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 Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=8018