Being No One
by Thomas Metzinger · first published 2003
45% recommend55% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Dense philosophy of mind on the self-model theory of subjectivity, arguing that the sense of a unified self is a constructed representation. Suited to readers who want to explore consciousness and the self seriously.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"In Being No One, Metzinger, a German philosopher, draws strongly on neuroscientific research to present a representationalist and functional analysis of what a consciously experienced first-person perspective actually is. Building a bridge between the humanities and the empirical sciences of the mind, he develops new conceptual toolkits and metaphors; uses case studies of unusual states of mind such as agnosia, neglect, blindsight, and hallucinations; and offers new sets of multilevel constraints for the concept of consciousness. Metzinger's central question is: How exactly does strong, cons
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…consciousness required for intelligent behavior? Unless you include consciousness as part of the definition of intelligent, it is not an easy question. Somewhat on that topic I’d highly recommend the book Being no One by Thomas Metzinger
on “Consciousness and Anaesthesia” ↗There are actually highly interesting developments at the intersection of philosophy and neuroscience, one of them being the works of Thomas Metzinger (see, e.g., http://www.amazon.com/Being-No-One-Self-Model-Subjectivity/d...). It's simply wrong to state that research into consciousness is at the state of "it emerges from neural activity".
on “No, really—consciousness is worth thinking about” ↗…consciousness has been so easily dismissed without knowing something about it (beyond a youtube video). Some works that I found particularly inspiring (and well-thought) are Thomas Metzinger's work, e.g., Being No One http://www.amazon.com/Being-No-One-Self-Model-Subjectivity/d..., for the layman Antonio Damasio's work, Christof Koch, Francisco Varela, just to mention a few.
on “No, really—consciousness is worth thinking about” ↗Metzinger, Being No One (2004) may be just the step forward to which you refer. The prereflexive sense of self (as, say, a point-source of will and identity) is empirically inaccurate and faulty, and Metzinger attacks philosophy…
on “The Problem of Mindfulness” ↗Yes, Blindsight is also the book that pointed me towards Metzinger’s Being No One.
on “The Illusion of AI’s Existential Risk” ↗I can recommend Being No One, by Thomas Metzinger, for essays. For sci-fi, have a look at Blindsight, by Peter Watts (for free on his website: Https://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.html)
on “What is it like to be a thermostat? (1996)” ↗…feel like there's conceptually no reason someone couldn't build a conscious AI very soon. [1] https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/thomas-metzinger/th... & https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262633086/being-no-one/
on “No, Artificial Intelligence is not Conscious - Ted Chiang” ↗Thomas Metzinger would agree with the assessment that we are a hallucination of a self and that we are Being No One.
on “On ChatGPT” ↗I'm struggling to find the exact passage, but in Thomas Metzinger's Being No One, he brings up a similar concept in regard to lucid dreaming. There we find ourselves with access to the full spectrum of experience that we are capable of mentally modeling without regard to what is physically…
on “Virtual Reality Can Leave You with an Existential Hangover” ↗…anthropomorphism. Argument about conscious Google spam is quite unfair and unwarranted. In fact, if you actually consider what Metzinger has to say about necessary conditions for consciousness (for example in "Being No One" or "The Ego Tunnel"), then obviously Google spam is nothing like that. Either way it seems to me that it may be better to err on the side of not making conscious AI in the first place rather than unintentionally…
on “Dissolving the Fermi Paradox [pdf]” ↗…you just think you are. Well, you think you think you are. Think you think you think you think you... and yep, this is what we call consciousness. I finished reading Strange Loop recently, I think 'Being No One' by Metzinger is more pithy though.
on “What is it like to be a crab?” ↗…means, and what at the same time generates the intuitive roots of the mind-body problem: the human self-model treats the target system as subject and object at the same time. [...] from Chapter 6 of "Being No One: The Self-Model Theory of Subjectivity" by Thomas Metzinger. ___ Also worth looking into are the similar explanations on concisousness-as-self-model (in a simulation generated by our brain) by Joscha…
on “Feral Minds” ↗…discussion. The referenced article is consistent with the work of Thomas Metzinger who wrote a very accessible book called “The Ego Tunnel” as a follow on to his more detailed and scholarly treatise “Being No One” He introduced me to the ideas in this paper that he induced from his own observations of his “mystical” experiences. It is fascinating to realize these self models exist in a wide variety of animals…
on “How Did Consciousness Evolve? (2016)” ↗