Collective consciousness
From CasGroup
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In the [[Society_of_Mind|society of mind]], what happens when agents become aware of themselves ? What we call self aware exists in some form in a society, too. | In the [[Society_of_Mind|society of mind]], what happens when agents become aware of themselves ? What we call self aware exists in some form in a society, too. | ||
== The spirit of China == | == The spirit of China == | ||
| - | If the population is large and complex enough, it should be possible to represent and recognize itself. How? Do we have a spirit of China "hovering over the room" in this case? A real life situation where a common consciousness arises is for example a national world cup game in stadium, or a divine service. The spirit of the group is in fact "hovering" over the place in both cases. The participants are confused by feedback illusions: if all participants act synchronously, then it is difficult to distinguish between the actions of the group and the actions of the individual. An individual thinks it has suddenly the power of the whole group. | + | If the population of a society is large and complex enough, it should be possible to represent and recognize itself. How? Steven Pinker asks in 'How the Mind Works' (p.146): |
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| + | : "What if we took [a brain simulation computer] program and trained a large number of people, say, the population of China, to hold in mind the data and act out the steps? Would there be one gigantic consciousness hovering over China, separate from the consciousness of the billion individuals? If they were implementing the brain state for agonizing pain, would there be some entity that really was in pain, even if every citizen was cheerful and light-hearted?" | ||
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| + | Do we have a spirit of China "hovering over the room" in this case? A real life situation where a common consciousness arises is for example a national world cup game in stadium, or a divine service. The spirit of the group is in fact "hovering" over the place in both cases. The participants are confused by feedback illusions: if all participants act synchronously, then it is difficult to distinguish between the actions of the group and the actions of the individual. An individual thinks it has suddenly the power of the whole group. | ||
How would a recognition or representation of itself look like? May you can describe it like this: when agents become aware of themselves, suddenly a small group of agents (which represent the self) becomes very famous, and make connections to nearly everyone else. In the above situation, these agents may be comparable to the team on the field, or the leaders of the religious group. A huge confusion arises in the population which agents should be activated: everyone since the agents represent everyone, and nobody since they are just one team among many others. | How would a recognition or representation of itself look like? May you can describe it like this: when agents become aware of themselves, suddenly a small group of agents (which represent the self) becomes very famous, and make connections to nearly everyone else. In the above situation, these agents may be comparable to the team on the field, or the leaders of the religious group. A huge confusion arises in the population which agents should be activated: everyone since the agents represent everyone, and nobody since they are just one team among many others. | ||
