Consciousness

Consciousness is a quality of the mind generally regarded to comprise qualities such as subjectivity, self-awareness, sentience, sapience, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and one's environment. Philosophers divide consciousness into phenomenal consciousness which is experience itself and access consciousness which is the processing of the things in experience (Block 2004).

Tests of consciousness

As there is still not a clear definition of consciousness, no empirical tests currently exist to test consciousness as a whole. Some have even argued that empirical tests of consciousness are intrinsically impossible. However, some researchers have devised tests to detect what they feel are certain aspects of consciousness. A test similar to this was used in the novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" by Philip K. Dick to see if a person was a robot or an actual human. In the Ridley Scott movie Blade Runner which was inspired by that book, the test is known as the "Voigt-Kampf" test and tests the subject for empathy.

Related Topics:
Philip K. Dick - Ridley Scott - Blade Runner - Empathy

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Turing Test

Alan Turing proposed what is now known as the Turing test to determine if a computer could simulate human conversation undetectably. This test is commonly cited in discussion of artificial intelligence. The application to consciousness is highly suggestive, but not clear. One is reminded of Edsger Dijkstra's comment "The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim". A thought experiment which indicates a problem with the Turing Test is as follows. Imagine a computer in which are stored a very large number of questions and a very large number of actual human responses to these questions. If the number of questions and answers was large enough, then the computer would be able to mimic consciousness by a purely mechanical procedure.

Related Topics:
Alan Turing - Turing test - Artificial intelligence - Edsger Dijkstra - Thought experiment

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The simple version of this test says that, if a being behaves as a human we assume he has consciousness even if he was constructed as a zombie, i.e. missing qualia. This sounds like typical behaviourist reasoning. However, that sort of thinking was suspect even before 'The Emperor's New Mind' was published. This leads one to propose the extended Turing test (first proposed by Hugh Deasy in 2004): the robot or zombie must answer questions of how red appears to him/her or what he/she feels at that sunset or upon hearing that Shakira song or smelling Chanel nr. 5. If he/she gives convincing answers we can say that he/she is either a great liar or is conscious. But unless one especially programs the robot/zombie to lie about these issues, then if they really lack qualia then they fail the test.

Related Topics:
Zombie - Qualia - The Emperor's New Mind - Hugh Deasy - 2004 - Shakira - Chanel nr. 5

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Mirror test

With the mirror test, devised by Gordon Gallup in the 1970s, one is interested in whether or not animals are able to recognize themselves in a mirror. Such self-recognition is said to be an indicator of consciousness. Humans (older than 18 months), great apes (except for gorillas), and bottlenose dolphins have all been observed to pass this test.

Related Topics:
Mirror test - Gordon Gallup - 1970s - Great apes - Gorillas - Bottlenose dolphins

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