eBook - ePub

The Feeling of Life Itself

Name: The Feeling of Life Itself
Author: Christof Koch

Why Consciousness Is Widespread but Can't Be Computed

Christof Koch,

English
ePUB (mobile friendly)
Available on iOS & Android

eBook - ePub

The Feeling of Life Itself

Why Consciousness Is Widespread but Can't Be Computed

Christof Koch,

About this book

In The Feeling of Life Itself, Christof Koch offers a straightforward definition of consciousness as any subjective experience, from the most mundane to the most exalted—the feeling of being alive. Psychologists study which cognitive operations underpin a given conscious perception. Neuroscientists track the neural correlates of consciousness in the brain, the organ of the mind. But why the brain and not, say, the liver? How can the brain—three pounds of highly excitable matter, a piece of furniture in the universe, subject to the same laws of physics as any other piece—give rise to subjective experience? Koch argues that what is needed to answer these questions is a quantitative theory that starts with experience and proceeds to the brain. In The Feeling of Life Itself, Koch outlines such a theory, based on integrated information.

Koch describes how the theory explains many facts about the neurology of consciousness and how it has been used to build a clinically useful consciousness meter. The theory predicts that many, and perhaps all, animals experience the sights and sounds of life; consciousness is much more widespread than conventionally assumed. Contrary to received wisdom, however, Koch argues that programmable computers will not have consciousness. Even a perfect software model of the brain is not conscious. Its simulation is fake consciousness. Consciousness is not a special type of computation—it is not a clever hack. Consciousness is about being.

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Yes, you can access The Feeling of Life Itself by Christof Koch in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Biological Sciences & Cognitive Psychology & Cognition. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.