>> Personally, I view experience as Umwelt (after Uexkull), and
>> awareness as a special kind of Umwelt that includes time,
>> and hence, prediction or anticipation.
Mario:
>First, I should say that I did not find time to follow the Umwelt
>discussions. So, my excuses if I missed things.
>
>I may agree, but I can't be sure, since it is unclear to me in what
>sense you use the term awareness. I argue that it is important to make
>the distinction between awareness and reflexive awareness, whereby I
>suggest to call only the latter consciousness, something which becomes
>first possible by the availability of symbolic sounds (words). Again,
>consciousness can be seen as a novel kind of experience which emerges
>from the combination of aware experience with language. This
combination
>enables reflexive awareness (i.e. consciousness, as I would define it),
>which is a completely new experience. In other words, consciousness is
>the experience which follows from considering experience, as it becomes
>possible by the use of language.So, when I am writing this I am an
aware
>being. When I am considering how funny it is that I am sitting here to
>write this, I am a conscious being. Remark that humans, according to
>this definition are aware beings most of the time, just like animals,
>but that consciousness is a rare experience.
Alexei:
I understand awareness as being ready to percieve external and internal
signals/signs and to have behavioral models that can be launched
after these signs are received. Thus, I would consider awareness even
at the level of bacteria.
Mario:
I would call this experience (chemical interactions only), Maxine
Sheets-Johnstone in the latest issue of J. Consciousness Studies calls
this consciousness. So, as a bacteriologist, I would say that bacterial
responsiveness basically does not differe from chemical responsiveness:
We urgently need agreement on how we will use these terms or we can keep
discussing and misunderstanding each other. This defining was the
principal aim of the manuscript I wrote about it.
Alexei:
The next level would be reflexive awareness, which is modifying
responce algorithms. This is the level of learning and consciousness.
It is present in many insects and in most vertebrate animals.
It does not necessary require any communication.
The next level would be reflexive consciousness, i.e., modifying
your learning habits by communication with other organisms.
This can be called mind. Elements of mind can be found only in
most intelligent mammals, and it is fully developed only in humans.
Mind requires communication.
And the next level is rationality, i.e., logic, science, economy.
Most of this is written in the book of Valentin Turchin "The
Phenomenon of Science" 1977.
Mario: In my terms, all of this would be considered as awareness.
With reflexive awareness I mean the possibility to consider the
experience itself, as should be clear from the example. This kind of
experience (reflexive awareness or consciousness) is not listed in your
summary of Turchin.
Well, these discussions are interesting, but bacteria are calling me.
Some things to urgently finish before holidays. You should not hear from
me in the next few weeks. If you do, that means that I am not doing the
job I am paid for.
-- Mario.Vaneechoutte Department Clinical Chemistry, Microbiology & Immunology University Hospital De Pintelaan 185 9000 GENT Belgium Phone: +32 9 240 36 92 Fax: +32 9 240 36 59 E-mail: Mario.Vaneechoutte@rug.ac.beJ. Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission: http://jom-emit.cfpm.org/