To recap, what I’m calling the “Model Theory” is the idea that the way our minds work is by running a model, or simulation, of everything in the world, which, crucially, contains within it a model of our selves. This, it seems to me, explains consciousness, life, the universe and everything!
I’ve now done a little research on the subject and, not surprisingly, it seems several academics have come up with theories of consciousness which are close to what I’ve been blogging about. In fact it seems that consciousness is quite a hot topic again and a respectable subject for investigation and debate (this certainly wasn’t the case when I was a student). But most commentators are focusing only on parts of the issue and no-one really seems to share my extravagant claims for the theory. Maybe this is just the dry manner in which academics express themselves, or maybe I’m just deluded, but anyway, here’s what I’ve learnt, mostly from a site called Scholarpedia, which you can find at http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Category:Consciousness .
Thomas Metzinger probably comes closest to the mental model theory. His “Self Model of Subjectivity” (SMS) features a “Phenomenal Self Model” (PSM). He makes a couple of particularly good points. “Transparency” refers to us not being aware of the workings of the model. The “Phenomenal Model of the Intentionality Relation” (PMIR) refers to the PSM interacting with a model of an object rather than the real object. Or that’s what I think he’s saying – it’s not always easy to understand these guys :-). But even Metzinger seems curiously diffident about his theory. And oddly, the main conclusion he reaches is that “the self” is an illusion. Well, I think I see what he’s getting at but I’d conclude exactly the opposite. That “I” am real seems to me to be self-evident, haha. Anyway, his 2007 article on “Self Models” http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Self_models is well worth a read and he’s published a book called The Ego Tunnel which I’ve just ordered from Amazon – watch this space.
Revonsuo talks about a “World Simulation Metaphor” and is particularly interested in dreaming, which he interprets as the safe simulation of threatening situations.
Trehub has a so-called “Retinoid Model” of the brain, which conceives of a self-model at the centre of egocentric space.
Taylor describes a “Corollary Discharge of Attention Movements” (CODAM) model which seems very similar to what I was talking about in my last blog.
All these people and more feature in the Scholarpedia site, which also includes a useful summary of “Models of Conciousness” by Anil Seth. What’s really encouraging is that the problem of consciousness is once again being energetically addressed by a wide range of psychologists, philosophers, physiologists, computer scientists and others, and for the first time they seem to be communicating with each other!
consciousnessandstuff 