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The Simulation Theory of Consciousness
This short book argues that every cyber-physical system (that is, every software-reliant physical system) that creates and executes a real-time simulation of itself and its environment is conscious in the sense of being subjectively aware of that simulation. Just as neuroscientists have studied consciousness in terms of the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC), software and system engineers can study artificial consciousness in terms of the cyber correlates of consciousness (CCC). Thus, the second part of the title states that autonomous vehicles are sentient.
- GenresScience
137 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 25, 2019
2 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Donald Firesmith
31 books362 followersDonald Firesmith is a multi-award-winning author of speculative fiction including science fiction (alien invasion), fantasy (magical wands), modern urban paranormal novels, and horror short stories and poetry.
Before retiring in 2020 to devote himself full-time to his novels, Donald Firesmith earned an international reputation as a distinguished engineer, authoring seven system/software engineering books based on his 40+ years spent developing large, complex software-intensive systems.
He lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with his wife Becky, his daughter Sera, and varying numbers of dogs and cats.
You can learn more about the author by visiting his personal website:
http://donaldfiresmith.com
His magical wands and autographed copies of his books are also available from the Firesmith’s Wand Shoppe at: https://www.etsy.com/shop/FiresmithWa...
Before retiring in 2020 to devote himself full-time to his novels, Donald Firesmith earned an international reputation as a distinguished engineer, authoring seven system/software engineering books based on his 40+ years spent developing large, complex software-intensive systems.
He lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with his wife Becky, his daughter Sera, and varying numbers of dogs and cats.
You can learn more about the author by visiting his personal website:
http://donaldfiresmith.com
His magical wands and autographed copies of his books are also available from the Firesmith’s Wand Shoppe at: https://www.etsy.com/shop/FiresmithWa...
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 11, 2024
“…any autonomous system that must successfully interact with, and moves around in, the real world must produce a cohesive and consistent real-time simulation of the relevant aspects of itself and its environment…” Or, in plainer language, anything which moves about under its own steam can only do so by using the simulation of its surroundings (including a representation of itself of course) which it has running inside its own head.
Whereas plants don’t need to do any of that—they don’t move about, the world comes to them—most animals certainly do need to, be they fish or fowl, horse or human. The thing is, autonomous machines of all kinds also do this, from humanoid robots to driverless vehicles, and Donald Firesmith’s contention here is that anything which does this is, by definition, sentient.
The bulk of the text (and accompanying diagrams) reads rather like a manual or set of engineering specs. First the human brain, then a self-driving vehicle: the idea is to illustrate just how similar these two systems are—when viewed, that’s to say, simply as systems, purely in terms of function rather than form. The author’s claim is that form is irrelevant in this context and that two entities which function in precisely the same way will be equally sentient—it makes no difference whether we’re talking about carbon, oxygen, glucose and cells, or silicon, copper, electricity and steel. Horses, humans and self-driving vehicles: we’re all conscious to some degree or other.
This is an odd book in both respects (form as well as function!), but I’ve spent far more time thinking about it (and re-reading) than I was expecting to. And I’ll leave you with its most memorable image: picture one of those new driverless taxicabs, suddenly sick of battling its way through the rush-hour traffic, bunking off work to go park quietly on its own for an hour or two in its favourite beauty-spot. Somewhere sometime, if Firesmith is right, that’s going to happen.
Whereas plants don’t need to do any of that—they don’t move about, the world comes to them—most animals certainly do need to, be they fish or fowl, horse or human. The thing is, autonomous machines of all kinds also do this, from humanoid robots to driverless vehicles, and Donald Firesmith’s contention here is that anything which does this is, by definition, sentient.
The bulk of the text (and accompanying diagrams) reads rather like a manual or set of engineering specs. First the human brain, then a self-driving vehicle: the idea is to illustrate just how similar these two systems are—when viewed, that’s to say, simply as systems, purely in terms of function rather than form. The author’s claim is that form is irrelevant in this context and that two entities which function in precisely the same way will be equally sentient—it makes no difference whether we’re talking about carbon, oxygen, glucose and cells, or silicon, copper, electricity and steel. Horses, humans and self-driving vehicles: we’re all conscious to some degree or other.
This is an odd book in both respects (form as well as function!), but I’ve spent far more time thinking about it (and re-reading) than I was expecting to. And I’ll leave you with its most memorable image: picture one of those new driverless taxicabs, suddenly sick of battling its way through the rush-hour traffic, bunking off work to go park quietly on its own for an hour or two in its favourite beauty-spot. Somewhere sometime, if Firesmith is right, that’s going to happen.
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October 26, 2021I've spent over 40 years developing large, complex, software-intensive systems and have been named a distinguished engineer by the Association of Computing Machinery. I've also been greatly interested in consciousness and an avid reader of related books ever since introduced to the topic in a college philosophy course. This book is the distillation of my thoughts of both what consciousness is and how it is produced by both living and artificial systems.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews