{"id":3757,"date":"2020-10-11T09:31:21","date_gmt":"2020-10-11T09:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/?p=3757"},"modified":"2021-04-22T18:58:22","modified_gmt":"2021-04-22T18:58:22","slug":"the-basic-cognitive-illusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/cognitive-insights\/the-basic-cognitive-illusion","title":{"rendered":"The Basic Cognitive Illusion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

‘Basic cognitive illusion’: the fact that we are non-consciously motivated, but are not consciously aware of this (since it\u2019s non-conscious). We also don\u2019t consciously notice our brain in this. So, there are two levels between consciousness and the physical brain, which gives us the strong illusion of mind-brain divide.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

[This text is a part of my book “The Journey Towards Compassionate A.I.” that you can find here<\/a>.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do not hesitate to maintain, that what we are conscious of is constructed out of what we are not conscious of\u2014that our whole knowledge, in fact, is made up of the unknown and incognisable. \u2013 Sir William Hamilton (Lectures on Metaphysics, p. 348, 1865)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The basic cognitive illusion has been a companion to humanity from the beginning and even before that. For instance, it made our far ancestors see much \u2018soul stuff\u2019 in their surroundings. Animals and trees \u2013 and lightning and you name it \u2013 were seen as possessing a soul or as being divine emanations. Of course, they can be pardoned for not having more insight into human non-conscious processing. So, they explained their experiences in other ways. This way, they made their experiences meaningful. Those were happy days. Well, somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it was not the correct interpretation. We are only learning this lesson in the present age. Sir Hamilton (from the quote above) was looked upon by many as quite a strange fellow for saying what must have seemed a bold claim in the 19th century. Meanwhile, we can marvel about the degree to which subsequent social and cognitive psychological as well as neurocognitive research has borne out this claim \u2014 stuff for another book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, and also through the gaining itself \u2013 but not the widespread availability \u2013 of these insights, the present age poses unprecedented challenges. These are not entirely new, but A.I. \u2013 as always, increasingly from now on \u2013 is an enforcer. This can be for good or for bad. It makes for qualitatively new implications. The following is a small list of what I see as the most important of these challenges. I have expanded on them in this book, but it\u2019s good to see them here together as basically the consequences of this same condition:<\/p>\n\n\n\n