new orientation

dear colleagues,

The messages from Otto and Michael have moved the consciousness discussion
to a new arena. Allan, Morris and me had already addressed a few
neurocomputational and evolutionary aspects. Now my comments will be a
clumsy attempt to bridge both camps.

First, with Otto. My feeling is that he is quite right in the inversion he
makes upon the Galilean primary and secondary qualities, somehow restoring
the Aristotelian order. The unending discussions by physicists and quantum
afficionados about the (conscious!) observer are on the table. Is time a
ficticious creation by the perceptual apparatus inside the sentient
observer? Another biological invention then? About that, I much liked the
literary views of Marcel Proust about organized "existences": his doctrine
of continuous permanent creation -time included- within "information based"
(this last term added by me) social and organismic entities... Then the
introduction of love (and of the whole panoply of sentiments) bring me
closer to a consideration I made last month about the infinity barriers
surrounding life. Love and sentiments mean, I would say, a formidable
"abduction" force, an internal tool giving texture, relevance and meaning
to the infinities out there...and in here.

best greetings

pedro

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Pedro C. Marijuan. FAX 34 976 761861 and / 762111. TEL / 761927
Dept. Ingenieria Electronica y Comunicaciones
CPS, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza 50015, SPAIN
email: marijuan@posta.unizar.es
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Received on Thu Jun 4 14:21:11 1998