.235 most, though not all, 00:03:46.236 --> 00:03:48.181 of the hard problems about consciousness 00:03:48.182 --> 00:03:49.579 simply evaporate! 00:03:49.580 --> 00:03:51.613 And I will go through some of them. 00:03:51.614 --> 00:03:53.679 I promised you to tell you 00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:56.425 some of the outrageous things said about consciousness, 00:03:56.426 --> 00:04:00.812 and because of shortage of time, I will only mention four of the worst. 00:04:00.813 --> 00:04:04.976 One: "Consciousness does not exist. 00:04:04.986 --> 00:04:06.981 It is an illusion, like sunsets." 00:04:06.982 --> 00:04:11.610 Science has shown sunsets and rainbows are illusions, 00:04:11.611 --> 00:04:13.579 so consciousness is an illusion. 00:04:13.580 --> 00:04:17.079 Two: "Maybe it exists, but it is really something else, 00:04:17.079 --> 00:04:20.963 it's a computer program running in the brain." 00:04:20.964 --> 00:04:25.337 Three: "No, the only thing that exists is really behavior!" 00:04:25.338 --> 00:04:28.588 It's embarrassing how influential behaviorism was, 00:04:28.589 --> 00:04:30.380 but I will get back to that. 00:04:30.381 --> 00:04:32.397 Four: "Maybe consciousness exists, 00:04:32.398 --> 00:04:34.756 but it can't make any difference to the world. 00:04:34.757 --> 00:04:37.164 How could spirituality move anything?" 00:04:37.165 --> 00:04:39.412 And whenever somebody tells me that, I think: 00:04:39.413 --> 00:04:42.343 "You want to see if spirituality moves something? Watch!" 00:04:42.344 --> 00:04:46.719 I decide consciously to raise my arm and the damn thing goes up. 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:48.450 (Laughter) 00:04:48.451 --> 00:04:50.034 (Applause) 00:04:50.040 --> 00:04:54.951 Furthermore, we do not say: "It's a bit like the weather in Geneva, 00:04:54.952 --> 00:04:57.678 some days it goes up and some days it doesn't go up." 00:04:57.679 --> 00:04:58.558 No! It goes up 00:04:58.559 --> 00:05:00.526 when I right damn well want it to! 00:05:00.527 --> 00:05:02.518 I will tell you how that is possible. 00:05:02.519 --> 00:05:06.156 Now, I haven't yet given you a definition, 00:05:06.157 --> 00:05:08.644 you can't do this if you don't give a definition. 00:05:08.645 --> 00:05:11.572 People always say: "Consciousness is very hard to define." 00:05:11.573 --> 00:05:13.329 I think it is rather easy to define 00:05:13.330 --> 00:05:15.939 if you are not trying to give a scientific definition. 00:05:15.940 --> 00:05:18.137 We are not ready for a scientific definition, 00:05:18.138 --> 00:05:20.103 but here is the common sense definition: 00:05:20.104 --> 00:05:24.515 consciousness consists of all those states of feelings, or sensations, or awareness; 00:05:24.516 --> 00:05:28.472 it begins in the morning when you wake up from a dream, 00:05:28.473 --> 00:05:31.513 and it goes on all day, until you fall asleep, or die, 00:05:31.514 --> 00:05:33.994 or otherwise become unconscious. 00:05:33.995 --> 00:05:37.143 Dreams are a form of consciousness on this definition. 00:05:37.144 --> 00:05:39.859 That's the common sense definition, that's our target; 00:05:39.860 --> 00:05:43.601 if you are not talking about that, you are not talking about consciousness. 00:05:43.602 --> 00:05:45.375 But they think:"Well, that's it! 00:05:45.376 --> 00:05:46.905 That's an awful problem! 00:05:46.906 --> 00:05:50.615 How can such thing exist as part of the real world?" 00:05:50.616 --> 00:05:53.355 And this, if you have ever had a philosophy course, 00:05:53.356 --> 00:05:55.945 this is known as the famous "mind-body problem." 00:05:55.946 --> 00:05:59.545 I think that has a simple solution to it and I am going to give it to you. 00:05:59.546 --> 00:06:00.346 And here it is: 00:06:00.347 --> 00:06:04.345 all of our conscious states, without exception, are caused 00:06:04.346 --> 00:06:08.345 by lower-level neurobiological processes in the brain. 00:06:08.346 --> 00:06:13.085 And they are realized in the brain as higher-level or system features. 00:06:13.086 --> 00:06:17.425 It is about as mysterious as the liquidity of water, right? 00:06:17.426 --> 00:06:19.235 The liquidity is not an extra juice 00:06:19.236 --> 00:06:21.925 squirted out by the H2O molecules, 00:06:21.926 --> 00:06:25.135 it's a condition that the system is in. 00:06:25.136 --> 00:06:29.865 And just as the jar full of water can go from liquid to solid, 00:06:29.866 --> 00:06:32.055 depending on the behavior of the molecules, 00:06:32.056 --> 00:06:34.825 so your brain can go from a state of being conscious 00:06:34.826 --> 00:06:36.675 to a state of being unconscious, 00:06:36.676 --> 00:06:39.715 depending on the behavior of the molecules. 00:06:39.716 --> 00:06:43.909 The famous "mind-body problem" is that simple. 00:06:44.970 --> 00:06:47.250 But now, we get into some harder questions. 00:06:48.760 --> 00:06:52.759 Let's specify the exact features of consciousness 00:06:52.760 --> 00:06:56.229 so that we can then answer those four objections that I made to it. 00:06:56.230 --> 00:07:00.229 Well, the first feature is it is real and irreducible. 00:07:00.230 --> 00:07:02.229 You can't get rid of it. 00:07:02.230 --> 00:07:06.699 You see, the distinction between reality and illusion 00:07:06.700 --> 00:07:11.399 is the distinction between how things consciously seem to us 00:07:11.400 --> 00:07:13.239 and how they really are. 00:07:13.240 --> 00:07:14.979 If consciousness seems like... 00:07:14.980 --> 00:07:18.819 I like the French "arch", it seems like there's an arch in the sky, 00:07:18.820 --> 00:07:22.269 or it seems like the sun is setting over the mountains, 00:07:22.270 --> 00:07:24.039 it consciously seems to us 00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:25.799 but that's not really happening. 00:07:25.800 --> 00:07:27.209 But for that distinction, 00:07:27.210 --> 00:07:30.269 between how things consciously seem and how they really are, 00:07:30.270 --> 00:07:34.539 you can't make that distinction for the very existence of consciousness. 00:07:34.540 --> 00:07:38.119 Because we are the very existence of consciousness: 00:07:38.120 --> 00:07:41.249 if it consciously seems to you, that you are conscious, 00:07:41.250 --> 00:07:42.579 you are conscious! 00:07:42.580 --> 00:07:43.759 (Laughter) 00:07:43.760 --> 00:07:46.179 I mean if a bunch of experts come to me and say: 00:07:46.180 --> 00:07:49.759 "We are heavy-duty neurobiologists and we've done a study on you Searle," 00:07:49.760 --> 00:07:51.909 and we are convinced you are not conscious. 00:07:51.910 --> 00:07:54.699 You're a very cleverly constructed robot." 00:07:54.700 --> 00:07:57.299 I don't think: " Well, maybe these guys are right!" 00:07:57.300 --> 00:07:59.119 I don't think that for a moment! 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:02.009 Because, I mean, Descartes may have made a lot of mistakes 00:08:02.010 --> 00:08:03.359 but he is right about this: 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:06.219 you cannot doubt the existence of your own consciousness. 00:08:06.220 --> 00:08:08.349 That's the first feature of consciousness. 00:08:08.350 --> 00:08:09.799 It is real and irreducible. 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:13.249 You cannot get rid of it by showing that it's an illusion, 00:08:13.250 --> 00:08:16.329 in a way that you can with other standard illusions. 00:08:16.330 --> 00:08:18.599 The second feature is this one 00:08:18.600 --> 00:08:21.139 that has been such a source of trouble to us. 00:08:21.140 --> 00:08:23.369 And that is all of our conscious states 00:08:23.370 --> 00:08:26.299 have this qualitative character to them; 00:08:26.300 --> 00:08:28.879 there is something that it feels like to drink beer, 00:08:28.880 --> 00:08:31.679 which is not what feels like to do your income tax, 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:32.859 or listen to music. 00:08:32.860 --> 00:08:37.109 And this qualitative field automatically generates a third feature, 00:08:37.110 --> 00:08:40.889 namely, conscious states are by definition subjective, 00:08:40.890 --> 00:08:42.979 in the sense that they only exist 00:08:42.980 --> 00:08:45.679 as experienced by some human or animal subjects, 00:08:45.680 --> 00:08:47.809 some self that experiences them. 00:08:47.810 --> 00:08:50.329 Maybe we will be able to build a conscious machine, 00:08:50.330 --> 00:08:52.789 [but] since we don't know how our brains do it, 00:08:52.790 --> 00:08:56.619 we are not in the position, so far, to build a conscious machine. 00:08:56.620 --> 00:08:59.419 Okay, another feature of consciousness 00:08:59.420 --> 00:09:03.419 is that it comes in unified conscious fields. 00:09:03.420 --> 00:09:06.059 I don't just have the sight of people in front of me, 00:09:06.060 --> 00:09:07.379 and the sound of my voice, 00:09:07.380 --> 00:09:09.669 and the weight of my shoes against the floor, 00:09:09.670 --> 00:09:14.289 but they occur to me as part of one single great conscious field 00:09:14.290 --> 00:09:16.449 that stretches forward and backward. 00:09:16.450 --> 00:09:20.449 That is the key to understanding the enormous power of consciousness. 00:09:20.450 --> 00:09:23.739 And we have not been able to do that in a robot. 00:09:23.740 --> 00:09:26.419 The disappointment of robotics derives from the fact 00:09:26.420 --> 00:09:28.859 that we don't know how to make a conscious robot, 00:09:28.860 --> 00:09:31.729 so we don't have a machine that can do this kind of thing. 00:09:31.730 --> 00:09:34.489 The next feature of consciousness 00:09:34.490 --> 00:09:37.249 after this marvelous, unified conscious field 00:09:37.250 --> 00:09:40.159 is that it functions causally in our behavior. 00:09:40.160 --> 00:09:43.359 I gave you a scientific demonstration by raising my hand, 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:45.229 but how is that possible? 00:09:45.230 --> 00:09:48.709 How can it be that this thought in my brain 00:09:48.710 --> 00:09:50.856 can move material objects? 00:09:50.857 --> 00:09:52.836 Well, I will tell you the answer. 00:09:52.837 --> 00:09:54.636 --we don't know the detailed answer, 00:09:54.637 --> 00:09:56.656 but we know the basic part of the answer-- 00:09:56.657 --> 00:09:59.416 and that is there are sequences of neuron firings 00:09:59.417 --> 00:10:03.306 and they terminate where the acetylcholine is secreted 00:10:03.307 --> 00:10:05.496 at the axon end-plates of the motor neurons, 00:10:05.497 --> 00:10:07.666 sorry to use philosophical terminology here. 00:10:07.667 --> 00:10:09.136 (Laughter) 00:10:09.137 --> 00:10:10.306 But when it is secreted 00:10:10.307 --> 00:10:12.406 at the axon end-plates of the motor neurons, 00:10:12.407 --> 00:10:15.056 a lot of wonderful things happen in the ion channels 00:10:15.057 --> 00:10:16.676 and the damned arm goes up. 00:10:16.677 --> 00:10:18.536 And think of what I have told you. 00:10:18.537 --> 00:10:20.046 One and the same event, 00:10:20.047 --> 00:10:23.226 my conscious decision to raise my hand 00:10:23.227 --> 00:10:24.846 has a level of description 00:10:24.847 --> 00:10:28.086 where it has all of these touchy-feely, spiritual qualities, 00:10:28.087 --> 00:10:29.826 --it's a thought in my brain-- 00:10:29.827 --> 00:10:30.926 but at the same time, 00:10:30.927 --> 00:10:32.856 it's busy secreting acetylcholine 00:10:32.857 --> 00:10:34.657 and doing all sorts of other things 00:10:34.670 --> 00:10:37.019 as it makes its way from the motor cortex 00:10:37.020 --> 00:10:40.379 down through the nerves fibers and the arm. 00:10:40.380 --> 00:10:44.379 Now, what that tells us is that our traditional vocabularies 00:10:44.380 --> 00:10:47.509 for discussing these issues, are totally obsolete! 00:10:47.510 --> 00:10:49.189 One and the same event, 00:10:49.190 --> 00:10:52.369 has a level of description where's neurobiological, 00:10:52.370 --> 00:10:54.729 and another level of description where's mental, 00:10:54.730 --> 00:10:56.049 and that's a single event 00:10:56.050 --> 00:10:57.479 and that's how nature works, 00:10:57.480 --> 00:11:01.549 that's how is possible for consciousness to function causally. 00:11:01.550 --> 00:11:03.959 Now, with that in mind, 00:11:03.960 --> 00:11:07.259 with going through these various features of consciousness, 00:11:07.260 --> 00:11:10.259 let's go back and answer some of those early objections. 00:11:10.260 --> 00:11:13.889 Well, the first one I said, was consciousness doesn't exist, 00:11:13.890 --> 00:11:14.850 it's an illusion. 00:11:14.851 --> 00:11:16.429 Well, I've already answered that 00:11:16.430 --> 00:11:18.619 I don't think we need to worry about that. 00:11:18.620 --> 00:11:21.160 But the second one, had an incredible influence 00:11:21.160 --> 00:11:22.919 and may still be around, and that is 00:11:22.920 --> 00:11:26.019 if consciousness exists, it's really something else; 00:11:26.020 --> 00:11:28.679 it's really a digital computer program 00:11:28.680 --> 00:11:30.219 running in your brain, 00:11:30.220 --> 00:11:32.969 and that's what we need to do to create consciousness, 00:11:32.970 --> 00:11:34.399 get the right program. 00:11:34.400 --> 00:11:36.779 Forget about the hardware, any hardware will do, 00:11:36.780 --> 00:11:40.275 provided is rich enough and stable enough to carry the program. 00:11:40.276 --> 00:11:41.939 Now, we know that that's wrong. 00:11:41.940 --> 00:11:44.989 I mean, anybody who's thought about computers at all 00:11:44.990 --> 00:11:46.789 can see that that's wrong. 00:11:46.790 --> 00:11:49.929 Because computation is defined as symbol manipulation, 00:11:49.930 --> 00:11:52.989 usually thought as 0s and 1s, but any symbols will do. 00:11:52.990 --> 00:11:54.309 You get an algorithm 00:11:54.310 --> 00:11:59.519 that you can program in a binary code 00:11:59.520 --> 00:12:04.209 and that's the defining trait of the computer program. 00:12:04.210 --> 00:12:08.209 But we know that's purely syntactical, that's symbolic, 00:12:08.210 --> 00:12:11.429 we know that actual human consciousness 00:12:11.430 --> 00:12:14.429 has something more than that, it's got a content, 00:12:14.430 --> 00:12:16.859 in addition to the syntax, it's got a semantics. 00:12:16.860 --> 00:12:18.509 I made that argument, 00:12:18.510 --> 00:12:20.869 --oh, my god! I don't want to think about it!-- 00:12:20.870 --> 00:12:22.259 more that 30 years ago, 00:12:22.260 --> 00:12:25.199 but there is a deeper argument implicit in what I've told you. 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:28.130 And I want to tell you that argument briefly, and that is: 00:12:28.631 --> 00:12:32.630 consciousness creates an observer independent reality. 00:12:32.631 --> 00:12:36.290 It creates a reality of money, property, government, 00:12:36.291 --> 00:12:39.470 marriage, CERN, conferences, 00:12:39.471 --> 00:12:43.540 cocktail parties, and summer vacations. 00:12:43.541 --> 00:12:45.850 And all of those are creations of consciousness. 00:12:45.851 --> 00:12:48.310 Their existence is observer-relative. 00:12:48.311 --> 00:12:50.730 It's only relative to conscious agents; 00:12:50.731 --> 00:12:52.680 that a piece of paper is a money, 00:12:52.681 --> 00:12:55.230 or a bunch of buildings is a university. 00:12:55.231 --> 00:12:58.130 Now, ask yourselves about computation. 00:12:58.131 --> 00:12:59.570 Is that absolute? 00:12:59.571 --> 00:13:02.100 Like force, and mass, and gravitational attraction? 00:13:02.101 --> 00:13:03.960 Or is it observer-relative? 00:13:03.961 --> 00:13:07.960 Well, some computations are intrinsic. 00:13:07.961 --> 00:13:09.750 I add two plus two to get four, 00:13:09.751 --> 00:13:12.550 that's going on no matter what anybody thinks. 00:13:12.551 --> 00:13:16.550 But when I hold out my pocket calculator and do the calculation, 00:13:16.551 --> 00:13:18.560 the only intrinsic phenomenon 00:13:18.561 --> 00:13:21.680 is the electronic circuit and its behavior. 00:13:21.681 --> 00:13:23.810 That's the only absolute phenomenon. 00:13:23.811 --> 00:13:25.760 All the rest is interpreted by us. 00:13:25.761 --> 00:13:29.760 Computation only exists relative to consciousness. 00:13:29.761 --> 00:13:32.640 Either a conscious agent is carrying the computation 00:13:32.641 --> 00:13:34.160 or it has a piece of machinery 00:13:34.161 --> 00:13:37.040 that admits of a computational interpretation. 00:13:37.041 --> 00:13:39.240 That doesn't mean computation is arbitrary, 00:13:39.241 --> 00:13:41.520 I spent a lot of money on this hardware, 00:13:41.521 --> 00:13:43.690 but we have this persistent confusion 00:13:43.691 --> 00:13:46.230 between objectivity and subjectivity 00:13:46.231 --> 00:13:48.010 as features of reality, 00:13:48.011 --> 00:13:50.280 and objectivity and subjectivity 00:13:50.281 --> 00:13:52.560 as features of claims. 00:13:52.561 --> 00:13:55.660 And the bottom line of this part of my talk, is this: 00:13:55.661 --> 00:13:59.660 you can have a completely objective science, 00:13:59.661 --> 00:14:02.590 a science where you make objectively true claims 00:14:02.591 --> 00:14:05.400 about a domain whose existence is subjective, 00:14:05.401 --> 00:14:08.860 whose existence is in the human brain, 00:14:08.861 --> 00:14:12.860 consisting of subjective states or sensations, or feeling, or awareness. 00:14:12.861 --> 00:14:16.860 So the objection, that you can't have an objective science of consciousness 00:14:16.861 --> 00:14:20.860 because it's subjective, and science is objective, 00:14:20.861 --> 00:14:24.320 that's a pun, that's a bad pun on objectivity and subjectivity. 00:14:24.321 --> 00:14:29.380 You can make objective claims about a domain that is subjective 00:14:29.381 --> 00:14:30.840 in its mode of existence, 00:14:30.841 --> 00:14:34.470 and indeed, that's what neurologists do. 00:14:34.471 --> 00:14:37.020 You have patients that actually suffered pains 00:14:37.021 --> 00:14:39.720 and you are trying to get an objective science of that. 00:14:39.721 --> 00:14:41.720 I promised to refute all these guys, 00:14:41.721 --> 00:14:43.941 but I don't have an awful lot of time left, 00:14:43.961 --> 00:14:46.310 but let me refute a couple more of them. 00:14:46.311 --> 00:14:50.600 I said that behaviorism ought to be one of the great embarrassments 00:14:50.601 --> 00:14:52.130 of our intellectual culture, 00:14:52.131 --> 00:14:54.610 because it's refuted the moment you think about it. 00:14:54.611 --> 00:14:58.020 Your mental states are identical with your behavior? 00:14:58.021 --> 00:15:00.920 Well, think about the distinction between feeling a pain, 00:15:00.921 --> 00:15:02.820 and engaging in pain behavior. 00:15:02.821 --> 00:15:04.780 I mean, I won't demonstrate pain behavior 00:15:04.781 --> 00:15:07.440 but I can tell you I am not having any pains right now! 00:15:07.441 --> 00:15:08.930 So it's an obvious mistake. 00:15:08.931 --> 00:15:10.420 Why did they make the mistake? 00:15:10.421 --> 00:15:12.111 The mistake was, and you go back 00:15:12.121 --> 00:15:15.380 and ready the literature on this, you can see this over and over, 00:15:15.381 --> 00:15:17.960 they think [that] if you accept 00:15:17.961 --> 00:15:21.390 the irreducible existence of consciousness, 00:15:21.391 --> 00:15:23.010 you're giving up on science, 00:15:23.011 --> 00:15:24.940 you're giving up on 300 years 00:15:24.941 --> 00:15:27.890 of human progress and human hope and all the rest of it. 00:15:27.891 --> 00:15:30.900 And the message I want to leave you with is 00:15:30.901 --> 00:15:35.400 consciousness has to become accepted as a genuine biological phenomenon, 00:15:35.401 --> 00:15:38.590 as much subject to scientific analysis 00:15:38.591 --> 00:15:41.360 as any other phenomena in biology, or, for that matter, 00:15:41.361 --> 00:15:42.690 the rest of science! 00:15:42.691 --> 00:15:43.870 Thank you very much. 00:15:43.871 --> 00:15:45.161 (Applause)