Back in the saddle

I'm back in Canberra after a month of traveling in the US and Canada: Pasadena, Buffalo, Toronto, Brown, New York, Rutgers, Texas, Arizona. The highlight was the consciousness conference in Tucson, which had superb sessions on consciousness vs attention, local vs global neural correlates of consciousness, brain imaging as mind reading, first-person methods and the richness of consciousness, and many others. Various blog posts on the conference have been posted by John Derbyshire, Anand Rangarajan, and Eric Schwitzgebel (and here). I've posted some photos here.

Having turned 42 since returning, I've also posted some photos from my Life, the Universe, and Everything party.

Comments

[Pete Mandik]

Happy B-day, Dave. You make a good Beeblebrox.

Re Tuscon 2008 blogging, there's also this bit at Brain Hammer:

http://www.petemandik.com/blog/2008/04/18/consciousness-without-subjectivity/

[V. Alan White]

42!!?? Now I KNOW you have the answers to consciousness!! Happy birthday!!

BTW, I reference you in a forthcoming volume "The Philosophy of Steven Spielberg" as having the best explanation for how David in "A.I." might be conscious qua qualia.

Hope you sang a bar or two from "Two Sides"--

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixx2Y2BDQrc

Congratulations!!

[Manuel Peleato]

I don't know english enough to say this, and could'nt find another way to explain you my mind. It's in spanish:
Es imposible que un sistema se comprenda en su totalidad a sí mismo, como máximo puede entenderse pequeñas partes de él, utilizando los recursos de todo el resto.
I'll try to translate: It is impossible a sistem understead totally itself. Maximun, that sistem can understead little parts of it, usin resources of rest of it.
I hope you will be studying about conciousness.

[Soluman]

Are you wearing a White Zombie T-shirt? Does that have anything to do with the hitchhikers guide, or was that just what you happened to be wearing when you put on your other head?

[Soluman]

Oh... I get it. White "zombie"...

[Haroun Kola]

Thanks for the blog David. I discovered you while searching for blogs writing about our conscious evolution. I look forward to reading your site more.

Take care
Haroun

[Graduation Bobblehead]

I am thinking to buy a graduation bobblehead, anyone have any suggestion?

[Luis Fco. García de Pedro]

I have just discovered this blog of yours. I am really glad to have the possibility to write to you. The subject of conciousness has interested me since I was a child. When I watched the TV Series "Galactica", I started to wonder whether Cylons would be conscient or just simple machines acting as humans without really perceiving reality. Then I started to think if there would be a way to really find out if an artificial brain is conscient.

Most of people may think it is useless to think about themes like that. But I think it is the most important thing to think about. Conscience is our real world. How real is the material world? Does it really exist? Or is it but a dream inside our mind? When we die, it doesn't matter if our body dissappears. What really matters is conscience.

Well I read your article in Scientific American some years ago and I was fascinated about your reflections on conscience. I'd like to comment some of your ideas. I hope I have the opportunity to contact you somehow.

Congratulations. And again, thanks for studying about the key to really interpret the world.

Best regards.

[Luis Fco. García de Pedro]

I have just discovered this blog of yours. I am really glad to have the possibility to write to you. The subject of conciousness has interested me since I was a child. When I watched the TV Series "Galactica", I started to wonder whether Cylons would be conscient or just simple machines acting as humans without really perceiving reality. Then I started to think if there would be a way to really find out if an artificial brain is conscient.

Most of people may think it is useless to think about themes like that. But I think it is the most important thing to think about. Conscience is our real world. How real is the material world? Does it really exist? Or is it but a dream inside our mind? When we die, it doesn't matter if our body dissappears. What really matters is conscience.

Well I read your article in Scientific American some years ago and I was fascinated about your reflections on conscience. I'd like to comment some of your ideas. I hope I have the opportunity to contact you somehow.

Congratulations. And again, thanks for studying about the key to really interpret the world.

Best regards.

[Luis Fco. García de Pedro]

Thanks for this blog and for studying what I think the most important question in life. What is consciousness? i.e. What am I?

I liked your article in Scientific American some years ago. It was fascinating.

Best regards.

[Luis Fco. García de Pedro]

Thanks for this blog and for studying what I think the most important question in life. What is consciousness? i.e. What am I?

I liked your article in Scientific American some years ago. It was fascinating.

Best regards.