Living in the World Simulator

Although we don t want to attribute real consciousness to our crane/ sorter, let s pretend that its computer brain is conscious for the sake of discussion. Now we can ask the questions What is its consciousness. and What is it conscious 

At ordinary levels of discussion, the answer to what is its consciousness is straightforward it is the pattern of electrical impulses operating in a particular set of circuits, its computer brain. The specific functioning of the computer brain at any instant is a matter of where electrical impulses are, what circuits they are activating, at that instant. Computation, thinking, consists of the movement of electrical impulses into different patterns in the computer s circuits. Any state of the computer, any sensation or thought in it, can be specified and understood exactly by the distribution of electrical impulses in the computer s circuits. For the computer, consciousness is its electrical state. 

As to what the computer brain is conscious of, the answer is again straightforward it is conscious of electrical impulses. It does not see a box on the incoming conveyor belt, for example, for boxes do not travel 

This austere view of what a computer s consciousness would be like is almost identical to the contemporary scientific view of human consciousness. 

Suppose you are looking at a fire. You experience it as red in color you feel the heat from it on your skin. If the fire is threatening you or your possessions, you perceive it as dangerous. In another situation and mood you perceive it as beautiful. These seem like direct perceptions of external reality, but our modern understanding of brain functioning tells us that it is not really direct, but mediated by many intermediate processes, each one of which can alter the nature of what we perceive. 

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If this were all that living in the world simulator meant, it would not be a great problem. Perceptions could be taken for granted in everyday life whatever the real physical nature of fire, whether it makes me itch, shiver, or feel cold or tense or relaxed or elated, I nevertheless have learned that fire can burn and so 1 will treat it carefully. If I am curious about the nature of the outside world in and of itself, I can employ scientific instruments and procedures to learn about its properties that are not adequately represented in my (arbitrarily constructed) sensory perceptions. Unfortunately, living in the world simulator has much more important meanings. 

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