[Deepak ChopraModerator Upvotes: 60 votes@deepakchopra]

The question was asked by @duckduckbearbear, member of our YATU forum. Thank you Duck Duck Bear Bear!

Question:

“May I respectfully share my experience of watching your Mind and Brain video:
You look so cool!! You are not afraid of being seen in your authentic state and sharing your thoughts, despite being a high-profile celebrated person. This inspired me to create an account here to communicate with this community.

My main reaction to your Mind and Brain video is in response to your statement:
“Minds understand concepts; Computers understand nothing.” (5:00)
I liked this sentence very much, though I disagree with your distinctions between computers and brains.

Perhaps I have read too much from Ray Kurzweil, but I am not sure that computers may not eventually develop consciousness. Though trained to follow commands, if they were eventually programmed to follow internal rather than external commands. to have some kind of randomness generator within.. how could we say they are less conscious than a plant or other “living thing,” per se?

How do we know that the same electrochemical flow coursing through our neurons, does not generate a consciousness within a CPU or motherboard?

I am interested in hearing your thoughts on this. You are right in being concerned that “modern science” does not have the whole truth, and I appreciate your efforts to bring deeper spiritual truths to the worldwide conversation. If you feel moved to, please consider connecting with the AI community, as I believe you have much to offer there. If the robots of tomorrow are programmed with only the wishes of their masters in mind, we risk unbalancing the world further as a species.

Thank you for your deep listening to all that is around you. I am not sure what pulled me to your website today. I am supposed to be editing a scientific paper. “

Please watch my answer and let me know what you think!

Love,
Deepak

[ElanParticipant Upvotes: 9 votes@elan]

The best note on this would be the humor of Robin Williams in
the Bicenntenial man with Robin williams
The issue comes up throughout the film
But alas this is a film
Only mozart lovers might love a Mozart aria (refer here to the dozens)
Ahhh

[ElanParticipant Upvotes: 9 votes@elan]

Please forgive my vigorous response again
It seems that when we attempt to answer any question we have a personal style and NOT and objective
view…
So I included one more comment on/to the question above
“ASK: CAN COMPUTERS DEVELOP CONSCIOUSNESS?”
Only in the minds of their developers …
AND in motion pictures…
So another segment trailer of “Bicentennial Man” with Robin Williams
directed by the director of “Mrs Doubtfire”
It truly brings out the issues of “qualia” and feelings and emotions NOT programmable into software or hardware
any more than the person in the mirror or the person on the dvd or TV is the real non programmed conscious creative
conscious being.

Better to see the SUBTLE qualia of HUMOR really go into this question and then , as the film does” begin to paint a masterpeice
of “arte/scienza (DaVinci)

Elan Star
Hawaii

[ElanParticipant Upvotes: 9 votes@elan]

And finally AI (programming”
understand the transition we call death and all of its implications for the personality/soul ?

[ElanParticipant Upvotes: 9 votes@elan]

when watching the above, the statement beginning around .55 (55 seconds) really answers the core of the “conscious computer question…in a unique and poignant manner.

[ElanParticipant Upvotes: 9 votes@elan]

Physicist Edsger Dijkstra agrees that some find “the question whether machines can think as relevant as the question whether submarines can swim.”

This post has received 1 vote up.

[Aurora CarlsonKeymaster Upvotes: 110 votes@aurorac]

Bravo! 😀 👏 👍

[ElanParticipant Upvotes: 9 votes@elan]

Well this scene from the movie 2001 shows why we have nothing to worry about

[Aurora CarlsonKeymaster Upvotes: 110 votes@aurorac]

That was funny @elan! I would have preferred a simple OFF switch though 🙂

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