BlueMonday1984Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 1st March 2026
Amoeba_GirlGood news! We’ve solved consciousness.
BigMuffN69“ Not all self-models are sentience. A thermo- stat has a feedback loop. A PID controller models its own error history. Neither is sentient. The question is what makes the difference, and the answer is representational capacity.”
Absolute cop out. My thermostat has a lil computer capable of executing code. If i give it enough memory and time, it is capable of running any program. If you are going to bite this bullet, like you actually have to address this shit, or say fine fuck it, your ti-89 and samsung fridge are sentient. Just because they arent currently running the right program is silly.
Also they argue mysticism about natural language creates sentience so i guess before humans sentient creatures didnt exist 🫠
Richard Penner@BigMuffN69 @Amoeba_Girl I think a sentient system (1) has a memory of experience (2) uses that updating memory to color the signal from its sensorium on a partial order and (3) takes action seeking better outcomes on that partial order. Evolution would favor (3) aligning with being healthy, cautious, and successful at reproduction but that’s outside the definition.