[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.00,0:00:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm going to talk about consciousness.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:03.00,0:00:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why consciousness?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:04.00,0:00:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, it's a curiously neglected subject,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:07.00,0:00:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,both in our scientific and our philosophical culture.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.00,0:00:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now why is that curious?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.00,0:00:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, it is the most important aspect of our lives
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.00,0:00:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for a very simple, logical reason,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.00,0:00:20.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,namely, it's a necessary condition on anything
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.00,0:00:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,being important in our lives that we're conscious.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.00,0:00:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You care about science, philosophy, music, art, whatever --
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.00,0:00:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's no good if you're a zombie or in a coma, right?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.00,0:00:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So consciousness is number one.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:31.00,0:00:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The second reason is that when people do
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.00,0:00:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,get interested in it, as I think they should,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.00,0:00:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they tend to say the most appalling things.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.00,0:00:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then, even when they're not saying appalling things
Dialogue: 0,0:00:41.00,0:00:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they're really trying to do serious research,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.00,0:00:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,well, it's been slow. Progress has been slow.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.00,0:00:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I first got interested in this, I thought, well,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.00,0:00:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's a straightforward problem in biology.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.00,0:00:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let's get these brain stabbers to get busy and figure out
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.00,0:00:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how it works in the brain.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.00,0:00:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I went over to UCSF and I talked to all
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.00,0:00:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the heavy-duty neurobiologists there,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.00,0:01:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they showed some impatience,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.00,0:01:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as scientists often do when you ask them embarrassing questions.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.00,0:01:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the thing that struck me is, one guy said in exasperation,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.00,0:01:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a very famous neurobiologist, he said, "Look,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.00,0:01:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in my discipline it's okay to be interested in consciousness,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.00,0:01:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but get tenure first. Get tenure first."
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.00,0:01:20.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now I've been working on this for a long time.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.00,0:01:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think now you might actually get tenure
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.00,0:01:23.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by working on consciousness.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.00,0:01:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If so, that's a real step forward.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.00,0:01:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Okay, now why then is this curious reluctance
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.00,0:01:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and curious hostility to consciousness?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.00,0:01:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, I think it's a combination of two features
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.00,0:01:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of our intellectual culture
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.00,0:01:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that like to think they're opposing each other
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.00,0:01:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but in fact they share a common set of assumptions.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.00,0:01:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One feature is the tradition of religious dualism:
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.00,0:01:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Consciousness is not a part of the physical world.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:49.00,0:01:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a part of the spiritual world.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.00,0:01:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It belongs to the soul,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.00,0:01:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the soul is not a part of the physical world.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.00,0:01:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's the tradition of God, the soul and immortality.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.00,0:02:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's another tradition that thinks it's opposed to this
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.00,0:02:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but accepts the worst assumption.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.00,0:02:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That tradition thinks that we are heavy-duty scientific materialists:
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.00,0:02:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Consciousness is not a part of the physical world.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:10.00,0:02:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Either it doesn't exist at all, or it's something else,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.00,0:02:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a computer program or some damn fool thing,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.00,0:02:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but in any case it's not part of science.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.00,0:02:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I used to get in an argument that really gave me a stomachache.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.00,0:02:23.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here's how it went.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.00,0:02:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Science is objective, consciousness is subjective,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.00,0:02:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,therefore there cannot be a science of consciousness.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.00,0:02:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Okay, so these twin traditions are paralyzing us.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.00,0:02:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's very hard to get out of these twin traditions.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.00,0:02:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I have only one real message in this lecture,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.00,0:02:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that is, consciousness is a biological phenomenon
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.00,0:02:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like photosynthesis, digestion, mitosis --
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.00,0:02:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you know all the biological phenomena -- and once you accept that,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.00,0:02:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,most, though not all, of the hard problems
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.00,0:02:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about consciousness simply evaporate.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.00,0:03:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I'm going to go through some of them.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.00,0:03:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Okay, now I promised you to tell you some
Dialogue: 0,0:03:02.00,0:03:05.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the outrageous things said about consciousness.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.00,0:03:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One: Consciousness does not exist.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.00,0:03:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's an illusion, like sunsets.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.00,0:03:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Science has shown sunsets and rainbows are illusions.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.00,0:03:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So consciousness is an illusion.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.00,0:03:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Two: Well, maybe it exists, but it's really something else.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.00,0:03:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a computer program running in the brain.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.00,0:03:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Three: No, the only thing that exists is really behavior.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.00,0:03:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's embarrassing how influential behaviorism was,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.00,0:03:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I'll get back to that.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.00,0:03:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And four: Maybe consciousness exists,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.00,0:03:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it can't make any difference to the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.00,0:03:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How could spirituality move anything?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:41.00,0:03:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, whenever somebody tells me that, I think,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.00,0:03:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you want to see spirituality move something?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:45.00,0:03:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Watch. I decide consciously to raise my arm,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.00,0:03:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the damn thing goes up. (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:03:51.00,0:03:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Furthermore, notice this:
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.00,0:03:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We do not say, "Well, it's a bit like the weather in Geneva.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.00,0:04:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some days it goes up and some days it doesn't go up."
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.00,0:04:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,No. It goes up whenever I damn well want it to.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:04.00,0:04:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Okay. I'm going to tell you how that's possible.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.00,0:04:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, I haven't yet given you a definition.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:10.00,0:04:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can't do this if you don't give a definition.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.00,0:04:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,People always say consciousness is very hard to define.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.00,0:04:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think it's rather easy to define
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.00,0:04:20.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if you're not trying to give a scientific definition.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:20.00,0:04:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We're not ready for a scientific definition,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.00,0:04:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but here's a common-sense definition.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.00,0:04:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Consciousness consists of all those states of feeling
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.00,0:04:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or sentience or awareness.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.00,0:04:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It begins in the morning when you wake up from a dreamless sleep,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:32.00,0:04:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it goes on all day until you fall asleep
Dialogue: 0,0:04:35.00,0:04:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or die or otherwise become unconscious.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.00,0:04:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dreams are a form of consciousness on this definition.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.00,0:04:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, that's the common-sense definition. That's our target.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:44.00,0:04:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you're not talking about that, you're not talking about consciousness.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:47.00,0:04:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But they think, "Well, if that's it, that's an awful problem.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:51.00,0:04:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How can such a thing exist as part of the real world?"
Dialogue: 0,0:04:55.00,0:04:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this, if you've ever had a philosophy course,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:57.00,0:05:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this is known as the famous mind-body problem.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:00.00,0:05:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think that has a simple solution too. I'm going to give it to you.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:03.00,0:05:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And here it is: All of our conscious states, without exception,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:07.00,0:05:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are caused by lower-level neurobiological processes in the brain,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:13.00,0:05:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they are realized in the brain
Dialogue: 0,0:05:15.00,0:05:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as higher-level or system features.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:17.00,0:05:20.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's about as mysterious as the liquidity of water.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:20.00,0:05:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Right? The liquidity is not an extra juice squirted out
Dialogue: 0,0:05:24.00,0:05:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by the H2O molecules.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:25.00,0:05:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a condition that the system is in.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:28.00,0:05:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And just as the jar full of water can go from liquid to solid
Dialogue: 0,0:05:33.00,0:05:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,depending on the behavior of the molecules,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.00,0:05:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so your brain can go from a state of being conscious
Dialogue: 0,0:05:38.00,0:05:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to a state of being unconscious,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.00,0:05:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,depending on the behavior of the molecules.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:43.00,0:05:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The famous mind-body problem is that simple.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:47.00,0:05:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All right? But now we get into some harder questions.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:51.00,0:05:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let's specify the exact features of consciousness,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:54.00,0:05:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that we can then answer those four objections
Dialogue: 0,0:05:57.00,0:05:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I made to it.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:58.00,0:06:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, the first feature is, it's real and irreducible.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:02.00,0:06:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can't get rid of it.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:04.00,0:06:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You see, the distinction between reality and illusion
Dialogue: 0,0:06:08.00,0:06:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is the distinction between how things
Dialogue: 0,0:06:11.00,0:06:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,consciously seem to us and how they really are.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:15.00,0:06:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It consciously seems like there's --
Dialogue: 0,0:06:17.00,0:06:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I like the French "arc-en-ciel" —
Dialogue: 0,0:06:18.00,0:06:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it seems like there's an arch in the sky,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:21.00,0:06:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or it seems like the sun is setting over the mountains.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:24.00,0:06:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It consciously seems to us, but that's not really happening.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:27.00,0:06:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But for that distinction between
Dialogue: 0,0:06:29.00,0:06:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how things consciously seem and how they really are,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:32.00,0:06:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you can't make that distinction for the very existence of consciousness,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:36.00,0:06:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because where the very existence of consciousness is concerned,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:40.00,0:06:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if it consciously seems to you that you are conscious,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:43.00,0:06:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you are conscious.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:45.00,0:06:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, if a bunch of experts come to me and say,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:48.00,0:06:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"We are heavy-duty neurobiologists and we've done a study
Dialogue: 0,0:06:50.00,0:06:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of you, Searle, and we're convinced you are not conscious,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:53.00,0:06:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you are a very cleverly constructed robot,"
Dialogue: 0,0:06:55.00,0:06:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don't think, "Well, maybe these guys are right, you know?"
Dialogue: 0,0:06:59.00,0:07:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don't think that for a moment, because, I mean,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:01.00,0:07:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Descartes may have made a lot of mistakes, but he was right about this.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:04.00,0:07:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You cannot doubt the existence of your own consciousness.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:07.00,0:07:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Okay, that's the first feature of consciousness.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:09.00,0:07:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's real and irreducible.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:11.00,0:07:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You cannot get rid of it by showing that it's an illusion
Dialogue: 0,0:07:15.00,0:07:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a way that you can with other standard illusions.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:18.00,0:07:20.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Okay, the second feature is this one
Dialogue: 0,0:07:20.00,0:07:23.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that has been such a source of trouble to us,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:23.00,0:07:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that is, all of our conscious states
Dialogue: 0,0:07:25.00,0:07:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have this qualitative character to them.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:28.00,0:07:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's something that it feels like to drink beer
Dialogue: 0,0:07:30.00,0:07:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is not what it feels like to do your income tax
Dialogue: 0,0:07:33.00,0:07:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or listen to music, and this qualitative feel
Dialogue: 0,0:07:36.00,0:07:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,automatically generates a third feature,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:39.00,0:07:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,namely, conscious states are by definition subjective
Dialogue: 0,0:07:43.00,0:07:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the sense that they only exist as experienced
Dialogue: 0,0:07:46.00,0:07:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by some human or animal subject,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:48.00,0:07:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,some self that experiences them.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:50.00,0:07:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maybe we'll be able to build a conscious machine.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:52.00,0:07:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Since we don't know how our brains do it,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:54.00,0:07:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we're not in a position, so far, to build a conscious machine.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:58.00,0:08:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Okay. Another feature of consciousness
Dialogue: 0,0:08:01.00,0:08:05.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that it comes in unified conscious fields.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:05.00,0:08:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I don't just have the sight of the people in front of me
Dialogue: 0,0:08:08.00,0:08:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the sound of my voice and the weight of my shoes
Dialogue: 0,0:08:10.00,0:08:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,against the floor, but they occur to me
Dialogue: 0,0:08:13.00,0:08:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as part of one single great conscious field
Dialogue: 0,0:08:16.00,0:08:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that stretches forward and backward.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:18.00,0:08:20.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That is the key to understanding
Dialogue: 0,0:08:20.00,0:08:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the enormous power of consciousness.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:22.00,0:08:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And we have not been able to do that in a robot.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:25.00,0:08:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The disappointment of robotics derives from the fact
Dialogue: 0,0:08:28.00,0:08:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that we don't know how to make a conscious robot,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:30.00,0:08:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so we don't have a machine that can do this kind of thing.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:33.00,0:08:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Okay, the next feature of consciousness,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:36.00,0:08:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,after this marvelous unified conscious field,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:39.00,0:08:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that it functions causally in our behavior.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:42.00,0:08:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I gave you a scientific demonstration by raising my hand,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:45.00,0:08:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but how is that possible?
Dialogue: 0,0:08:46.00,0:08:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How can it be that this thought in my brain
Dialogue: 0,0:08:50.00,0:08:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,can move material objects?
Dialogue: 0,0:08:52.00,0:08:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, I'll tell you the answer.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:54.00,0:08:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, we don't know the detailed answer,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:56.00,0:08:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but we know the basic part of the answer, and that is,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:59.00,0:09:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there is a sequence of neuron firings,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:01.00,0:09:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they terminate where the acetylcholine
Dialogue: 0,0:09:04.00,0:09:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is secreted at the axon end-plates of the motor neurons.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:07.00,0:09:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sorry to use philosophical terminology here,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:09.00,0:09:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but when it's secreted at the axon end-plates of the motor neurons,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:13.00,0:09:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a whole lot of wonderful things happen in the ion channels
Dialogue: 0,0:09:16.00,0:09:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the damned arm goes up.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:18.00,0:09:20.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, think of what I told you.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:20.00,0:09:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One and the same event,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:22.00,0:09:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my conscious decision to raise my arm
Dialogue: 0,0:09:25.00,0:09:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has a level of description where it has all of these
Dialogue: 0,0:09:27.00,0:09:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,touchy-feely spiritual qualities.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:30.00,0:09:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a thought in my brain, but at the same time,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:32.00,0:09:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's busy secreting acetylcholine
Dialogue: 0,0:09:34.00,0:09:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and doing all sorts of other things
Dialogue: 0,0:09:35.00,0:09:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as it makes its way from the motor cortex
Dialogue: 0,0:09:38.00,0:09:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,down through the nerve fibers in the arm.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:41.00,0:09:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, what that tells us is that our traditional vocabularies
Dialogue: 0,0:09:45.00,0:09:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for discussing these issues are totally obsolete.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:48.00,0:09:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One and the same event has a level of description
Dialogue: 0,0:09:51.00,0:09:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where it's neurobiological, and another level of description
Dialogue: 0,0:09:54.00,0:09:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where it's mental, and that's a single event,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:57.00,0:09:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that's how nature works. That's how it's possible
Dialogue: 0,0:09:59.00,0:10:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for consciousness to function causally.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:02.00,0:10:05.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Okay, now with that in mind,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:05.00,0:10:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with going through these various features of consciousness,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:08.00,0:10:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,let's go back and answer some of those early objections.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:11.00,0:10:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, the first one I said was, consciousness doesn't exist,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:14.00,0:10:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's an illusion. Well, I've already answered that.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:16.00,0:10:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don't think we need to worry about that.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:18.00,0:10:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the second one had an incredible influence,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:22.00,0:10:23.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and may still be around, and that is,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:23.00,0:10:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Well, if consciousness exists, it's really something else.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:27.00,0:10:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's really a digital computer program running in your brain
Dialogue: 0,0:10:30.00,0:10:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that's what we need to do to create consciousness
Dialogue: 0,0:10:33.00,0:10:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is get the right program.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:34.00,0:10:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yeah, forget about the hardware. Any hardware will do
Dialogue: 0,0:10:37.00,0:10:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,provided it's rich enough and stable enough to carry the program."
Dialogue: 0,0:10:40.00,0:10:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, we know that that's wrong.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:43.00,0:10:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, anybody who's thought about computers at all
Dialogue: 0,0:10:46.00,0:10:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,can see that that's wrong, because computation
Dialogue: 0,0:10:48.00,0:10:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is defined as symbol manipulation,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:51.00,0:10:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,usually thought of as zeros as ones, but any symbols will do.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:53.00,0:10:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You get an algorithm that you can program
Dialogue: 0,0:10:57.00,0:11:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a binary code, and that's the defining trait
Dialogue: 0,0:11:00.00,0:11:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the computer program.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:02.00,0:11:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But we know that that's purely syntactical. That's symbolic.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:06.00,0:11:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We know that actual human consciousness has something more than that.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:10.00,0:11:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's got a content in addition to the syntax.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:13.00,0:11:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's got a semantics.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:14.00,0:11:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now that argument, I made that argument 30 --
Dialogue: 0,0:11:17.00,0:11:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,oh my God, I don't want to think about it —
Dialogue: 0,0:11:18.00,0:11:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,more than 30 years ago,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:19.00,0:11:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but there's a deeper argument implicit in what I've told you,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:22.00,0:11:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I want to tell you that argument briefly, and that is,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:25.00,0:11:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,consciousness creates an observer-independent reality.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:30.00,0:11:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It creates a reality of money, property, government,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:33.00,0:11:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,marriage, CERN conferences,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:37.00,0:11:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,cocktail parties and summer vacations,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:40.00,0:11:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and all of those are creations of consciousness.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:42.00,0:11:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Their existence is observer-relative.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:45.00,0:11:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's only relative to conscious agents that a piece of paper
Dialogue: 0,0:11:49.00,0:11:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is money or that a bunch of buildings is a university.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:52.00,0:11:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, ask yourself about computation.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:55.00,0:11:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Is that absolute, like force and mass and gravitational attraction?
Dialogue: 0,0:11:59.00,0:12:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or is it observer-relative?
Dialogue: 0,0:12:01.00,0:12:05.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, some computations are intrinsic.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:05.00,0:12:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I add two plus two to get four.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:07.00,0:12:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's going on no matter what anybody thinks.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:09.00,0:12:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But when I haul out my pocket calculator
Dialogue: 0,0:12:12.00,0:12:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and do the calculation, the only intrinsic phenomenon
Dialogue: 0,0:12:16.00,0:12:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is the electronic circuit and its behavior.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:19.00,0:12:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's the only absolute phenomenon.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:21.00,0:12:23.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All the rest is interpreted by us.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:23.00,0:12:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Computation only exists relative to consciousness.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:27.00,0:12:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Either a conscious agent is carrying out the computation,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:30.00,0:12:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or he's got a piece of machinery that admits of a computational interpretation.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:33.00,0:12:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now that doesn't mean computation is arbitrary.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:36.00,0:12:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I spent a lot of money on this hardware.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:39.00,0:12:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But we have this persistent confusion
Dialogue: 0,0:12:41.00,0:12:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between objectivity and subjectivity as features of reality
Dialogue: 0,0:12:46.00,0:12:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and objectivity and subjectivity as features of claims.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:49.00,0:12:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the bottom line of this part of my talk is this:
Dialogue: 0,0:12:53.00,0:12:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can have a completely objective science,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:56.00,0:12:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a science where you make objectively true claims,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:59.00,0:13:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about a domain whose existence is subjective,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:03.00,0:13:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whose existence is in the human brain
Dialogue: 0,0:13:06.00,0:13:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,consisting of subjective states of sentience
Dialogue: 0,0:13:08.00,0:13:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or feeling or awareness.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:10.00,0:13:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So the objection that you can't have an objective science of consciousness
Dialogue: 0,0:13:14.00,0:13:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because it's subjective and science is objective, that's a pun.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:18.00,0:13:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's a bad pun on objectivity and subjectivity.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:21.00,0:13:23.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can make objective claims
Dialogue: 0,0:13:23.00,0:13:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about a domain that is subjective in its mode of existence,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:27.00,0:13:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and indeed that's what neurologists do.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:29.00,0:13:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, you have patients that actually suffer pains,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:31.00,0:13:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you try to get an objective science of that.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:34.00,0:13:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Okay, I promised to refute all these guys,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:36.00,0:13:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I don't have an awful lot of time left,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:38.00,0:13:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but let me refute a couple more of them.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:40.00,0:13:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I said that behaviorism ought to be
Dialogue: 0,0:13:42.00,0:13:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one of the great embarrassments of our intellectual culture,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:45.00,0:13:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because it's refuted the moment you think about it.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:48.00,0:13:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Your mental states are identical with your behavior?
Dialogue: 0,0:13:51.00,0:13:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, think about the distinction between feeling a pain
Dialogue: 0,0:13:54.00,0:13:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and engaging in pain behavior.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:56.00,0:13:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I won't demonstrate pain behavior, but I can tell you
Dialogue: 0,0:13:58.00,0:14:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm not having any pains right now.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:00.00,0:14:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So it's an obvious mistake. Why did they make the mistake?
Dialogue: 0,0:14:04.00,0:14:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The mistake was — and you can go back and read
Dialogue: 0,0:14:06.00,0:14:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the literature on this, you can see this over and over —
Dialogue: 0,0:14:08.00,0:14:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they think if you accept the irreducible existence
Dialogue: 0,0:14:12.00,0:14:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of consciousness, you're giving up on science.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:15.00,0:14:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You're giving up on 300 years of human progress
Dialogue: 0,0:14:18.00,0:14:20.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and human hope and all the rest of it.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:20.00,0:14:23.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the message I want to leave you with is,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:23.00,0:14:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,consciousness has to become accepted
Dialogue: 0,0:14:25.00,0:14:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as a genuine biological phenomenon,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:28.00,0:14:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as much subject to scientific analysis
Dialogue: 0,0:14:30.00,0:14:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as any other phenomenon in biology,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:32.00,0:14:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or, for that matter, the rest of science.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:34.00,0:14:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you very much.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:36.00,0:14:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)