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Welcome to the conscious-calculator wiki!

The Conscious Calculator repo is a combination of:

• Theory Home - A theoretical framework for the mechanisms behind consciousness in general (including but not limited to human consciousness)
• Design documents for building an emulation of consciousness
• An example application with that emulation, focused on the tasks of a calculator.

Why

I've been wondering about human consciousness since 2014. In particular I'm interested in what creates the 'experience of experiencing'. I seem to observe every thought I make; why do I not just silently process data like a machine? Why is that observation of thought necessary, and what is the thing that does the observing?

In wondering about that, I've always felt that once we could understand consciousness, we would discover that it exists in many forms and levels. In particular, I think consciousness as a phenomenon can exist in systems with highly varying levels of intelligence, and that the strength of that conscious phenomenon is probably tied to the level of intelligence.

My favourite example for a long time has been that of a consciousness with the intelligence of a calculator - a conscious calculator.

It occurred to me in late 2019 that, while I certainly don't think I understand anything significant about human consciousness, I may have formed together enough of a theory that I can actually build something practical.

See Also

• A Theory of Consciousness
• Human Phenomena
• Work in Progress
• Discussion and Design articles