Notes on Consciousness

Networked thoughts on intelligent life. Learn more.

#Why we do what we do

13th April 2020 at 1:56pm
  • "In everyday experience there are two causal arcs. There is a sensory-motor arc, linking our senses to our actions, and a motor-to-sensory arc as well. Why turn the page? Because doing so will influence what you'll see next. The second arc is not as tightly controlled as the first, because it extends into external, public space, rather than remaining inside the skin. Perhaps as you turn the page, someone grabs the book, or grabs you. The sense-to-motor and the motor-to-sense pathways are not on a par. But the neglected junior partner, the effect of action on what we sense next, is surely important. This, after all, is why we do much of what we do: to control what our senses will encounter." #Other Minds by Peter Godfrey-Smith #Peter Godfrey-Smith

See also: #Complex active bodies, #Cognition, #Mind


References:

#Consciousness