An Interview with Douglas R. Hofstadter, following ''I am a Strange Loop''

		Daniel Bigham writes: Fascinating stuff, I'll have to pick up a copy of this book Ever since I was a teenager, I was captivated by the mystery of consciousness. And when I was in university, I was even more struck by how amazing and unexplained this phenomenon is. I get excited when I read the thoughts of others who have grappled with this issue. For me, consciousness remains the only ''apparently physical'' phenomenon for which scientific explanations fall completely flat. It seems like most people don't appreciate how bizarre it is! Something in this article that I love is D. Hofstadter's comment that he's glad that humankind's progress in AI hasn't been quicker, and that that is a reflection on how amazing humanity is. Great observation. One more thought: The idea that a person's conscious being is software that can be uploaded onto silicon hardware: It's great in theory, but I'm willing to bet all my chips that it's a wrong.
		[304] Posted on Friday, 13 June 2008 at 1:20 GMT [Reply to this] [Permalink]