Re: quick question

Posted by Nick Thompson on
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/quick-question-tp3037681p3065470.html

Oh dear.  I have to read bedau again.  

Gawd what a muddle.  

Back to you in a few days.  

Nick

Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology,
Clark University ([hidden email])
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/




> [Original Message]
> From: russell standish <[hidden email]>
> To: <[hidden email]>; The Friday Morning Applied Complexity
Coffee Group <[hidden email]>

> Date: 6/12/2009 3:17:44 PM
> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] quick question
>
> On Thu, Jun 11, 2009 at 07:01:38PM -0600, Nicholas Thompson wrote:
> > Steve,
> >
> > My understanding of the meaning of "strong" emergence is "inexplicable
> > emergence".  
> >
> > Is there another meaning?
> >
> > N
>
> Bedau defines it as emergence with downward causation. For example, we
would say

> that consciousness is strongly emergent if we felt that we could
> consciously influence the activities of our neurons, rather than
> simply our consciousness simply being the result of neuronal activity.
>
> I'm not sure this notion has any use in discussions other than
> consciousness, and even there the notion of epiphenomenalism would say
> that it is void concept.
>
> Cheers
>
> --
>
>
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