Final Exam

FINAL EXAMINATION

Introduction to Philosophy

Professor David C. Lane

1.         Your name

Qiuyue Yin

2.         Your midterm grade (before and after revisions):

Before revision, it is B-/ C+. I have revised my midterm, but I did not receive a reply from our professor.

3.         Complete list of all your essays answers as required per week (includes everything you have done for the semester).

WEEK FIVE: Neural Philosophy and Consciousness

1. Explain the virtual simulation theory of consciousness.

As shown by the examples of the amusement parks in “The Disneyland of Consciousness”, in many times, we always treat something as real, real objects that we could really see, or real human beings around us. The virtual simulation theory of consciousness means that because of the function and characteristics of our consciousness, we tend to believe that something is real and we are really part of a scenario. As stated in “Is The Universe An App”, human beings could “process both external and internal stimuli and then reconstructs a virtual environment in which we react accordingly” (p106). Another example is the experience of dreaming, in the dream when we are asleep, we would believe that everything we are experiencing is real, until when we actually wake up and find that it is only a dream, not something real. “The waking state differs from dreaming because it receives external data streams from the nine orifices of our body”. (p106)

2. How does the brain trick us and for what benefit is it for our genetic survival?

As mentioned in the virtual simulation theory, with the influences of external and internal factors, our brain could trick us that something is real, while it was not at all. I like the comparison that our brain or consciousness is like sandcastle. It sounds like changeable and protective. As revealed in “Is The Universe An App”, “consciousness is a bunch of tricks in the brain and were learning what those tricks are and how they fit together”. Consciousness might trick us in many times, but it also protects us from the exterior danger, make better and safer judgments.

WEEK SIX and SEVEN: Digital Philosophy and A.I.

1. Do you think artificial intelligence will be a significant problem in the future?

No, I do not think artificial intelligence will be a significant problem in the future. As shown in the video, “The Complexity of Consciousness”, consciousness is the most important or “fundamental property of living matter, which could not be derived from anything else”. That is to say, by designing a machine and using the digital way to store and process information, might not produce similar effects as the human brain.

2. How has technology impacted your life?

Technology could impact our life in many aspects. As introduced in “The Avatar Project”, for example, it could greatly help the learning of students.  That is to say, with the help of an AI or a technology system which could specially design a study plan and supervise the students to study, education could make a great development. Technology would also influence in other aspects. For example, we relied on technology to communicate with each other, despite of the time and distance. We also relied on the technology for entertainment, from the very basic watching movies and playing computer games, to entering the world of virtual reality, etc. As for other aspects, we use technology for study, for cooking, for shopping materials, etc.

WEEK EIGHT: Mystical Philosophy and Transcendence

1. Why is Faqir Chand's experiences important in understanding the projective nature of religious visions and miracles?

Faqir Chand’s experiences are very important in understanding the projective nature of religious visions and miracles. Firstly, the stories and incidents in the book are very real and touching, and Faqir Chand’s narration is very persuasive and influential. As revealed in the book, “The Unknowing Sage: The Life and Work of Faqir Chand”, the stories have adopted a first person point of view to narrate the life and experience of Faqir Chand. He has experienced disappointment and lots of medidations, but finally he has come to the state and arrive that “the illusory nature of religious visions, the limitation of knowledge, both rational and transmundane, and the principle that the ego/self/soul is the real cause of man’s unenlightened state”. (p95) He believed that “the phenomena of manifestations is the main cause of religious exploitation of the ignorant devotees”. (p79)

2. What is meant by the phrase, "philosophy done well is science; philosophy done poorly remains philosophy."

When philosophy could be tested and believed by a great range of person, I think it could become science, which is firmly believed by the general public. However, when philosophy only stays in the theory condition and could not persuade others to follow, or when the principles in some philosophical theories could not be observed or tested by science, as revealed in the film, “The Remainder Conjecture” that “if something is genuinely beyond science’s reach, it will invariably show up as a remainder”.

4.         Have you done all of the required reading? Be specific

I have almost done all of the required reading. The book I have not completely finished is Einstein’s Wastebasket, because it is hard and could not be skimmed or skipped. 

5.         Have you watched all of the required films? Be specific

Yes, I have watched all of the required films, because most of them are very short, but very helpful for us to answer the essay questions each week. If the books could provide the basic theories, the videos could provide us with more vivid illustrations. However, before the completion of the final exam, I found that I have neglected the film about “HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY Part Two”, and I am watching it now for the exam questions.

6.         What is the theme behind the Disneyland of Consciousness?

The Disneyland of Consciousness is a very interesting short video. It told the viewers that we could easily be tricked by our brains and consciousness. For example, we might be deceived by the external and internal factors, and believed that the speech of Lincoln, the pirates in the adventurous trips, etc., are all real, instead of some projections or something fake. When we are asleep, we would also be fooled by our brain that as if what we experienced in the dream is real. To sum up, in many cases, our mind could not be trusted entirely. In the video, consciousness is compared to a flow of water, through a lots of processes and procedures in our brain which are still unaware.

7.         Is Consciousness physical? Explain your answer (pro or con). Be sure to substantiate your argument.

No, I do not think so. As mentioned above, in the video “The Disneyland of Consciousness”, it is said that “consciousness is not a thing, but it’s process is as fluid as a cascading down Niagara falls”. It is not something real, something could be touched or be totally examined by science. It is a very complex process including lots of parts in our body and brain. Nowadays, we still could not be aware of the flow of conscious in our body, and we still could be tricked by it. In another video, “Consciousness as a Mobius Strip”, it is stated that consciousness is “the context not the content of what is experienced”. It could not be totally explained or represented by some physical objects.  

8.         Do you believe we are living in a computer simulation? Be sure to research your answer before detailing your response.

Though I do not want to believe this, however, I could not find evidence to disprove this statement. Maybe we are living in a computer simulation, but as a part of this whole simulation world, we could not distinguish it. As we have explored in the first several weeks, in a universe of multiple dimensions, maybe as a human being from lower dimension, we could not totally understand the whole universe from a higher dimension, and we are only living in a simulation or a game of some more advanced beings. As mentioned in the book, “Is the Universe An App”, it is stated that “the universe is the result of a computational simulation and, as such, is an incredibly rich and detailed illusion which has ultimately tricked us into believing otherwise.” We could be tricked by our brains and consciousness, and maybe all our experiences are based on the manipulation of our consciousness. Maybe we are living in someone’s dream, but since we could not wake up on our own, we could never know the answer.

9.         What is Issac Asimov’s theory of self-reflective awareness (hint: it is in the film, The Sandcastle of awareness).

In the video, “The Sandcastle of awareness”, Issac Asimov has compared our awareness to a sandcastle. On one hand, these castles are all made from sand. On the other hand, with different structures or architectural designs, the castles could be totally different from each other, like tunnels, splendid towels, and so forth. That is to say, our awareness is composed by the small units of similar things, like “neurons dendrites, and chemical signals”, but these units could not represent the whole picture. Our awareness is more than the constituent parts.

10.       Why does Patricia Churchland favor a “neural” theory of pain versus a “soul” theory of it?

This explanation could be found in “The Wisdom Tooth”. It is very interesting and informative. Firstly, it has illustrated the principles hided behind the pain of a tooth provided by the neuroscientists, including the sodium-potassium pump and the reflection process. Then, it explains why the novocaines could block this pain signal. The The most interesting part is that the narrator has proposed a question that if novocaines could block the process of soul, which is not physical at all. Patricia Churchland believed that the answer should be no, and claimed that “soul theory is floundering because there is no soul”.

11.       Note: the following is an extra credit question: What flaws did the author find in Jeffrey Kripal’s paranormal arguments? Hint: it is in the chapter Understanding the Improbable in the required text DIGITAL PHILOSOPHY.

Jeffrey Kripal’s paranormal argument is, according to the “Digital Philosophy”, that “paranormal stories are not untainted or virginal in their retelling”, and “there are fundamental ambiguities inherent in the experiences themselves.” (p37) Lane has criticized such an argument. He believed that “the real thorn in Kripal’s claw is the diminishing impact that the humanities in general have in shaping intellectual discourse today, especially as the hard sciences have emerged as having a much greater influence” (p40) and “he mistakenly believes that we need to divorce the consciousness from its material corpus” (p42).

12.       Why is the book dead? Do you agree or disagree with the film?

As revealed in the video “The Codex Funeral”, the narrator believed that “the book is dead, and we are witnessing the funeral of the codex”. Firstly, the functions provided by the book could be totally replaced by the digital ones. For example, the languages or the signals, the vocabularies, the representation of ideas, could all be revealed in the digital versions.  The narrator also quoted Negroponte in his book, “Being Digital” that “if it is not on the net, it doesn’t exist”. Secondly, because of more connections with digital environments, we are changing to be multitask, focusing more on the interactive elements, and the immersing experiences, which could provide by digital world, instead of by the paper version of books. Our habits are changing, and we are “entertaining ourselves to death”, quote Bozeman as saying.

13.       Why is Faqir Chand’s life and work so important in understanding the illusory nature of religious visions? Be sure to give two examples from his life and work to back up your answer.

Faqir Chand’s life and work is important in understanding the illusory nature of religious visions because he had narrated his own experiences, in order to indicate its illusory natures. He is very honesty in doing so. The first example is that in the beginning, Faqir was a firm believer of the mystical experiences and religious life. However, when he decided to have a glimpse of God, stop eating for a whole day, he became sick, and he illusorily felt that someone was giving him water and food. He actually saw the “Shiv Brat Lal as an incarnation of the Lord”. The second example was that Faqir finally believed that his experience or his visionary encounters are “nothing but subtle obstructions of maya” after his reflection upon the sources of manifestations.

14.       What is the remainder conjecture?

As revealed in the video, “Remainder Conjecture”, it stresses “that we exhaust any and all physical explanations first before succumbing to what Paul Kurz called the transcendental temptation where we prematurely jump ship and opt for supermundane explanations for erstwhile mundane events”, and “in other words, if something is genuinely beyond science’s reach, it will invariably show up as a remainder”. In my own words, if something could not be explained by scientists from all the fields, including physics, biology, chemistry and so forth, after all such explorations, we could finally get the conclusion that we are unsure or unknown, or it is a soul matter, a philosophy but not science.

15.       What is Calvino’s metaphor and how should it humble us about making absolute statements in philosophy?

Calvino’s metaphor is that people are playing with tarot cards. As described in “The Infinite Shuffle”, “every player is trying to tell other about their lives but they are stuck with only cards”. The content of only one card is not enough for us to totally understand all the information. That is to say, we only view the world from our own perspectives. Until the last card, we only know the cards in our hands. We could never really know the situations and feelings of another person. So we should be humble when we make absolute statements, because it might not be universally applicable. We are only stating our own views based on our own experiences.

16.       Why is understanding neuroscience vitally important in understanding human consciousness?

On one hand, studying neuroscience could help scientists to know the biological or physical generation of ideas, the activities of our brain, which could help philosophers to know more about conscious, souls and the generation of thoughts. On the other hand, neuroscience is a science, which could use very detailed and developed theory to define the electricity of neurons, the information way in our body, the brain activities, etc. However, consciousness is not exactly the same with the topics in neuroscience. It is far more than enough. As described in “the Oceanic Metaphor”, maybe most of the consciousness have not been explored yet.

17.       Based on the three-part film, give a 250 summation of the “history” of philosophy. Be sure to mention who was your favorite philosopher and why.

Philosophy is a comprehensive subject, including studies in mathematics, natural sciences, ethics and so forth. The western philosophy began in Greek, from Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Before these great philosophers, in the ancient times, people tended to focus on the elements of the universe, such as water, earth, air and so forth, and then the philosophers began to shift their focus to rationality. The important philosophers during that time period including Heraclitus, Democritus, Pythagoras and so forth. At that time, the mathematical relationships are very important to study the universe, especially for Pythagoras. I like this philosopher because he could be regarded as the father of mathematics in Greek philosophy. He has left great importance in the development of philosophy. As mentioned in the video, for Pythagoras, “mathematics held the key to understanding the cosmos”. I agree with this principle, and from the very simple numbers or the mathematical formulas, we could explore the principles of the whole universe. What’s more, I think it is very difficult for the ancient people to keep thinking about truth and exploring the universe, when they were still worrying about food and shelters. After these early explorers of philosophers, here comes Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. They had made their own unique contributions to the development of philosophy. The knowledge, the seeking of truth, the pursuit of democracy, the definition about justices, the rhetoric and ethics, have come into the stage. After these influential philosophers in ancient Greek, there are philosophers like Descartes, who had set the foundation for a dualist worldview, John Locke, who has explored the relationship between knowledge and experiences. The focus of philosophy has shifted from the religious meanings to the enlightenments, to logic and reason. There are also great philosophers like Nietzsche and Kant, and Marx.

18.       In the book the Circle of the Wise which philosopher did you find most agreeable? Why? Which philosopher did you find most disagreeable? Hint: which philosopher did you find yourself aligning with? Or disagreeing with?

The most agreeable philosopher I think is Joel Friedman from U.C. Davis, because he had many similar ideas with me. For example, as for the philosophical tradition, I think the analytical philosophical tradition is very meaningful. As for the most admirable ethical philosophical theory, I agree with him that Mill’s utilitarianism is very meaningful.

The most disagreeable philosopher I think may be Sircello from U.C. Irvine. Firstly, he only provided very short answers to several questions, and I think his answer is not very related with philosophy. For example, for the philosophical tradition question, he said he loved Plato, “because of his views on love and beauty are quite similar to my own”. I do not think such attitude is proper to study philosophy, which is a quite logical and analytical subject.

19.       Compare and contrast three philosophers and their respective answers in the book Circle of the Wise.

I have chosen the question that “do you think artificial intelligence will equal or surpass human intelligence”. Firstly, for Adams from U.C. Los Angeles, I think his answer is quite neutral. In my own words, he believed that in some aspects, artificial intelligent or technology has already surpassed human beings, while in some other aspects, they could never surpass human beings. Churchland from U.C. San Diego has provided a much positive answer. He believed that “in the fairly near future for artificial intelligence to exceed the humans in many dimensions”. Dreyfus from U.C. Berkeley is quite an expert on this issue because he has already written two books on this subject. He believed that there are two kinds of A.I., first “using computers that were called physical symbol systems”, and second “using computers doing what is called simulated neural networks”. However, both kinds could not “produce full human intelligence”.

20.       What was your favorite film this semester?

My favorite film this semester is “The Oceanic Metaphor”. Though it is not directly related with what we have learned about neurosciences or about consciousness, but it is very inspiring that for human beings, about the vast ocean or about the vast universe, what we have learned is only a small portion. It encouraged us to keep learning and keep exploring. Also, it could serve as a metaphor that for ourselves, for the self-awareness or the consciousness and unconsciousness, as the iceberg metaphor of Freud, there is a lot of things unknown to human beings.

21.       What was your favorite reading this semester?

My favorite reading this semester is “Is The Universe an App?”. It is interesting because it has close connections with our own life. For example, App is a newly invented term and we use these apps on our smart phones every day. This is a very interesting comparison. For example, when we are in a dream or when we are awake, maybe “we are living in a simulation created by a neural network that has billions of on/off nodes tied in with trillions of synaptic clefts, all of which creates worlds upon worlds within our own skulls.” (p106) By narrating what is real and what is not, the process of computer simulation, the author really pushed the readers to reflect on their own existence.

22.       If you have done extra credit, please list it here and write a 100 word analysis of each extra credit assignment.