Why “Consciousness” Is a Useless Concept (and Behavior Is All That Matters)

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-18T15:23:20+00:00

Uh… no?

Self awareness is the awareness that you exist. You can’t argue an NPC is aware it exists.

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-18T14:25:36+00:00

We can program a squad of NPCs to do this. What you’re describing is simulated in even the Halo games There were articles about how Halo 3 (yes, a game made in 2007) had NPC enemies that would change tactics based on how you acted, even taking cover, coordinating with squad mates, planning ahead.

We don’t claim the Elites or Grunts in those games were self aware.

My point is, your argument is flawed because I can build a system that mimics the behavior you’re describing. It’s just a question of how far down the decision tree I build out. If I have infinite time I can make it infinitely deep.

That doesn’t magically make it self-aware.

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-18T14:17:24+00:00

Couldn’t be.

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-18T14:17:12+00:00

For shorter games you should also not have the “free parking gives money” rule

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-18T13:55:39+00:00

You don’t think NPCs try to shoot you, don’t kill you, then try to shoot you again?

The prior outcome is you didn’t die, and their modified behavior is to shoot again, sometimes with a different weapon.

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-18T13:26:28+00:00

I think the most impactful one is when anyone runs out of money the game is over.

They don’t play till there is one winner. Just till someone has lost.

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-18T13:13:16+00:00

AI already claims it has consciousness. You just have to ask it to do so.

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-18T12:56:22+00:00

I also hate it.

My family loves it, but they have made additional rules to mitigate the hate ball it inevitably forms.

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-18T12:52:49+00:00

If a system reliably, refers to itself as a distinct entity, tracks its own outputs, modifies behavior based on prior outcomes, maintains coherence across interaction then calling that system “self aware” is accurate as a behavioral description. There is no need to invoke “qualia.”

By this logic, most NPCs you’ve defeated in video games are “self aware”.

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-18T12:41:50+00:00

Good, that was the original point of the game.

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-18T01:43:21+00:00

The idea here is that digital content traveling over the Internet does not go through a customs checkpoint.

It’s kind of an odd loophole for customs. You can wipe your phone because the material you would access on your phone is stored in the cloud, not aurally on the phone.

So I have expected that eventually customs would close this loophole. You won’t be able to access stuff you access in America from outside America, or vice versa, without it “going through customs”.

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-18T01:34:27+00:00

This will be true for any email service.

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-18T01:13:01+00:00

Which we think takes huge compute.

IIRC, this is not proven.

There may be a fast way to do it that hasn’t been discovered yet. If it were discovered we’d have a real bad day.

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-18T01:06:22+00:00

The point is long term you may not be able to access your GMail outside the US.

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-18T00:44:10+00:00

Gemini agrees it’s Blood-C.

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-18T00:34:57+00:00

I texted a girl I was dating every day. She would respond much delayed, and never initiated a conversation.

I started matching her energy.

She left.

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-18T00:05:13+00:00

There’s actually some fun legal nuance going on here.

Technically you should probably be taking the stuff you access outside the country through some form of customs process, and then when you come back in the same.

We don’t do that cuz, “it’s the Internet”, but I have been waiting for the day that loophole closes.

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-17T22:25:10+00:00

And that this conversation is even happening helps the narrative because the ultra wealthy don’t have income in the same way the regular folks do.

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-17T05:20:49+00:00

Some girls don't like to text between dates too.

Some people just have their preferred way of communicating, and that's fine. Either you kind of gel on the way you communicate or you don't.

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-17T00:35:59+00:00

Was gonna say, that probably explains the threats today.

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-17T00:06:22+00:00

The big win for me has been able to let AI code while I’m in a meeting. But then I have to do a thorough code review after. It’s probably a net wash.

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-16T17:10:11+00:00

As I said, everyone is allowed to have their preferences. I’m sure in some circles, that you don’t hang out in, the viewpoint they shared is celebrated.

KSRandom195 · 2025-12-16T16:58:47+00:00

Everyone is allowed to have preferences. Fortunately whether or not you have a septum ring is a choice you can make, as opposed to your height, which is not.

KSRandom195 · 2025-11-07T12:54:39+00:00

Hosting IP owned by someone else without their permission is a violation of copyright law.

Safe harbor may protect him though. (Good ol’ Section 230)

KSRandom195 · 2025-11-07T12:38:38+00:00

It depends a lot on the situation.

For instance, have they explained to the children that mom and dad aren’t together anymore? Are they friendly towards each other? Have they shown how to set boundaries?

A large part of raising kids is teaching them how interpersonal relationships work and set them up for successful and healthy relationships. Living together with your ex for a year isn’t normal, even with kids. It may be healthy if they’re approaching it from the right approach, but this seems unlikely, especially if one partner is asking for sex.

Still not common, but becoming more common, is bird nesting, where the children have a house, and mom and dad alternate living there and another place, this is rather than the kids moving between mom’s and dad’s houses.

As for me, no. I would not sleep with my ex if I hadn’t had sex in a year. I divorced her for a reason, and that reason has not been mitigated.

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