goldfain@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu.UUCP (01/23/87)
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* *
* Consciousness is like a large ribosome, working its way along the *
* messenger RNA of our perceptual inputs. Or again, it is like a *
* multi-headed Turing machine, with the heads marching in lock step *
* down the great input tape of life. *
* *
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Lest anyone think I am saying more than I actually am, please understand
that these are both meant as metaphors. I am not making ANY claim that mRNA
is the chemical of brain activities, nor that we are finite-state machines, et
cetera ad nauseum. I am only trying to get us off of square zero in our
characterization of how "being conscious" can be understood.
It must be something which has a "window" of a finite time period, for we
can sense the "motion" of experiences "through" our consciousness. It must be
more involved than a ribosome or a basic Turing device, since in addition to
being able to access the "present", it continually spins off things that we
call "memories", and ties these things down into a place that allows them to
be pulled back into the consciousness. (Actually, the recall of long term
memory is more like the process of going into a dark room with a tuning fork,
giving it a whack, then listening for something that resonates, going over to
the sound, and picking it up ... so perhaps the memories are not "tied down"
with pointers at all.)
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