Post #1079131
2026-04-09 12:43 UTC
AIUI, current theories are that the development of human consciousness is an emergent result of humans living in groups and learning to communicate with each other.
You know how to buy enough bricks for your herringbone sidewalk because somebody figured out a long time ago, building upon earlier discoveries like how to count and language, and then used consciousness, language and intelligence to teach that insight to others.
Why would we defeat the very mechanism that brought about civilization (not brought about our civilization, brought about the idea of civilization) by creating fences around ideas so that people could keep them secret?
Intellectual property isn't just a bad idea, it's completely absurd.
Replies (1)
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@mathew@universeodon.com 2026-04-11 20:07
@ben@s.djehuti.com I don’t think it’s as settled as that. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/your-guide-to-29-wildly-different-theories-of-consciousness/ The one I personally find convincing is attention schema theory, which suggests that many creatures are conscious, and that it could just be a side effect of learning to predict the actions of other animals so that you can either catch and eat them, or avoid having them catch and eat you.