Tommaso Nervegna Nervegna من عند Quarter, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire ML3، المملكة المتحدة من عند Quarter, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire ML3، المملكة المتحدة

Kekonyolan Tom nggak begitu berasa ya. Maklumlah, ratusan halaman mesti dipadatkan menajdi sekian puluh halaman sahaja...

Otto is a character created by Dennett to help him explain his subject. Otto represents Everyman who thinks that there is a uniform reality out there which we perceive directly. Otto believes that somewhere inside his head is a representation of realty that he can identify and explore - the Cartesian Theater, of Descarte's fame. Dennett doesn’t agree and hopes to convince you, and me and Otto that there is an alternative explanation. I invited Otto to join me in this book review. OTTO: so, how did you like the book? ME: It was difficult, but I think it is an important book. I am a beginner in this field, but it seems that many authors refer to Dennett’s ideas about consciousness as being critical to understanding the materialistic approach. OTTO: Do you think you could understand it? ME: I am not as smart as Dennett, and I haven’t spent the last 40 years studying various aspects of consciousness! While he can easily use dozens of familiar concepts to explain his theories, I have to learn each concept for the first time and try to fit it into my own perceptual framework. To use a photographic analogy, if Dennett’s book were a snapshot, it would be 10 megapixels but I was only able to read 1.2 megapixels. OTTO: So, can you summarize his main point? ME: I think that the entire book is an argument against the Cartesian Theater model of consciousness. More than just arguing against it, however, Dennett shows us how it is possible to have consciousness without a “Witness” or a “Central Meaner” inside our heads. Moreover he touches on one of my favorite subjects, the self, and both affirms and denies its existence in a way consistent with my own introspective analysis - as by the Buddha (but he never mentions the Buddha, only refers to those who use their own personal introspection to draw conclusions about consciousness). OTTO: I can’t believe that you agree with him. The fact that I exist is so obvious. I am obviously a person with a self. How could it be otherwise? ME: Otto, I hate to break it to you, but you are a fictional character created by Dr. Dennett. You really don’t exist at all! OTTO: Arrrgghh. And you brought me along just to tell me that? How could you be so insensitive? ME: Sorry, I didn’t think you’d take it so personally. I don’t have the self that I think I have, either, if that makes you feel better, but I do understand better now how we come to think we have selves and how we can come to have consciousness without a soul and without having a “person” inside us doing the perceiving for us. At the simplest level, if we accept the Cartesian Theater and there is a “witness” inside us observing ourselves and our world and interpreting the world for us, then we still have the problem of explaining how that happens. Dennett seeks to help avoid the infinite regression to which such a theory would lead. He explains how it can happen with the brain that we have and with the conceptual tools available to us.