Why Aren't We Zombies?
One of the burning questions in present-day mind research is "Why aren't we
all zombies?" On the face of it, this is a ridiculous question, but maybe
not. A lot of respectable scientists assume that we are just very complicated
computers, using neurons instead of silicon chips. Maybe the mind is the
software that runs everything, they say. But why should a computer be
conscious of what it is doing? Of what possible use is consciousness? So why
aren't we all zombies?
Since I have gone on phased retirement, I have had time to study some really
big questions like this one. Especially this one, because, although I
sometimes feel like a zombie, I don't like the general idea of zombiedom. I
have a personal stake in the matter. So let me tell you what I have found in
my own research on this.
In the first place nobody seems to know what consciousness is. Try to
describe the feeling of pain when you touch a hot stove, for example. You
can't. The best you can do is to say that it hurt like heck, but that's not a
scientific statement and doesn't count.
So brain scientists, on the whole, don't bother with the question of
consciousness. They think it'll go away once we know more. Just like the
mysterious "life force" that went away once we discovered DNA. I don't like
that thinking at all. It is the first step on the slippery slope towards
zombiedom.
Philosophers have no problem with consciousness being undefined. They like
that actually better, because now they can spend their time defining the
problem rather than solving it. This is called epistemology and leads nowhere
in particular. I like that approach though, because I have the feeling that a
real answer to the problem would make me unhappy.
Many computer scientists think that once you make a computer complex enough,
it will become conscious. It will talk to you like a real person, and you
couldn't find out the difference, if you ignored the wiring and the
loudspeakers. I don't like that either, because I hate computers. They give
me no end of trouble, even without being conscious.
Finally there are the holistic thinkers who believe that consciousness is
everywhere, even in vegetables. I find that thought downright scary. How
could a person ever eat tomato soup again with a clean conscience?
So what are my own conclusions after studying all this material? Well,
sometimes I have this terrible feeling that maybe we really are zombies. But
then, why would I write this column and why would you read it? Unless, of
course, zombies read newspapers. After all, what do we really know about
them?
At Random - Adrian Korpel
