Artificial Intelligence: Will It Achieve Consciousness?

"We define consciousness, and then answer the question whether AI machines are capable of being Conscious? How would we recognize it if it happened? Wikipedia defines consciousness as awareness of internal and external existence. Scientific American defines it as everything you experience.

"In 1950, English mathematician Alan Turing proposed a way to determine whether a machine can actually think, whether it as a mind, called the Turing test in his honor, but was originally called the imitation game. In this test, a human judge holds a text conversation with a human being and a one a computer. If he cannot reliably tell which of the two entities is artificial, then the artificial machine must be considered as having a mind. In March of 2024, Stanford University researchers reported that the latest version of ChatGPT, GPT 4, had passed a rigorous version of the Turing test.

"But this does not mean ChatGPT is conscious. The problem with the Turing test is that while it can show that a machine can simulate human conversation, it does not prove that the machine has a mind, or is aware. While a computer may perfectly simulate the workings of a coffee machine, it does not make anything that we can actually drink."

Click on the link below for the details and an informed opinion on the matter:

How AI Will Become Self-Aware and When? A Lot Sooner than you think!

A Deluded Brain CAN Be Changed!

"Politics isn’t the first to cause structural changes in the brain. More than a decade ago, researchers used brain scans to show that London cab drivers’ gray matter grew larger to help them store a mental map of the city. There more time they spent on the road, the bigger their hippocampi, an area associated with navigation, became.

This implies that despite the political leanings seen through our brains, how we vote—and thus the cause of our political affiliations—may not be set in stone, Schreiber says.

“'If we believe that we’re hardwired for our political views, then it’s really easy for me to discount in you in a conversation. ‘Oh, you’re just a conservative because you have a red brain,’ or ‘Oh, you’re a liberal because you have a blue brain,' Schreiber explains. 'But that’s just not the case. The brain changes. The brain is dynamic.'

Study Predicts Political Beliefs With 83 Percent Accuracy

The Worsening Of Attention Span

"How long can you focus on a thought – or anything – without being interrupted by your flashing phone? With a powerful distraction inches away, many people find their ability to focus has dwindled to a matter of minutes, according to our next guest. New York Times bestselling author Johann Hari explores the importance of attention and how it has been “stolen” in his latest book. The author speaks with Hari Sreenivasan about what he has found."

Click on the link below for the details:

Are You Having Trouble Paying Attention?

Why Our Brains Tell Us There Is A God

All of us science-based thinkers know how difficult it is to dissuade people from accepting their intuition over the findings of science. There is no greater example of this than the issue of claiming God communicates with us personally/one-on-one. The last segment of a recent podcast from the Freedom From Religion Foundation focuses on the latest information on the subject by interviewing scientist and author John C. Wathey about his new book, The Phantom God: What Neuroscience Reveals about the Compulsion to Believe: "Wathey argues that the feeling of God’s presence is spawned by innate neural circuitry, similar to the mechanism that compels an infant to cry out for its mother. In an adult, this circuitry can be activated under conditions that mimic the extreme desperation and helplessness of infancy, generating the compelling illusion of the presence of a loving, powerful, and all-knowing savior. When seen from this perspective, the illusion also appears remarkably like one that has long been familiar to neurologists: the phantom limb of the amputee, spawned by the expectation of the patient’s brain that the missing limb should still be there."

Click on the link below for the podcast segment (timestamp approximately at 25:00):

Phantom God

Medicine For The Brain

If you are exposed to any media, you are deluged with alternatives to medicine pseudoscience, including brain health supplements such as Prevagen. Regarding the brain, the best things you can do for its health are simple and inexpensive. Neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta, MD, has some advice in a new book, "Keep Sharp." The book is supported by the fact that we now know that the brain is able to grow new cells throughout life. The big revelation to me was the following:

• "I think that crossword puzzles and brain training exercises can be quite helpful at making the roads in your brain that you use a lot already, keeping them strong. ... It's kind of the "practice makes perfect" part of your brain. And some of the brain games can actually increase your processing speed, the speed at which you process new content and new information. But I really do draw a line between that and keeping a brain sharper and building cognitive reserve throughout your life. That's different. You want to be doing different things in order to build that reserve, as opposed to doing the same thing better and better. There's a role for both, but if it's cognitive reserve you're looking for, doing different things — things that *get you outside your comfort zone* — it's probably going to have a much bigger payoff."

Click here for an NPR interview with Dr. Gupta.

- - -

*to include learning why others have different opinions than you?*

- - - - - - - 

UPDATE: 2/24/2021

Below are more links on this topic:

Brain Boosting Supplements May Contain Unapproved Drugs

Focus Factor Fiction?

FDA curbs unfounded memory supplement claims

"The Soul" Falsified

"Neurologist VS Ramachandran explains the case of split-brain patients with one hemisphere without a belief in a god, and the other with a belief in a god."

This is just one of several short and easy-to-understand videos that falsify the claim for an immortal "Soul." Follow the "breadcrumbs" left from this video and be educated in the topic.

Split Brain Effects

Brain Oddities And The Soul

"Does the soul exist? Does science prove the soul or disprove it? Explore the oddest clinical cases in the world of neuroscience that raise some very interesting questions about the soul"

I challenge any theist to watch this 10-minute video and come away still believing in a supernatural "Soul."

Click on link below:

A study of brain abnormalities

Brain Imaging Is Imperative For Behavior Diagnosis

Prior to brain imaging,  abnormal human behavior was attributed to evil spirits or the effects of "Original Sin." This video is enlightening in understanding the natural causes of behavior good and bad. After watching it, your opinion on punishment may change.

Proper Food Will Always Trump Supplements For Health

We are inundated with advertizements for all sorts of supplements to maintain and improve health.  The truth? "Food is always a better source of nutrients than a pill"

Heads up: when any supplement is advertised, this warning is always included:

• Unlike drugs, supplements are not permitted to be marketed for the purpose of treating, diagnosing, preventing, or curing diseases. That means supplements should not make disease claims, such as “lowers high cholesterol” or “treats heart disease.” Claims like these cannot be legitimately made for dietary supplements.  (link)