What is consciousness? | Yann LeCun and Lex Fridman

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GUEST BIO:
Yann LeCun is the Chief AI Scientist at Meta, professor at NYU, Turing Award winner, and one of the seminal researchers in the history of machine learning.

PODCAST INFO:

SOCIAL:

[rabeeet]

I like how he started with “I don’t know what consciousness is”

[experienceanimation]

Something that blows my mind to think about. World population at the minute is approx 7.9 Billion. Per second we collectively experience approximately 250 years

[themeaningoflife]

Julian Jaynes has a good explanation/model for what consciousness is and when it arose. It’s in his book “the origin of consciousness and the breakdown of the bicameral mind.”

In essence it’s a space within the mind that we create to consider various items or courses of action…it’s a simulation space where we can play out various scenarios to see which one of them is most preferable…or figure out various aspects of an object.

We have not always had this simulation space model of mental software be a dominant part of our psyche. And some people have more of an ability to play in the space than others. And it isn’t the only software humans run…it is currently the most dominant in the west however.

Archetypally, I believe, this is what the Greeks referred to as the Elysian Fields…a transcendent place that heroes (subpersonalities) interacted with various aspects of reality…though in a place separate from reality.

Jaynes believes that schizophrenic type people…people that have voices commanding them rather than their own volition…are running on the more ancient software…and since the time of Plato until current, we’ve been…not very nice to people that do not use this new more dominant form of conscious software.

[planewalker_J]

One time i was smoking dmt on lsd and my vison turned upside down for a moment.

[ultimanecat]

He should have just stopped after he said “I don’t know what consciousness is.”

[deadlevelled]

The root of our selfness is that of the Universe.

The brain is what gives us the sense of separation. Our self image is the datum point/reference table for all the other circuits.

Our memory is a data set that we cross reference with our sensory data in real time.

Animals have a basic sense of being but lack our ability to abstract which makes our brain kind of like a mirrored vessel and enables our reflective functions.

The brain is also what gives us the illusion of linear time, when it's really just a phase shifting field in a turbulent flow, collapsing and expanding at all points simultaneously.

It's a feedback loop of feedback loops in a feedback loop with its environment.

We're fruits on a vine of fractal orders of rotating geometry.

Could be totally off but that's what it seems like from this view.

[Khalid]

Consciousness is a derivation from the library of past situations, experiences and learnt knowledge completely analysed to form model that is righteous to the environment that the beholder lives in. In essence it is a byproduct of survival. That's my take on it.

[ronaldjohnson]

we are camera obscura ... consciousness is the man the man in the box drawing upside down pictures on the far wall

[eaf]

It's a gift! Love how you're exploring this in relation to machines. JOHNNY 5 FAVORITE! 🥰

[peacemeace]

According to Dr. Wudi, Human beings can’t define consciousness unless we accept that the whole universe is conscious. Dr Wudi holds different views about consciousness, existence, and the universe.

[TC-bvon]

You ask variations of this question pretty often. Have you ever had anyone on the channel talk about Searle’s Chinese Box argument?

[astraltraveler]

what happens to consciousness when we sleep? what happens to consciousness while in a coma state? what happens to consciousness during entrainment?

[Indiadagreat]

Consciousness is what gives life the meaning

[Azman_Hamid]

Watch the channel Closer To Truth which discusses this topic a lot.

[ThePankkaj]

That's the best explanation and the correct one. There's nothing like subconsciousness. We have learned everything. Since primitive humans they learned things and passed to our DNA.
Simple

[haniamritdas]

Similar to Joscha Bach's view, that consciousness is a model of the world which includes the observer as part of the model. The sense of self which is the supposedly mysterious aspect of consciousness is also a part of the model. A system modeling only an external world is not in any sense a consciousness, only a mechanical sensor system. A thermometer.

[rnsinspiration]

Lex Fridman, Sir/Brother, what is your view on Consciousness having discussed this topic on your show - quite a few times. Thank-you. :D

[holyn]

consciousness is the fundamental fabric of our reality

[ThisUnifiedField]

More reverse engineering needed: “What we are looking for IS what is looking.” – St Francis

ie, We are Consciousness

[continuetothrive]

Note to self Unfortunately putting a bowl on your head does not make you gifted.