Memory Prediction Theatre

Carl Carpenter lays out his theory of the science of consciousness, entitled "The Memory Prediction Theatre." Drawing on the work of Jeff Hawkins, Bernard Baars, and D. Antanitus, Carpenter briefly presents a theory that ties together various strands of consciousness concepts. Update: Carl Carpenter has a blog where he updates his efforts. He is providing a valuable service in helping to promote and clarify these important concepts.

Understanding consciousness will be difficult for most people, perhaps because they have been trained in government schools, trained in politically correct, hyper-static dogma of the acceptably banal. Anyone who studied in government schools in the past ten to twenty years is handicapped in trying to understand our complex reality. A Jesuit education is far more useful, but not available to a large proportion.

Consciousness is a dynamic process dependent upon a large number of cells, some in proximity to each other, and others far distant. Each cell depends upon thousands of organelles, and tens of thousands of genes, with their regulatory networks. The complexity of what is happening is mind-boggling.

Perhaps that is why people with backgrounds in physics, engineering, and computer science, are contributing so much to this field. They have training in mathematical modeling and conceptual abstracting, that is necessary in achieving a meaningful and falsifiable simplified model.

The plot is thickening, far faster than most people realise. Too many are stuck on the limitations imposed by Searle, Weizenbaum, and Dreyfuss. The possibility of circular path around the obstacles was not foreseen. More of the "straight line" thinking, when lateral thinking was called for.

A lot of work remains to be done. The surface is still barely scratched. Opportunities abound.