From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!torn!watserv2.uwaterloo.ca!watdragon.uwaterloo.ca!logos.uwaterloo.ca!cpshelle Fri Sep  4 09:41:00 EDT 1992
Article 6696 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: cpshelle@logos.uwaterloo.ca (cameron shelley)
Subject: Re: what is consciousness for?
Message-ID: <BtJJ7x.1AL@watdragon.uwaterloo.ca>
Sender: news@watdragon.uwaterloo.ca (USENET News System)
Organization: University of Waterloo
References: <1992Aug23.231434.28446@mp.cs.niu.edu>
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1992 13:09:31 GMT

rickert@mp.cs.niu.edu (Neil Rickert) writes:
> In article <BtG0Eq.KBz@watdragon.uwaterloo.ca> cpshelle@logos.uwaterloo.ca (cameron shelley) writes:
[...]
> >                                                  It seems that
> >conscious learning is [not] really learning per se, but lubrication for
> >unconscious learning.
> 
> I've taken the liberty to add the word "not" above.  I'm guessing that
> was what you were intending to say.

Yes, it was.  Thank you.

> To a large extent I agree.  I
> believe unconscious learning is vitally important, and a major function
> of consciousness is to expedite unconscious learning.  This might seem
> to contradict my comments on formal structure and conscious learning.
> But the formal structures of conscious knowledge are usually encoded
> linguistically, and the unconscious can learn to recognize the patterns
> of associated words without regard to whether they represent a formal
> structure or not.

By "encoded linguistically" I take you to mean for the purpose of
communication.  I've often thought that linguistic communication
represents the `flip' side of consciousness: awareness of others.  If
theories of conversation such as Grice's are on the right track, then
the purpose of communication is largely cooperation with others.  But
I digress...

> I would say that conscious learning is less accurate than unconscious
> learning.  Perhaps this is because it is rapid, so based on less
> experience.  As for rapidity of conscious learning, this is due to
> consciousness providing a feedback system which reinforces learning.
> That is, since we are aware of our conscious thoughts, they are in
> effect recycled as input, and this constitutes a reinforcing
> feedback.

I find the idea of consciousness as feedback quite interesting.  But
it does seem to render the term "conscious learning" something of a
misnomer.  And if the consciousness does represent feedback for the
unconscious mind, how does that imply it should have a more formal
representation?  If they are so closely related, how does
consciousness abstract the representation of unconscious knowledge?

</dev/cam
--
      Cameron Shelley        |"In the beginning, there was nothing.  Then
cpshelle@logos.uwaterloo.ca  | God said `Let there be light', and there
    Davis Centre Rm 2136     | was still nothing, but youse could see it."
 Phone (519) 885-1211 x3390  | --Dave Thomas, SCTV:_Sunrise Semester_


