Ask HN: Books/Articles around mind,Consciousness,perception and interrelation As some one who is intellectually curious and has a longing to understand what how of the mind and its existence, can somebody point me to interesting materials on the net, I think i am just looking for a article or some thing which will produce a kind of eureka moment for me. If you have come across any article/book/channel which has produced that moment of clarity. Thanks |
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socionics
An interesting theory out of Ukraine most recently, which groups information into 8 distinct types, and then groups society into types by how individuals tend to band together to process the types of information.
Each type is grouped as a quadrant of society, and reach quadrant has a mission that is largely unnoticed (not consciously grokked) and automatic, and built into society at a macro structural level.
Essentially it's a very detailed soft model (high levels of internal logic organization, low levels of rigorous testing) which shows how humans run as if they are programs, and form into groups which are like larger programs.
Eventually you can change the program in yourself, in funny ways, and then in others. But it turns out that this is flirting with psychological damage. IMO this demonstrates an impressive leverage point of the general model.
Related, there is an additional component of advising people to seek out friends who generally prefer the same types of information that the seeker does, or who process the same kinds of information in similar ways. There are expected differences in some ways, but high-identification parts of the individual's program must not be blocked or else a feeling of latent unease can result.
Using the theory we can say that there is an ongoing discussion/battle on HN, between the logic-focused introverts of both the Alpha and Gamma quadrants. Nobody else from other groups is really quite that interested in HN long-term, that I can tell. :-)
The Alpha logicians are focused on not being caught dead being closed-minded. They want an idea to be new and fresh and logical. They seek social fit, and by god would they love some recognition, position, and affirmation of rational action. This has all kinds of pros and cons.
The Gamma equivalents are rather focused on being correct, and want to test/prove information objectively before they believe it. They seek effect, impression, display, and by god they want to see some businesslike efficiency around here. This has all kinds of pros and cons.
Anyway it's got lots of fun little aspects, a fun theory to play with.
> 0. My favorite theory of consciousness so far (and perhaps the eureka moment that you're looking for) would be Integrated Information Theory which is a mathematical or perhaps computer science-like approach to consciousness: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_information_theory
If you are not familiar with philosophy, it might be confusing to read though. A basic intro to consciousness:
1. Skim section 2 "Concepts of Consciousness" to understand the different levels and definitions of consciousness: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consciousness/#ConCon
2. Read the introduction of this article to understand the concepts of dualism vs materialism: https://iep.utm.edu/consciousness/
3. Skim sections 7 "Theories of Consciousness" and 8 "Metaphysical theories of consciousness" to get a basic understanding of various theories of consciousness: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consciousness/#TheCon
You can read the remainder of the articles as well, but be aware that philosophical writings can be very dense, meandering, and sometimes confusing. A more efficient introductory resource would be Jeffrey Kaplan's excellent lecture series: >> https://youtu.be/wwT4N_v0-WQ?t=57
Another perspective comes from cognitive science/neuroscience.
The Owner's Manual for the Brain is an amazing cognitive science/neuroscience textbook which summarizes a lot of research into perception, memory, emotion: >> https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/18090066-the-owner-s-...
Hope that you find this to be interesting and useful!