TSC Science of Consciousness Retrospective
2012
Abstract
40 The Elephant in Every Room: A Proposed Theory of Multisense Realism
Craig Weinberg
Multisense realism defines a new approach to bridge the Explanatory Gap between neurological observation and first hand conscious experience. This is a hypothesis of consciousness, elementary physics, and ultimately cosmology which requires no belief in non-ordinary reality yet which honors the full spectrum of the psyche and self. It consists of new interpretations of established scientific and common sense observations rather than a contradiction of them. It is proposed that consciousness, rather than being either a metaphysical epiphenomenon of matter, or a Cartesian dualism alongside matter, is more like a frequency range within a continuous spectrum which includes both subjective and objective phenomena. Rather than a simple graduated continuum like the electromagnetic spectrum, it should be conceived of as an ‘involuted continuum’ which twists into an interior and exterior topology like a Möbius strip. The common denominator (the strip) is the sense which arises from through symmetry, similarity, circuity, and divergence between the various nested perspectives on interiority and exteriority. Sense is the underlying primitive. That is what the cosmos, and we ourselves are “made of’”. Not mind or matter, but the capacity for the two to be both separate in one sense and the same thing in another. Sense is a universal dance of presentation and representation. Without either subject or object – there cannot be a sense of ‘reality’ or realism. Realism arises from this involuted continuum between opposite ontological expressions.
more
Slide Deck: The Elephant in Every Room
2014
Abstract
23 Consciousness: Intrinsic, Primordial, Multisense Realism
Craig Weinberg (multisenserealism.com, Durham, NC)
Multisense Realism (MSR) is philosophical hypothesis which is intended to pick up where panpsychism leaves off. Consisting of an informal framework of core concepts developed from diverse influences such as semiotics, information theory, and anthropology, MSR proposes a united continuum of physics and phenomenology which is fundamentally aesthetic. MSR addresses five problems (The Hard Problem of Consciousness, The Explanatory Gap, The Combination or Binding Problem, The Symbol Grounding Problem, and the Mind Body Symmetry Problem) as a single Presentation Problem, while exposing critical flaws in popular competing approaches. MSR aspires to be a reality theory which reconciles the plausible and the absurd under the umbrella of a single irreducible synthetic a priori, and in the process reinterprets the number one, the Big Bang, and the ontology of light.
I don’t have a digital copy of my poster for 2014, but I did get this cool souvenir poster signed by a lot of great people:
2016
Abstract
47 Diffractivity and Multisense Continuum
Craig Weinberg (multisenserealism.com, Durham, NC )
In the science of consciousness, one question that we must eventually ask is, What is the event horizon of consciousness? Where does the rubber hit the road? Are all sensations, feelings and thoughts derived from a common source? Many theories offer ways to correlate consciousness with formal systems such as neurology or information processing, but the accomplishment of correlation itself is taken for granted from the start. I think that this is a problem which turns out to be identical to the Hard Problem. Without an explanation of precisely what is doing the actual relating in Relativity or the actual integrating in IIT, we have not solved the problem, only hidden it from ourselves. The hypothesis of Diffractivity begins by rejecting emergence-based theories on the grounds that they provide no explanation for their own origin. Diffractivity inverts the assumption of an unconscious universe which produces consciousness so that it is the appearance of unconsciousness which is proportional to dissociation by insensitivity. Diffractivity is intended as a philosophical conjugate to Relativity, but it can be adapted to any theory which reduces to a formal system. In Hameroff and Penroses Orch OR, the Diffractivistic conjugate to the Objective Reduction would be a Subjective Inflation. In Tononi & Kochs IIT, Information Integration would be preceded an Aesthetic Disintegration. Bohms Implicate and Explicate Order would be diffracted from the order-transcending Multisense Continuum. Any system based on structures, including mathematics and logic, would find new roots beyond formality and extend to fusion with the Continuum. This is not intended as an appeal to supernatural metaphysics but a logical extension of the proposition of ordinary sense as fundamental. By grounding all substances and conditions into a foundation which is purely aesthetic, we gain insight into the philosophical and technological issues of the 21st century. The empirical observations of science and math remain the same, only their interpretation changes. Diffractivity proposes that objects, dreamed or real, are produced by the same filtering, but with a different scale of experiential density or significance. Time and space emerge as limits on awareness rather than axioms of existence. We can see and understand white light as a colorless brightness which reveals color through diffraction of light itself. Diffractivity proposes that all phenomena are fragments of a universal experience, and that the maximum degree of fragmentation within any given frame of perception constitutes its math and physics. Electromagnetic effects would be affects of effectiveness, in the same way that light is a seeing of seen-ness. What we experience as physics, chemistry, and biology is suggested to emerge from fundamental levels of diffraction. Our sense of subjectivity provides a limited unveiling, or re-acquaintance with that which has been alienated by time, space, and entropy, giving the brain a new identity as an aesthetic diffraction engine.
Diffractivity slide deck
Poster:
2018
Abstract
68 The Hard Problem of Signaling.
Craig Weinberg (multisenserealism.com, Durham, NC )
As we struggle to understand consciousness scientifically, we should take care to avoid errors resulting from anthropomorphic projection and assumptions of bottom-up emergence. My presentation focuses on clarifying the differences between physical form, logical information, and sense experience. I propose that common terms such as ‘signaling’ and ‘sense data’ are deceiving approximations which rely on pan-semiotic, anthropomorphic biases that lead us away from understanding and toward an echo-chamber of fallacies and false presumptions. What is the difference between a physical chain reaction and a signal? What is the difference between sense experience and sense-making? What is the role of tangibility in differentiating between objects, concepts, and percepts, and what is the origin of tangibility? In light of the accelerated pace of AI development and the heightened intensity of debate about its implications, it is important to go back and re-examine the foundations of computation from a philosophical perspective. By doing this, at least some of us will see that science and technology have not solved the hard problem of consciousness, only miniaturized it to the point that it can be easily overlooked. In my view, recognizing this mistake and the gravity of its consequences is critical to any deep understanding of consciousness or simulated intelligence systems. Without such a deep understanding, I think that we will tend to assume human or superhuman sentience for any unfamiliar results, and to ultimately cede authority to systems which only reflect our own desires for certainty and leadership. C13
Hard Problem of Signaling slide deck
2019 Interlaken, Switzerland
Abstract
- De-Simulating Natural Intelligence
Craig Weinberg, Multisenserealism.com
In recent years, scientific and popular imagination has been captured by the idea that
what we experience directly is a neuro-computational simulation. At the same time,
there is a contradictory idea that some things that we experience, such as the existence
of brains and computers, are real enough to allow us to create fully conscious and intelligent devices. This presentation will try to explain where this logic breaks down, why
true intelligence may never be generated artificially, and why that is good news. Recent
studies have suggested that human perception is not as limited as previously thought,
and that while machines can do many things better than we can, becoming conscious
may not be one of them. The approach taken here can be described as a Variable Aspect
Monism or Multisense Realism, and it seeks to clarify the relationship between physical
form, logical function, and aesthetic participation.
Multisense Realism 
Recent Comments