What if intelligence can thrive without consciousness?
Key Takeaways
- Blindsight is a unique kind of first-contact novel. Its focus is not on humanity's first meeting with an alien civilization, but rather that this civilization is highly intelligent, yet lacks consciousness.
- What if there is nothing special about self-awareness? What if it is just evolutionary dead weight, bound to disappear soon?
- The idea rests on machine metaphors for life and mind, which strike this columnist as profoundly mistaken.
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