Definitely Godel, Escher, Bach if you haven’t already.
Consciousness is pretty damn weird and no one seems to have much of a handle on it
That sums up the current state of knowledge. What does it mean to be an “observer”?
I assume by “consciousness” you mean the hard problem of consciousness, i.e. why do I have subjective awareness at all. The “easy” problem, how other people’s brains cause them to do stuff, is fairly well-covered by standard neuroscience texts.
Which was sort of my question: Do I have a whole lot to gain by reading the current information available? Will I obtain valuable insights on things, or even be rather entertained? Or am I just gonna end up in the same place, but with a deeper respect for how difficult it is to figure things out?
It looks like I’m maybe half a dozen books further down the consciousness reading list than you are. I am beginning to suspect that consciousness is a fruitlessly interesting subject. It’s hard to think about, and it appeals directly to our personal experience, but reading about it doesn’t imbue you with fantastic mental powers.
I think a rough background in theories of consciousness, free will, personal identity, etc. are useful for reasoning about related thorny subjects, such as political or legal philosophy. Also a lot of the orbital cognitive science forms a useful set of case studies for how your brain can go wrong, which is incidentally useful when reasoning about cognitive biases and the like. But you’re probably right in thinking that reading all the available material is a lot of work to cover very little distance.
If you’re going to do Hofstadter on consciousness, I Am A Strange Loop is a little more on-point than GEB. GEB is quite good, but most of its pagecount is devoted to an extended exploration of formal grammars and self-reference more generally, which is relevant but mainly as background.
In that case, just read the dialogues (every other chapter) -- they’re funny, easy to read, and pretty cool. The other parts are kind of dry, and all the good ideas are in the dialogues anyway. Long division is not required, and it’s probably easier than the philosophy recommendations you’ll get.
I’m scared to try GEB.
Look, do what you enjoy, and don’t bother with what you don’t enjoy. That’s what worthwhile people want to see. People like real people and are creeped out by superheroes. It’s ok.
Everyone: I am ignorant of many things! In fact, often I’m downright stupid! I have several harmful habits, including unhealthy and socially off-putting ones! I once got a D in a math class! Sometimes I lack self-awareness! I’m too old to be a mathematician!
Definitely Godel, Escher, Bach if you haven’t already.
That sums up the current state of knowledge. What does it mean to be an “observer”?
I assume by “consciousness” you mean the hard problem of consciousness, i.e. why do I have subjective awareness at all. The “easy” problem, how other people’s brains cause them to do stuff, is fairly well-covered by standard neuroscience texts.
Which was sort of my question: Do I have a whole lot to gain by reading the current information available? Will I obtain valuable insights on things, or even be rather entertained? Or am I just gonna end up in the same place, but with a deeper respect for how difficult it is to figure things out?
It looks like I’m maybe half a dozen books further down the consciousness reading list than you are. I am beginning to suspect that consciousness is a fruitlessly interesting subject. It’s hard to think about, and it appeals directly to our personal experience, but reading about it doesn’t imbue you with fantastic mental powers.
I think a rough background in theories of consciousness, free will, personal identity, etc. are useful for reasoning about related thorny subjects, such as political or legal philosophy. Also a lot of the orbital cognitive science forms a useful set of case studies for how your brain can go wrong, which is incidentally useful when reasoning about cognitive biases and the like. But you’re probably right in thinking that reading all the available material is a lot of work to cover very little distance.
If you’re going to do Hofstadter on consciousness, I Am A Strange Loop is a little more on-point than GEB. GEB is quite good, but most of its pagecount is devoted to an extended exploration of formal grammars and self-reference more generally, which is relevant but mainly as background.
I’m scared to try GEB. I can barely do long division these days. :P
In that case, just read the dialogues (every other chapter) -- they’re funny, easy to read, and pretty cool. The other parts are kind of dry, and all the good ideas are in the dialogues anyway. Long division is not required, and it’s probably easier than the philosophy recommendations you’ll get.
Look, do what you enjoy, and don’t bother with what you don’t enjoy. That’s what worthwhile people want to see. People like real people and are creeped out by superheroes. It’s ok.
Everyone: I am ignorant of many things! In fact, often I’m downright stupid! I have several harmful habits, including unhealthy and socially off-putting ones! I once got a D in a math class! Sometimes I lack self-awareness! I’m too old to be a mathematician!
Be real. Be open. Good luck.