This is a special post for quick takes by avturchin. Only they can create top-level comments. Comments here also appear on the Quick Takes page and All Posts page.
Microrant: Defining consciousness as "how causal structures feels from inside" is tautological and also has some hidden assumptions: - that it can be felt in one unique way defined exactly by that causal structure and nothing else, - that any such structure can be felt, - that it can not be felt outside, - that casual structures separate from light cone exit at all - that the "inside" of causal structure is timeless.
Still fails to explain why my red is exactly this type of red.
Finally, it is tautological because consciousness is by definition is something which I feel inside.
Not that I'm a fan of this definition/view (also, who advocates this?), but it seems to me that much of this is locally invalid?
[...]
What else would determine how a structure is felt? If it's something outside of that structure, why not incorporate it into the causal structure? If it's not something causal, how would it influence how it's feeling.
[...]
Why is this problematic?
[...]
I don't see how defining consciousness as "how causal structures feels from inside" assumes/implies that.
[...]
Why do you think this definition assumes this?
[...]
It points to the causal structure as the relevant determiner of the conscious experience, which is not necessarily assumed by the pre-definitional concept of consciousness.
Also, tautological definitions are fine. Like, refactoring a concept to an equivalent formulation can be productive, because it may allow you to look at the same old thing from a different angle, possibly also leading to a refactoring into a non-equivalent, more mature nature-at-joint-carving reformulation of the original concept.
- that it can be felt in one unique way defined exactly by that causal structure and nothing else,
casual structure can't define qualia: casual structure is cloreless and qualia have qualitative differences. This assumes existence of some table of correspondence between casual structures and qualia. Such table is outside the qualia structure but affect experience.Also, casual structure is abstraction as whole particles in the past light cone affects me.
- that any such structure can be felt
Here the problems is with panpsychism and enormous amount of Bolt... (read more)