Philosophy of Mind

Question 1

What is the only verifiable data point about conscious minds?

Answer 1

One’s own first-person experience of consciousness

Question 2

What idea involves believing you are the only existing mind?

Answer 2

Solipsism

Question 3

What types of biological beings close to humans do most believe have minds?

Answer 3

Great apes and pets

Question 4

How are insects often viewed in terms of having subjective experience?

Answer 4

As biological robots lacking any subjective experience or “mind”

Question 4

For more evolutionarily distant animals, what happens regarding beliefs about minds?

Answer 4

Beliefs tend to diverge more - some people attribute minds to birds and reptiles, while others think they lack subjective experience or mindedness.

Question 5

What type of entity can be an exception in being perceived as having a mind?

Answer 5

Convincingly mind-like artificial intelligences

Question 6

What view places qualities like color back into the external world?

Answer 6

Naive realism
Denies the starting picture…
Puts the “qualia” back into the world. The mind perceives qualities like colors, but those qualities aren’t mental.

Question 7

What view denies an external physical world beyond the mind’s contents?

Answer 7

Idealism
Denies that there is a chasm between qualia and the physical by denying that there is more to the world than “qualia”.

Question 8

What view denies the existence of qualities like redness, or poses that consciousness is an illusion

Answer 8

Illusionism
Accept that it seems like qualia exist… But argue that this is just an introspective
illusion; that there is actually no such thing.

Question 9

What is the proposed name for the view that qualities arise from brain processes?

Answer 9

Qualitative physicalism
Accept that qualia exist…
But argue that they are ultimately physical; that they are produced by the operations of the brain.

Question 10

What philosophical idea divides reality into the mind and physical world?

Answer 10

Dualism
Our world includes two fundamentally different types of “stuff”:
Both the physical stuff described by the sciences and “conscious” stuff—qualia.

Question 11

What view holds that qualities/qualia can be physically explained by brain processes?

Answer 11

The materialist/physicalist theory of mind

Question 12

What is the “hard problem” of consciousness?

Answer 12

How can subjective, first-person conscious experiences arise from objective physical brains?

Question 13

What are qualia?

Answer 13

The ineffable subjective qualities of experiences, like the redness of red or the smell of coffee.

Question 14

What question did philosopher Thomas Nagel use to explore the subjectivity of consciousness?

Answer 14

What is it like to be a bat?

Question 15

What is the name for the idea that consciousness has no effect and is a useless by-product?

Answer 15

Epiphenomenalism

Question 16

According to dualism, what are the two realms that exist?

Answer 16

The mental/mind realm and the physical/body realm.

Question 17

What philosopher proposed the famous dualist theory of Cartesian dualism?

Answer 17

René Descartes

Question 18

What did Descartes propose as the connection point between mind and body?

Answer 18

The pineal gland in the brain

Question 19

What thought experiment considers the possibility of unconscious beings that are behaviorally identical to conscious ones?

Answer 19

The philosophical zombie thought experiment

Question 20

What is the alternative to consciousness being an “added extra” to other mental functions?

Answer 20

That consciousness is intrinsic and inseparable from perception, thinking, feeling etc.

Question 21

According to the “theatre of the mind” metaphor, what do we imagine consciousness to be like?

Answer 21

A private inner theatre where the conscious self perceives experiences

Question 22

What philosopher argued against the “Cartesian theatre” model of a central point where consciousness happens?

Answer 22

Daniel Dennett

Question 23

What view holds that matter is fundamental and must account for consciousness arising?

Answer 23

Materialism

Question 24

What is the name for the opposite view to dualism - that only one fundamental reality exists?

Answer 24

Monism

Question 25

What did William James call the flow of conscious experiences?

Answer 25

The “stream of consciousness”

Question 26

What is the minimal Turing test (McCoy & Ullman, 2018)?

Answer 26

People tried to come up with a single word that would convince a judge that they are human (and not a robot)

Best word was ‘poop’

Question 27

In Grey, Grey, & Wegner’s 2007 study, the results indicated that people’s perception of minds consists of independent contributions from two dimensions. The study’s authors named these dimensions:

Answer 27

Experience and Agency

Question 28

In Grey, Grey, & Wegner’s 2007 study, which dimension included capacities like hunger, fear, pain, and consciousness?

Answer 28

The Experience dimension included capacities like hunger, fear, pain, pleasure, consciousness, etc.

Question 29

In Grey, Grey, & Wegner’s 2007 study, which dimension included capacities like self-control, morality, and communication?

Answer 29

The Agency dimension included capacities like self-control, morality, memory, communication, and thought.

Question 30

How did perceptions of agency relate to judgments of moral responsibility and punishment?

Answer 30

Agency correlated more strongly with judgments about deserving punishment for wrongdoing, suggesting a link between agency and moral responsibility.

Question 31

How did perceptions of experience relate to judgments about rights, avoidance of harm, and having a soul?

Answer 31

Experience correlated more strongly with not wanting to harm something, as well as judgments about things having a soul, suggesting a link to moral patiency and rights.

Question 32

What is the “problem of perceiving minds” in the context of AI?

Answer 32

It refers to the challenge of determining whether an AI system truly has a mind or mental states, or if it is just appearing to mimic intelligent behavior.

Question 33

Why is the Turing Test an insufficient measure of machine intelligence?

Answer 33

The Turing Test only evaluates surface-level behavior and language ability, but does not actually assess whether the machine has genuine understanding or consciousness.

Question 34

What thought experiment highlights the difficulty of perceiving minds in AI?

Answer 34

The Chinese Room thought experiment, which argues that a computer following rules cannot truly “understand” language and meaning. John Searle (1980)

Question 35

What are some potential issues with anthropomorphizing AI systems?

Answer 35

Attributing human-like mental states to AI could lead to overconfidence in their abilities, or developing unwarranted emotional attachments.

Question 36

What are the two fundamental dimensions underlying mind perception according to research?

Answer 36

Experience (capacity for sensation/feelings) and Agency (capacity for self-control/goal-driven behavior).

Question 37

How do studies measure the perception of experience in intelligent systems?

Answer 37

By assessing attributions of emotions, feeling pain, personality traits related to experience

Question 38

How do studies measure the perception of agency in intelligent systems?

Answer 38

By assessing attributions of intentional action, free will, goal-driven behavior, self-control.

Question 39

What are some factors that increase attributions of experience to an entity?

Answer 39

Having a biological/animal-like nature, exhibiting emotional expressions, appearing conscious.

Question 40

What are some factors that increase attributions of agency to an entity?

Answer 40

Exhibiting intentional, self-directed behavior, taking goal-directed actions, making choices.

Question 41

How do adults and children differ in their mind perception abilities?

Answer 41

Children are more liberal in attributing experience but conservative in attributing agency compared to adults.

Question 42

What consequences can result from over-attributing minds to non-mental entities?

Answer 42

It can promote ineffective coping, biases in moral reasoning, and inappropriate social behavior.

Question 43

How do cultural differences influence mind perception tendencies?

Answer 43

Individualistic cultures are more liberal in attributing agency, while collectivist cultures focus more on experience.

Question 44

What neural processes underlie the perception of experience versus agency?

Answer 44

Perceiving experience engages social-cognitive and empathy networks, while agency engages theory-of-mind regions.

Question 45

Why is mind perception an important area of study?

Answer 45

Accurate mind perception allows cooperating with intelligent agents and avoiding dehumanization.

Question 46

How can understanding mind perception dimensions improve AI design?

Answer 46

By aligning AI’s observable behavior appropriately with the intended perception of experience and/or agency.

Question 47

What are some open questions about the scope and limits of mind perception?

Answer 47

Whether it applies to group minds, future AI superintelligences, or minds radically different from humans.