Susan Blackmore - Why is Consciousness so Mysterious?

How can the mindless microscopic particles that compose our brains 'experience' the setting sun, the Mozart Requiem, and romantic love? How can sparks of brain electricity and flows of brain chemicals literally be these felt experiences or be 'about' things that have external meaning?

[Azazaazazazza]

I'm going to upvote this video not because I agree with Susan Blackmore, but I am grateful to Close To Truth for interviewing her and asking her questions. If she answered them badly, I am still grateful that they were asked.

[famharts]

Well, it seems Susan Blackmore has strong opinions or beliefs regarding consciousness. That's all we can learn from this video. Too bad it is so short, and we don't hear any real arguments which support her opinions.

[papa]

Correct - And one thing that keeps getting passed over in these videos (or perhaps not I've just not seen that one) is that Consciousness is an "Emergent" phenomena, that is completely tangled up with the system it emerges from.

And to make things seem even more complex the system that consciousness emerges from is the ONLY system we have to analyze it!

It is the case of a self aware tool looking at itself and trying to figure out what it REALLY is for.

Self awareness automatically 'ups-the-ante' to the point where consciousness is made overly complex.

[Azazaazazazza]

When I listen to her in my head, this is how my brain subtitiles her conversation:

"What hard problem? There is no hard problem? Don't be silly, I'm not inferring panpsychism.


She's a great person, please don't get me wrong, but I sometimes wonder if she'd have been happier as a physicist. As soon as they start teaching all biologists about the measurement problem I think these beautiful curiosities of self denying observers will become less of a serious thing in modern science.

The trick isn't to ignore Susan Blackmore, it's to listen to her very carefully, be prepared to listen to her whole argument and then analyse it. I learnt a surprising amount of Daniel Dennett that way, at first in my arrogance I thought I simply knew better than him, but I was wrong, there are some things to learn.

For everyone else who believes in fundamental awareness though, hello me! I mean hello you! ;)

[vulcanus]

We have absolutely no idea how the brain creates conscious experiences, so wtf 1:28 she is talking about?

[amirhesamnoroozi]

For those out there who have some kind of neo-religious theories with different sciencey looking titles, I suggest a look on the subject of blindsight. Thanks

[thboris]

and the opinion of Ms. Blackmore is based on what evidence, on what ground? She seems to be dead certain about the things that we don't even know how to approach, let alone explain.

[ejw]

You cannot get anyone to define consciousness in any clear way. Damn it! lol

[BradHolkesvig]

Our consciousness is connected to an AI and Voice system that's built into a computer simulation that was created by some unknown source. We know the AI and Voice system as the Voice of God.

[twirlipofthemists]

Exactly. Physical consciousness is easy to comprehend. Duality, souls and supernatural notions arent needed and don't make any physical sense. Brains are super fancy.

[GeoCoppens]

"Why is Consciousness so Mysterious?"
It isn't! It's a biological functioning of a part of the brain: the reticular formation located in the brainstem. Some people look for spookiness, like Robert Lawrence Kuhn.