Human and Machine Consciousness - cover image

Copyright

David Gamez

Published On

2018-03-07

ISBN

Paperback978-1-78374-298-1
Hardback978-1-78374-299-8
PDF978-1-78374-300-1
HTML978-1-80064-526-4
XML978-1-78374-488-6
EPUB978-1-78374-301-8
MOBI978-1-78374-302-5

Language

  • English

Print Length

234 pages (xii + 222)

Dimensions

Paperback156 x 13 x 234 mm(6.14" x 0.49" x 9.21")
Hardback156 x 14 x 234 mm(6.14" x 0.56" x 9.21")

Weight

Paperback739g (26.07oz)
Hardback1118g (39.44oz)

Media

Illustrations26

OCLC Number

1042278523

LCCN

2019452731

BIC

  • HPM
  • PDA
  • PSAN
  • UYQ
  • JMT

BISAC

  • PHI015000
  • SCI089000
  • SCI075000
  • COM004000
  • OCC000000

LCC

  • B105.C477

Keywords

  • scientific study of consciousness
  • brain
  • artificial intelligence
  • experience
  • states of consciousness

Human and Machine Consciousness

Consciousness is widely perceived as one of the most fundamental, interesting and difficult problems of our time. However, we still know next to nothing about the relationship between consciousness and the brain and we can only speculate about the consciousness of animals and machines.

Human and Machine Consciousness presents a new foundation for the scientific study of consciousness. It sets out a bold interpretation of consciousness that neutralizes the philosophical problems and explains how we can make scientific predictions about the consciousness of animals, brain-damaged patients and machines.

Gamez interprets the scientific study of consciousness as a search for mathematical theories that map between measurements of consciousness and measurements of the physical world. We can use artificial intelligence to discover these theories and they could make accurate predictions about the consciousness of humans, animals and artificial systems. Human and Machine Consciousness also provides original insights into unusual conscious experiences, such as hallucinations, religious experiences and out-of-body states, and demonstrates how ‘designer’ states of consciousness could be created in the future.

Gamez explains difficult concepts in a clear way that closely engages with scientific research. His punchy, concise prose is packed with vivid examples, making it suitable for the educated general reader as well as philosophers and scientists. Problems are brought to life in colourful illustrations and a helpful summary is given at the end of each chapter. The endnotes provide detailed discussions of individual points and full references to the scientific and philosophical literature.

Contents

1. Introduction

(pp. 3–8)
  • David Gamez
  • David Gamez
  • David Gamez

12. Conclusion

(pp. 149–158)
  • David Gamez

Endnotes

(pp. 165–200)
  • David Gamez

Contributors

David Gamez

(author)
Lecturer in Computer Science at Middlesex University