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Evolution
Section Four Bob Carpenter and Donna Haney
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EVOLUTION
Section Four Donna Haney Bob
Carpenter
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Chapter 10The Evolution of Consciousness
We are told there is less than 8 difference in
DNA between humans and apes. But what is
that difference?
Is it language?
Is it consciousness?
Is it Rational Thought?
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Or is it just the suit?
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Chapter 11The Function of Consciousness
We know our brains are doing something up there,
but what is it?
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Chapter 12 Animal Minds
I am, but do I think?
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Chapter 10 The Evolution of Consciousness
If the different islands have their
representatives of Geospiza a finch, it may
help to explain the singularly large number of
the species of this sub-group in this one small
archipelago, and as a probable consequence of
their numbers, the perfectly graduated series in
the size of their beaks. Charles Darwin The
Voyage of the Beagle October 8, 1835 Galapagos
Islands
text
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Anthropology 101 (The really short
version)
(Above) Yellowstone fumarole (Far Right)
Evolutionary Tree (Left) Pyrodictium sp. a
Thermophyle
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The early years (c. 6-7 million years ago)
(Above) Olduvai Gorge one of the premiere
fossil sites in eastern Africa. (1.85 1.0
mya)
Other major sites Aramis (Ardopithecus
ramidus) Hadar (Lucy) Taung (Taung child
endocast) Chad Sahelanthropus tchadensis
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Whoops! There it is! (But is it
consciousness?)
Sahelanthropus tchadensis To date, the earliest
reasonably intact skull of a hominid c.
6-7 million years ago.
Homo habilis The Tool Maker. A significant
increase in cranial volume cortical
reorganization.
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Two ways evolution might
work 1.Gradualism (Dawkins, Dennett
slow and steady change) 2.
Punctuated equilibrium (Gould, Lewontin long
periods of no action then environmental
issues force change.) The problem with
Lamarck Cell bodies die only the sex cells
are passed on to the next generation. Genes
are not selfish they just seem to be that
way. Actually, its a simple
replicating function that would be easy to
program into any AI program.
Evolution Stuff - One
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Evolution Stuff - Two
Mutations are like a forward pass in football
There are four things that can happen and
three of them are bad The mutation can be
neutral i.e., junk DNA. The mutation
can be negatively adaptive. The mutation
can corrupt or destroy a good gene. k1
(VT/g)fo c. 43/gen. -- Motoo Kimura 99.5
of all mutations must be selectively
neutral. -- Motoo Kimura
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Questions about consciousness

• Is consciousness a thing or a thought or
  something else? What?
• Did consciousness happen e.g., around the time
  that H. habilis came on scene? Or was it already
  there? (i.e., Greenfields dimmer switch or
  Hoffmans conscious realism)
• How did consciousness evolve? (or did it?)
• What advantages would consciousness represent to
  H. habiliss survival?

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There are three ways of approaching the
evolution of consciousness - Blackmore

• Conscious inessentialism (epiphenomenalism).
  There could be zombies that act exactly as we do
  but are not conscious. Consciousness does not
  integrate with intelligence, language, memory,
  etc. (Why did evolution produce us instead of
  zombies? Watch it! this question is loaded. Does
  evolution produce anything?)
• Consciousness is functional i.e., it is capable
  of adapting. Zombies are not possible. But
  consciousness adapts and evolves exclusively of
  intelligence, language, etc. (If so, then what
  is the function of consciousness?)
• Functionalism. Zombies are not possible.
  Consciousness is integral and capable of adapting
  along with other traits. (If so, is
  consciousness necessary to creatures that are
  intelligent, have language, etc.?)

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Beyond Blackmore

• Donna (intuitively channeling Hegels esoteric
  philosophy) coins the Conscious Manifestation
  Correlation Theory!

Zombies are possible, but not likely. Evidence of
evolution
The 3 theories in Blackmore address change, and
why there is some-think rather than no-think, but
they ignore the underlying question Why is
there something rather than nothing in the
universe! So what about evidence of evolution
as a correlation to, but not necessarily the
cause of, consciousness? Is it
okay to think progressively? Creative
exploration? Hegels sublation? Donnas
Witness Production Program Could natural
selection favor intelligence? A sense of humor?
Charm? Seduction, bonding or trust-inducing
elements of consciousness elements that might
make a person more likely to reproduce? (The
Peacock mind.)
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Chapter 11 - Function or Fiction?
Consciousness must make a difference or else it
would not have evolved. - Humphries
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Which elements are conscious?
(Rocks from Mars)
(Rocks from Mars)
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Does being conscious simply mean being aware that
we have a conscious that is aware that we have a
conscious, that is aware that . . .?
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Heavy Philosophy Stuff

• Dawkins suggests that consciousness arises when
  the brains simulation of the world becomes so
  complete that it must include a model of itself.
  (If so, in what way are our brains complete?
  Can finite mortal beings be complete? Or
  are we just complete enough to have
  consciousness? Are we conscious because we can
  anticipate our own deaths? )

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Is consciousnessSocial?
Mithen suggests that consciousness appeared on
the scene around the same time as the cultural
explosion around 60,000 to 30,000 years ago. This
seems to imply that the cultural explosion may
have been due to the genesis of consciousness.
Or does it mean that the arrival of consciousness
(perhaps in some intersubjective form) stimulated
the cultural explosion?
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More Heavy Philosophy Stuff
When you are dreaming Are you
Conscious? Unconscious? Both? Neither?
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Whats a Meme ?
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Beyond Blackmore
Function What role does consciousness play?
(NOT from a physicalist perspective - whats
its purpose.)

• Language and art Arbitrary symbols defined by
  convention?
• Do we think because we manipulate symbols?
• Or do we manipulate symbols because we
  think?
• The urge to explain (make up likely stories)?
  From myths to hypotheses?
• What about consciousness as a mathematical
  function/relation?
• There are many languages only math is
  universal.
• Geometry and arithmetic - are they innate?
  Are we born Math Minds?
• 1/19/06 Amazonian Mandaruku study.
• Consciousness as a probabilistic inductive
  inference function?
• Could math be a fundamental aspect of
  conscious reality?

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Chapter 12 Animal Minds
Whats it like To be A mouse? A frog? A
snake? A puffin? A kitty?
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Self-recognition
Hauser, Gallup, Damasio, and others have
attempted to determine whether animals have
Hauser, Gallup, Damasio and others have
attempted to determine whether or not animals are
self-aware by using mirrors. Do the animals
respond to the mirror-image as if it were another
animal of the same kind or do they seem to see
themselves in the mirror? Unfortunately, there
are many ways to interpret almost any response an
animal makes.
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A Theory of (animal) Mind?
Whats your theory about this fellows mind?

• The theory of mind (for humans) is closely
  associated with what Dennett calls the
  Intentional Stance.
• Humans have a disposition to assume other humans
  have the same thoughts, feelings, mental states
  as they do.
• The intentional stance says that we make
  predictions about other humans based on what we
  would do in similar circumstances.
• Can we make the same predictions of our pets?
  That is, can we interpret animal actions in terms
  of how we would act in similar circumstances?
• Does the word anthropomorphism enter into this?

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Deception, ImitationDo they result from
consciousnessor selection?
1. Kummer, and Byrne Whiten report
deception in primates. Monkeys and baboons will
attempt to distract others in the troop in order
to grab a nice banana for themselves. Is this a
conscious act or is it a selected adaptation
for survival? 2. Butterflies, insects,
reptiles all exhibit a variety of camouflage
traits. Is this selection? If it is, what about
the chameleon does it make conscious changes
to match its surroundings? 3. Except for a few
birds and dolphins, current consensus denies
imitation to animals. What does the absence of an
ability to imitate tell us about animal
consciousness?
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Okay, lets be completely honest! Could you
really REALLY not talk to this little
charmer?
(But what does it say about our concept of
animal consciousness if we talk to them?)
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Beyond Blackmore
Humans and animals . . . Is your cat living
in a parallel universe? Does she have a
sense of humor? Does she wonder why?
(Does she already know?)

• What is uniquely human?
• Free will? Choice of behaviors and memes
  (as variation/selection)?
• Cultural transmission social intercourse
  (as heredity/replication)?
• How, then, shall we live?
• Where shall we draw the line between human ethics
  and animals?
• What (who?) do you feel comfortable eating?
• Plants? Crustaceans? Fish?
  Reptiles? Birds (eggs)? Mammals (milk)?
• Are you comfortable with factory farming?
  Genetically enhanced crops?
• Vertebrates have pleasure receptors boney
  fish have anxiety receptors.
• Harm them, they feel pain
  threaten them, they feel fear.
• Consider others as self consider self as an
  expression of Universal Truth?

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That just about does it for us. At this point
well make a conscious decision to wrap
things up.
Thanks for being a great audience!