Post #2460257

2026-04-23 14:33 UTC

@qrios@mathstodon.xyz ...so you really have to build the hardware of a single brain, with its real 3D structure down to the atomic level, to get one consciousness. This does not seem scalable at all to me, so the entire argument of "we might one of the infinite number of digital conscious being in the future" does not follow. Again, this only one example of what I meant. The whole simulation hypothesis starts from a GIANT step: consciousness is just a computational process. What is the proof?

Replies (2)

@franco_vazza@mastodon.social 2026-04-23 14:35

@qrios@mathstodon.xyz Consciousness can be (I think is) a physical process, but not necessarily a computational one. If this is true, one can fill a gazillion supercomputers with entire digital civilisations, and have zero conscious entities in each of them. The annoying part is, whatever the reality is, I cannot imagine a test in which anybody can be really sure something else is really conscious at all (again, Descartes-kind of original point).

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@franco_vazza@mastodon.social 2026-04-23 14:38

@qrios@mathstodon.xyz So, I give value to the SH in the philosophical sense: a) suppose consciousness is a computational phenomenon only, then b) you can discuss how difficult it would be for a conscious entity to decide what is real and what is not, based on physics or logic. But starting point is a HUGE unproven assumption. You cannot solve b), but since a) is far from proven at all, we should not conclude the SH is particularly realistic or plausible.

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