Topic: machines and consciousness. Question: The universe is...?

[Boojatta]

[saltpoint]

1. Excellent question.

I voted 'definitely not a machine.'

The gods and goddesess wear Random's robes...or nothing at all!

[luxoid]

2. Nature

I was once told by a Zen master that the universe is a monastery!

[rock]

3. Is alive

with the sound of music.

[Warren Stupidity]

4. Why are these two qualities linked?

I see no reason why conscious-machine is an oxymoron.

[Boojatta]

7. I don't claim that "conscious machine" is an oxymoron.

The purpose of this thread is to spark a discussion with people, some of whom might believe that "conscious machine" is an oxymoron, and some of whom might believe something like that, but a bit different.

For example, suppose that a participant in R/T is confident that consciousness of the kind that you have first-hand experience with is a basis for concluding (by some unspecified process of reasoning) that your mind couldn't possibly be one entity within a reality simulated through the operation of a machine. Observe that in this scenario the machine itself isn't necessarily alleged to be conscious, just as people who don't believe in pantheism typically don't take seriously the hypothesis that the universe itself could be a conscious being.

If the train of thought that motivated this poll is still a mystery that demands an explanation, then I strongly recommend that you watch all five You Tube videos that you can access in sequence from first to fifth by following the link in the Original Post of this thread.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

5. ... like a box of chocolates

[ZombieHorde]

6. As far as we know, the universe is an arrangement of quarks.

Some parts of these arrangements are labeled "machines" and some parts of these arrangements are labeled "consciousness."

Some people seem to enjoy labeling humans as "machines," contrasting organs with car parts or the parts of any other mechanical device, but this use of the word is usually more of a tool used for convenience.

[rrneck]

8. Probably a machine.

Does that make us ghosts in the machine?

[Boojatta]

9. Kick

[Boojatta]

10. Kick

[DeSwiss]

11. None of the above.

"Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves
are part of nature and therefore part of the mystery that we are trying to solve." — Max Planck