Theory of consciousness - Part 2 - Paradox: Robots Can See But Do Not See

From the discussions in Part 1, we can accept the proposition that "Quarks have visual sensation" to be axiomatically correct. There is no reason to restrict the analysis to just one sense; Generalizing the result, we arrive at the axiom that "Quarks have all senses - visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile as well as thermal, and emotional spectrum from pain to pleasure."

The axiom of sensual quarks leads to the corollary of senusal universe. Each element of the Universe can experience sense - yet, it is common knowledge that only living animals really sense - a cat sees, but a wall does not see. A man sees but a robot does not.

We are running into the risk of confusing vocabulary, so let me clarify with an example. In Fenway, during a Red Sox game, there are thousands of people. They all have the ability to pitch the ball. You just need a hand and a ball to pitch the ball. Yet, only one person in the middle of the stadium is pitching the ball. There is a marked differene between being able to pitch the ball and in fact pitching the ball. This marked difference is very concrete - it is having the ball.

In terms of sensual quark theory, the entire Universe is capable of pitching or sensing. The ability to feel redness of rose is equivalent to having the hand. Yet, only the few living things have the ball or in fact are sensual. The equivalent of having a ball is ....What?

When we were performing the imaginary thought experiment of removing one body part at a time to localize the anatomical site of vision, we had made an implicit assumption that the man would be alive even though he did not have most of the parts of the body. Yet it is common knowledge that a fully intact man, who could clearly see one moment before death, no more sees anything after he is dead, even though all his body parts are intact. Revisiting our conclusions from the thought experiment, we would add LIFE as a critical component of being able to see.

LIFE is then like having the ball. Only the living things have LIFE, by definition. Yet, what is LIFE? In the biological sense, even cells have LIFE. Having LIFE really means, being functional - having enough parts in motion so that the whole machine functions. In the same way, cars are dead when their batteries are dead. LIFE merely refers to the functional state of being. LIFE does not reside in one single part, but refers to the state of a lot of interconnected dynamic parts. LIFE is like the word Isosceles. The quality of being Isosceles resides in the entire triangle. It can not be localized to a single point in the triangle. The quality of LIFE belongs to an entire conglomeration of sensual quarks, not to just one single quark.

In conclusion, Lots of Sensual Quarks + LIFE (Quality of connections between then) = Actual sensation.

In the next part, we will examine the requirements for LIFE ...