X-Message-Number: 8018
Date: Tue, 8 Apr 1997 09:45:22 -0700 (PDT)
From: Olaf Henny <>
Subject: Consciousness; The Rabbit And The Ant

Re:  Consciousness

When a bobcat chases a rabbit, I assure you, that the rabbit is 
conscious, a) of its 'self' and b), the danger, that this 'self' 
has to get the hell out of there.

We might conclude from similar examples, that all mammals are 
conscious, but what about insects, do they only have 'hive 
consciousness'?

The other day I spotted an ant perambulating across my living 
room floor.  When my hand moved closer to pick it up, it started 
to behave much like the rabbit with the bobcat on its tail.

When I occasionally threaten my computer with a sledge hammer, 
there is no reaction pointing to 'self' preservation.  That could 
either be lack of sensory perception or lack of consciousness.
I suspect it is a bit of both.  Although some robots have been 
equipped with visual perception, I doubt, that any of them will 
ever cringe, if you wave a sledge hammer in front of them. I do 
presume, that my computer as well as any other robot equipped to 
perform complex tasks is capable of processing more data, than 
that ant.  Accordingly, if my definition of (self-) consciousness 
comes anywhere close to reality, it is not contained in digital 
data processing (and I suspect), no matter how sophisticated and 
complex.

Another thought: If truly intelligent computers would ever 
develop consciousness, *then* we would have the mother of all 
wars on our hands.

Olaf Henny

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