So you would treat a progeria child patient as an elderly citizen? — TheMadFool

You're confusing chronological age and biological age.

I'm also a bit (actually a lot) troubled by the fact that a sizeable percentage of criminals have low IQ. — TheMadFool

We only know the criminals who get caught, and it's more likely that the police will catch the dumbest ones first, who are also more likely to commit a crime because they think that they will get away with it.

some of her colleagues were wrong. — Marchesk

Then they made fun of her because she looked like a nerd with her new glasses

First, awareness, then self-awareness, then awareness of self-awareness?

Would you ask the same question if someone hit their dog? Is the dog even conscious?

Why is it self-evident for you that the dog is capable of suffering, but you start to wonder about the housefly?

Do you also think about the clear definition of consciousness with the dog? — SolarWind

When I step outside, it is self-evident that the Sun is going around a flat Earth, which most of us know not to be true. It seems to me that non-human animals are not bio-machines, so I assume that they
have consciousness, but it doesn't make it true. But let's assume it's true, is animal consciousness the same as human consciousness? There are just too many elements in the definition of consciousness to answer the question with a simple yes or no. There's also a wide variety of animals with different types of brains, brain/body ratio, etc...Are animals sentient? Are they capable of introspection? In my opinion, trying to answer specifics will give a better picture than lumping everything together into one big question.

Simple questions: Does a housefly have consciousness? — SolarWind

Difficult to answer without a clear definition of what consciousness is.
The author of a neuroscience book I read defined consciousness as "the ensemble of all mental experiences ". Is it what we are talking about, or just some of these experiences? Like self-awareness for example.

Here's the five senses in order of importance for humans:
Sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.

No wonder touch is the one you seem to have issues with.

us anosmic (smell deficient) animals. — Gnomon

Anosmic refers to anosmia which is a condition that has to do with losing the sense of smell partially or completely.

Microsmatic is probably a better term, it describes an under developed sense of smell.

Category error? — TheMadFool

What do you mean?

surely their imagination can't be in images - they lack sight — TheMadFool

You can be born blind and still have a visual cortex. In absence of visual stimuli from the eyes, I'm quite sure the brain will have reallocated the space to process other senses, and because the visual cortex is meant to give you images, blind people may be seeing sounds, and not just in dreams but also when they're awake.

References — TheMadFool

For lucid dreaming
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_LaBerge

His first book is really popular.

Even hallucinations aren't that complete. That's the point I believe — TheMadFool

There are different degrees of hallucinations. They can be incomplete but some are complete enough to make you think they're real without any doubt. That's the point I'm interested in.

Different topic I believe.
— Vince
Why did you bring it up? — TheMadFool

I was referring to this:

There's the possibility that life could be a dream and then to realize that would qualify as a lucid dream. — TheMadFool

The "life could be a dream" thing. I don't think that, and that's a different conversation.

You're onto something or so I feel. — TheMadFool

Indeed, I find the dream world fascinating.

I wonder if introverts tend to have more vivid imaginations, since introverts tend to be more withdrawn. A friend of mine with aphantasia is very uninhibited. TheMadFool comes off as a quite uninhibited extrovert as well. — Yohan

I used inhibited regarding the senses, in terms of restriction of perception. The uninhibition your describe is related to restriction of actions. Is there a correlation between both? I don't know.

So you're saying that when you imagine yourself touching a rock with your hand, you can actually feel the rock i.e. your hands register sensations? — TheMadFool

I can imagine the sensation, but my hand is not actually feeling it, if it was the case it would be called a hallucination.

There's the possibility that life could be a dream and then to realize that would qualify as a lucid dream. — TheMadFool

Different topic I believe.

What's your point though? — TheMadFool

I mentioned lucid dreaming in response to this:

Yes, it's possible that dreams could be experienced in all sensory modalities although I haven't come across any documented cases of such instances. I have my doubts. — TheMadFool

A lot of people, can remember having all sensory modalities during regular dreams after they wake up. In lucid dreams, sensations can be examined carefully at the same time as they are experienced. The result is a highly accurate recreation of reality as far as the senses are concerned. My point is that the more your senses are inhibited as they are in dreams or inside a sensory deprivation tank, the more your brain is taking over to recreate/hallucinate reality accurately. When you senses are uninhibited, you get the opposite effect.

My question, however, is why are we incapable of deliberately switching on all the senses when we daydream to produce an experience indistinguishable from reality itself? — TheMadFool

Because the perception of reality interferes with the capacity to daydream vividly, reducing it to the necessary elements. I can daydream all the senses but mostly one at a time. You seem to have an issue imagining particular sensations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia

If you can't decide which word is best then you could use "woke". It's popular these days and there are only four letters.

Touché. — Xtrix

That was easy :smile:

I am not a native English speaker but I believe both words are used interchangeably in popular language.

However, I think their definitions are different. Awareness relates to knowledge, consciousness to a mental state, conscious/unconscious.

As far as I’m aware — Xtrix

Would it mean the same thing to you if you replaced "aware" with "conscious"?

I'm doing the same experiment and I can "feel" the texture of the sandstone. I have touched sandstone before so I believe I'm using the memory of it.

Also, I have had many lucid dreams in my life.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_dream
At first glance, the whole experience is indistinguishable from the woken state, until you start scrutinizing your perceptions. For example, one time I tried to look at visual details and they became blurry.
So why is my brain capable of recreating a very accurate image of reality when I'm dreaming but not when I'm awake?
I think it's simply because the perception of reality primes over imaginary perception. Try sensory deprivation. Lock yourself in a dark room for a week or more, and you'll find yourself in the Sahara touching sandstone.(or you'll turn into an ape like William Hurt in Altered States)

Why? What is the definition of language? — TheMadFool

I believe language applies to complex forms of communication that use words, syntax and are able to express the most abstract thoughts.

He says that he wants to reach out to as many people as possible and that meant, for him, he was not to utter a single word. Why? — TheMadFool

The obvious answer that comes to mind is that the persons he's trying to reach don't all speak the same language.

The question is how does Khaby Lame's tactic/strategy fit in with your observation? — TheMadFool

He's simply doing silent comedy with the classic deadpan face. He's exposing stupidity by other means than using words.

What kinda gestures are aliens making across intergalactic space? Are gestures themselves of limited utility given how alien biology may differ from our own? How can life perform a gesture that betrays its existence? — TheMadFool

I said "form of communication" because body language is not technically a language, and "universal" was meant to apply to known life forms.

I just learned a word, kinesics, "the interpretation of body motion communication such as facial expressions and gestures, nonverbal behavior related to movement of any part of the body or the body as a whole. The equivalent popular culture term is body language", according to Wikipedia.

I like to expand the definition of body language beyond visual cues. Bodies can communicate information with sounds, whether they're simple or complex. There's also olfactive communication, and ultimately physical contact.
So if you have troubles telling an alien you mean business, just kick him in the butt, once you've found it.

I don't hear words but I see a lot of body language, which I believe to be a universal form of communication. Human bodies speak volumes, and unlike their owners, they're usually very truthful.

As one grows up to become an adult so does their brain and their intelligence, but not their IQ.
— Vince

Aren't these statements ignoring 'plasticity' - the ability of the brain to become more complex (more connections among neurons) over time? And if the brain is fully developed by the mid 20s, that surely doesn't necessitate immediate decline thereafter. No plateau? — Bitter Crank

I've reached my limit about what I know about IQ but I believe it goes down to biology and genetics. I think what an IQ test is trying to measure is (besides the ability to do IQ tests), the composition and properties of a brain, probably in terms of speed, complexity, even plasticity. However I don't believe neuroplasticity makes the brain more complex but rather that it rewires and reorganizes things so certain tasks can be executed faster and better. I believe it applies to physical tasks but also to mental tasks, hence the impression to become more intelligent even at an old age. What I believe is that there is a reallocation of resources in the brain that turn mental tasks to automatisms, just like what we call second nature in physical tasks. We might feel more intelligent as we age but we have just made our brain more efficient to do certain mental processes.

I started playing music in my late teens and I have not stopped for 35 years. Listening to music tones every day for so long is now turning most natural sounds into tones in my mind. I catch myself sometimes mentally transcribing birdsongs automatically. I've developed a very strong pitch discrimination and pitch memory, all of this without even trying.

I think there's controversy regarding the fact that your IQ can change over time, it is not supposed to, unless you are afflicted by a brain degenerative disease or you take the Einstein pill.

As one grows up to become an adult so does their brain and their intelligence, but not their IQ. As one ages, usually past the 20s, there is cognitive decline, at least in terms of concentration and speed. It is good to note that IQ tests are timed.

Given a few hours — Bitter Crank

As well as a few hundred dollars

Wikipedia also says this:

"Scores from intelligence tests are estimates of intelligence. Unlike, for example, distance and mass, a concrete measure of intelligence cannot be achieved given the abstract nature of the concept of "intelligence"

The tests correspond to your mental acuity or intelligence but aren't sufficient to estimate your absolute intelligence because mental acuity varies depending on your age. An IQ measurement is your best bet.

This might clear up a few things

https://www.quora.com/How-do-you-calculate-mental-age-based-on-your-IQ-if-the-formula-to-calculate-IQ-is-mental-age-chronological-age-x-100

Using your formulation, I would become less intelligent as I got older, even if my mental acuity stayed the same. — T Clark

Your mental acuity or intelligence is compared to the average mental acuity of a group of people of the same age as yours. If the average mental acuity of the group goes down but yours remains the same, your IQ goes up.

IQ means intelligence quotient, not intelligence.

I'm rather uncertain about this but I believe IQ=Mental Age/Bodily Age×100. — TheMadFool

This is correct

Edit: I think the terms actual age or chronological age should be used rather than bodily age. It often refers to biological age, which is about how messed up your body is for your age.

"The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain."
-Aristotle

What's the difference between a man deciding to take a back road when his regular route is obstructed by a collision to avoid the inconvenience or hassle and a virus deciding to mutate to avoid succumbing to a vaccine? — Outlander

A virus doesn't decide anything, it adapts to the environment through mutations over generations.

How is this a paradox? I see two different plausible causes that have the same effect. I don't see any contradiction. You're alone at the party because you're not on time. It would be a paradox if you're always alone at the party no matter when you show up for example.

Intelligence is about understanding, wisdom is about making choices...I believe

We can launch ourselves from the atmosphere, control particles to our whims, and capture the universe in a picture, a far cry from even the most impressive feats of the animal kingdom. — Jerry

We can do all these things because of the use of tools. Some animals use tools, just like the ancestors of humans did. We have gone further than other animals in terms of technology because the survival of our species depends on it. Had we encountered a problem that couldn't be fixed with technology we'd probably be long gone by now, so from our standpoint we've been lucky(if such a thing exists), and luck often runs out.

Also the universe will keep creating stars, therefore potential for life, for 10^14 years and we're currently at 1.4x10^10 so I wouldn't draw conclusions about our uniqueness just yet.

a universe that is 46 billion light years across. — T Clark

46 billion ly is the radius(of the observable universe)

The smoke theory is on the wiki page for "crying", not "tears"

Did you like it?

I loved Brainstorm, I still rewatch it every now and then.

Drugs are bad.

I'm no science guy but I see some of you are not seeing the importance of the differences between size, weight and mass.

The term "pushing" could be confusing. It is used because for a long time gravity was thought to attract things, like some sort of magnet, but nobody could explain how until Einstein came. He theorized that mass changes the shape of space-time around it, causing bodies to go towards one another. So "pushing" is used because "attracting" is completely misleading.