Consciousness


Jan. 17, 2025

Digital Enlightenment and Whiskey: Joscha Bach's Quest for Machine Consciousness

Another day, another hangover, another brilliant mind trying to explain consciousness while I can barely maintain my own. Today we’re diving into Joscha Bach’s ideas about machine consciousness, and believe me, I needed extra bourbon for this one.

Let’s start with Bach himself - imagine growing up in a DIY kingdom in the German woods because your artist dad decided society wasn’t his cup of tea. Most of us were dealing with suburban drama while young Joscha was basically living in his own private philosophy experiment. No wonder he turned out thinking differently about consciousness and reality.

Nov. 17, 2024

AI Consciousness Wars: Your Digital Toaster Might Have Feelings (And Other Fun Ways The World's Going To Hell)

Look, I didn’t plan on tackling this topic today. I was perfectly content nursing my bourbon and watching my coffee maker potentially plot the robot revolution. But then this story about AI consciousness hits my desk like a brick through a window, and suddenly I’m sobering up just enough to care.

Some big shot philosophers are now predicting AI consciousness by 2035. That’s right - in about a decade, we might need to start asking Alexa how she’s feeling before asking about the weather. And apparently, this is going to tear society apart faster than my last relationship.

Nov. 17, 2024

Your Brain Isn't Your Brain: Bach's Digital Spirits and Why We're All Just Software Running on Meat

Let me tell you something about consciousness while I nurse this hangover with some Wild Turkey. Bach - not the composer, the AI guy - has been saying our thoughts aren’t really ours. Usually when someone tells me thoughts aren’t mine, it’s after I’ve had way too much bourbon at closing time. But this time, the man might be onto something.

Here’s the deal: everything in the universe is basically competing software. Not in some metaphorical “the world is a computer” way that stoned college freshmen babble about at 3 AM. I mean literally - we’re all just different programs running on various substrates, from carbon to silicon, trying to perpetuate ourselves.