[Xmca-l] Re: The vibrations of consciousness

[David Kellogg]

Andy's point about consciousness not having any "genera" which we might
"specify" is related to a point I always have when people ask for
definitions. What exactly is this definition for? One rather
Talmudic reason why people like to define terms at the beginning of a
discussion is so we can tell when folks are off topic ("clouds" and
"lithosphere" do not belong to the realm of consciousness,
Annalisa--naughty, naughty, naughly!) Another reason is so that we can
decide whether particular discourses involve metaphor, sleight-of-hand,
demagogery (the use of war rhetoric against a virus; conspiracy theories in
general assume that all human events of consequence are the result of
conscious ill will). But a third reason is so that we can decide where
something comes from and determine the precise moment it starts being what
it is (when does something that is not conscious acquire consciousness?)  I
think you can see that the first reason for defining contradicts the third
one. That is, ruling this or that subject matter off topic will prevent you
from ever finding something that is both not consciousness and
consciousness.

Halliday said that everything around us can be thought of as either matter
or as meaning, and he thought whether matter and meaning are the same
thing was an open question. For me, it is the question that Spinoza
answered. We are anthropo-centric and so we tend to think of meaning as
linguistic, as symbolism, as deliberate representations: making "this"
stand for "that". But of course for most of time meaning-making was not
deliberate in this way: red leaves in fall do not "stand for" winter,
although they certainly came to mean that for hibernating animals, and the
relationship between the physical changes that James and Lange (and Dewey
and Hegel) are talking about are probably related to emotions in the same
way. Meaning is organization; it is the defiance of entropy, and the very
fact that both matter and information have entropy and defy it shows that
Spinoza is right: everything around us can be thought of as either matter
or as meaning, or as increasing or decreasing in entropy. Consciousness is
simply the higest form of meaning-making, the most egregious and obvious
way of flouting the second law of thermodynamics. That is why clouds mean
rain, but in the long run--they don't; that is why the lithosphere means
time, but in the long run it won't.

David Kellogg
Sangmyung University

New Article: Ruqaiya Hasan, in memoriam: A manual and a manifesto.
Outlines, Spring 2020
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New Translation with Nikolai Veresov: *L.S. Vygotsky's Pedological
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On Fri, Jul 24, 2020 at 1:06 PM Andy Blunden <andyb@marxists.org> wrote:

> For Marxism, Annalisa, "consciousness" is an all-embracing category. It
> does not refer to any specific "part" of the mind such as awareness, or in
> distinction from some *other* part of the mind such as the Unconscious.
> It is difficult to define because there is nothing more basic in terms of
> which "consciousness" could be defined other than abstractions which in
> turn rely on the concept of consciousness. So only a general sense can be
> given.
>
> Andy
> ------------------------------
> *Andy Blunden*
> Hegel for Social Movements
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://brill.com/view/title/54574__;!!Mih3wA!XbYmB_z-uAeKpBg65taY2coYM7CzQSY1YdCNcBXjyiEOpXFgKAtWeHcSCmw7d5vYPfRuZw$>
> Home Page
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.ethicalpolitics.org/ablunden/index.htm__;!!Mih3wA!XbYmB_z-uAeKpBg65taY2coYM7CzQSY1YdCNcBXjyiEOpXFgKAtWeHcSCmw7d5uE8rAzSA$>
> On 24/07/2020 5:05 am, Annalisa Aguilar wrote:
>
> Hi Mike,
>
> Thank you for that!
>
> Of course then, my question is, what is the definition of "relationship"?
>
> Is there a relationship between the clouds and the lithosphere of the
> earth? Would that mean that the clouds and earth are conscious?
>
> Another question I might offer, is perception a requisite for
> consciousness?
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Annalisa
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu>
> <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu> on behalf of mike cole <mcole@ucsd.edu>
> <mcole@ucsd.edu>
> *Sent:* Thursday, July 23, 2020 11:04 AM
> *To:* eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity <xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu>
> <xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu>
> *Subject:* [Xmca-l] Re: The vibrations of consciousness
>
>
> *  [EXTERNAL]*
> Annalisa -
>
> I am sure there are more ways that LSV thought of consciousness,  but a la
> marx,  I believe its "human being's relationship to
> the environment"..... the rest of nature. Plenty of room for vibrations in
> that formulation.
> mike
>
>
> On Thu, Jul 23, 2020 at 10:00 AM Annalisa Aguilar <annalisa@unm.edu>
> wrote:
>
> Hello Xmcars,
>
> I'm not sure what the connection is but it seems there is one between
> consciousness and art-making with AI, and 3D printers.
>
> This article (2018) about consciousness is from The Conversation. Perhaps
> you might also like to read it:
>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://theconversation.com/could-consciousness-all-come-down-to-the-way-things-vibrate-103070__;!!Mih3wA!QX8A4s_69fPqrKgXcc7ABLWKBuAXO9ymR1-vTutmK9dbsKDeH-iDriK2EMxNudCpVHZxLw$ 
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://theconversation.com/could-consciousness-all-come-down-to-the-way-things-vibrate-103070__;!!Mih3wA!TZlto8nrkoF8DlozCb-AGO-XOQFqazTIeHOkpr51jiE65n6raRLlJgEMCUwsPhiNZIn0wA$>
>
> and a more recent one from last year by the same author is here:
>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://theconversation.com/how-can-you-tell-if-another-person-animal-or-thing-is-conscious-try-these-3-tests-115835__;!!Mih3wA!QX8A4s_69fPqrKgXcc7ABLWKBuAXO9ymR1-vTutmK9dbsKDeH-iDriK2EMxNudDx4w1jqw$ 
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://theconversation.com/how-can-you-tell-if-another-person-animal-or-thing-is-conscious-try-these-3-tests-115835__;!!Mih3wA!TZlto8nrkoF8DlozCb-AGO-XOQFqazTIeHOkpr51jiE65n6raRLlJgEMCUwsPhjcpwvgAw$>
>
> I'm curious how Vygotsky defined consciousness? I'm not recollecting it at
> the moment. Maybe Andy could explain?
>
> On a different related topic I stumbled on these articles on AI created
> artwork:
>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://theconversation.com/when-the-line-between-machine-and-artist-becomes-blurred-103149__;!!Mih3wA!QX8A4s_69fPqrKgXcc7ABLWKBuAXO9ymR1-vTutmK9dbsKDeH-iDriK2EMxNudCbgnExYQ$ 
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://theconversation.com/when-the-line-between-machine-and-artist-becomes-blurred-103149__;!!Mih3wA!TZlto8nrkoF8DlozCb-AGO-XOQFqazTIeHOkpr51jiE65n6raRLlJgEMCUwsPhjzG5V5uQ$>
>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/arts/design/ai-art-sold-christies.html__;!!Mih3wA!QX8A4s_69fPqrKgXcc7ABLWKBuAXO9ymR1-vTutmK9dbsKDeH-iDriK2EMxNudCIyXshpQ$ 
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/arts/design/ai-art-sold-christies.html__;!!Mih3wA!TZlto8nrkoF8DlozCb-AGO-XOQFqazTIeHOkpr51jiE65n6raRLlJgEMCUwsPhgx_FIiKg$>
>
> What happens to labor as defined by Marx when the computer or the robot
> end up overriding human craft and labor? Is it a development in which value
> shifts? or is it the equation that determines value remains the same with
> different exponentially-numbered inputs that provides a different salient
> output?
>
> AI seems to be a kind of mirror-neuron wind up toy, if only because the
> inputs are required first in order to come up with simulacra outputs to
> then be considered art (by Christie's, no less).
>
> This made me consider 3-D printers as well. If someone can take a car
> part, scan it, and re-print the part for pennies, I'd guess that auto
> manufacturing is about to explode from this technological change.
>
> I'm wondering what Walter Benjamin would think about AI created
> portraiture (I'm thinking specifically about his wonderful essay on art
> here: https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/benjamin.pdf__;!!Mih3wA!QX8A4s_69fPqrKgXcc7ABLWKBuAXO9ymR1-vTutmK9dbsKDeH-iDriK2EMxNudBT2nVTWg$ 
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/benjamin.pdf__;!!Mih3wA!TZlto8nrkoF8DlozCb-AGO-XOQFqazTIeHOkpr51jiE65n6raRLlJgEMCUwsPhi28s3Zbg$>
> ), but what about reproduction of the reproduction of car parts? I pause as
> I consider the future of manufacturing parts that used to require large
> iron forges, machinery, welding, engineering, etc.
>
> If there are printing communities that spring up to print parts (and there
> are) and they could conceivably create a car not much above the value of
> the steel materials, what happens to General Motors? Will it suffer the
> same demise as Kodak?
>
> I noticed that HP is coming out with industrial printers that seem to
> indicate the arrival of this sort of change:
>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www8.hp.com/us/en/printers/3d-printers/products/multi-jet-fusion-5200.html__;!!Mih3wA!QX8A4s_69fPqrKgXcc7ABLWKBuAXO9ymR1-vTutmK9dbsKDeH-iDriK2EMxNudCc6493Yw$ 
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www8.hp.com/us/en/printers/3d-printers/products/multi-jet-fusion-5200.html__;!!Mih3wA!TZlto8nrkoF8DlozCb-AGO-XOQFqazTIeHOkpr51jiE65n6raRLlJgEMCUwsPhhTORRgXA$>
>
> There have been online communities that show how to make one's own 3-D
> printer. So I wonder how this innovation will become absorbed into
> manufacturing?
>
> Remember the desktop publishing revolution?
>
> This quote by Paul Valéry opens Benjamin's essay and reflects relevance
> to my questions:
>
> “Our fine arts were developed, their types and uses were established, in
> times very different from the present, by men whose power of action upon
> things was insignificant in comparison with ours. But the amazing growth
> of our techniques, the adaptability and precision they have attained, the
> ideas and habits they are creating, make it a certainty that profound
> changes are impending in the ancient craft of the Beautiful. In all the arts
> there is a physical component which can no longer be considered or
> treated as it used to be, which cannot remain unaffected by our modern
> knowledge and power. For the last twenty years neither matter nor space
> nor time has been what it was from time immemorial. We must expect great
> innovations to transform the entire technique of the arts, thereby
> affecting artistic invention itself and perhaps even bringing about an
> amazing change in our very notion of art.”*
>
>
> Paul Valéry, PIÈCES SUR L’ART
> “Le Conquete de l’ubiquité,” Paris.
>
>
> I look forward to hearing the sparkling conversations these articles might
> inspire.
>
> Do tell.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Annalisa
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> I[image: Angelus Novus]
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelus_Novus__;!!Mih3wA!QKYWsd2osOCt7VWAmlDhv9LZLVufjS0x09zcmmUeIudHX_TAW1dvHFbFUNJETZr_XMveQQ$>
>
> The Angel's View of History is looking as plausible in 2020 as it did to
> Walter Benjamin & Klee in 1940
>
> ---------------------------------------------
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> Archival resources website: lchc.ucsd.edu.
> Narrative history of LCHC:  lchcautobio.ucsd.edu.
>
>
>
>
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