Problem 2: some trade-offs are carried out by extremely simple mechanisms with no connection to sentience. In tiny nematode worms, simple interactions between just 2-3 neurons responding directly to chemical concentrations can explain certain trade-off behaviours (7/11) - ThreadSky

About ThreadSky

simonabbrown.bsky.social • 2 days ago

Problem 2: some trade-offs are carried out by extremely simple mechanisms with no connection to sentience. In tiny nematode worms, simple interactions between just 2-3 neurons responding directly to chemical concentrations can explain certain trade-off behaviours (7/11)

Comments

simonabbrown.bsky.social•2 days ago

Problem 3: As I previously pointed out (https://doi.org/10.51291/2377-7478.1749), states like pain can make some trade-offs *harder* rather than explaining them: it's easier to rationally weigh up the risks and benefits of a surgical procedure when you are not acutely experiencing the problem (8/11)

simonabbrown.bsky.social•2 days ago

Yet we do sometimes perform trade-offs by weighing up how good and bad experiences feel to us. So a trade-off *can* be evidence for sentience. Key is distinguishing possible mechanisms, and showing this trade-off is explained by a sentience-involving mechanism (9/11)

simonabbrown.bsky.social•2 days ago

One big message here: the role sentience plays in decision-making may be much more subtle and complex than providing a 'common currency' for evaluating different options. It likely has different effects on attention, learning, deliberation etc. over different timescales...(10/11)

simonabbrown.bsky.social•2 days ago

By paying attention to such effects on the dynamics of decision-making, and combining with other consciousness research, future research could find ways of teasing apart mechanisms, thereby providing much stronger trade-off-based evidence for sentience in different animals (11/11)

cbonard.bsky.social•2 days ago

Super interesting, thanks for the great summary!

Posting Rules

Be respectful to others
No spam or self-promotion
Stay on topic
Follow Bluesky's terms of service

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply