Conscious Realism and the Mind-Body Problem - UCI Cognitive ...

114 Hoffmanlutionary considerations suggest that they might be functionally similar,since we are of the same species. This is the reason this paper sometimesemploys the phrase “species-specific user interface”. But evolutionaryconsiderations also suggest that our interfaces will differ slightly in function,since random variations are essential for the operation of naturalselection. Functional coherence, then, between our user interfaces is notunexpected. However, the scrambling theorem establishes that functionalcoherence, or even functional identity, does not logically entail identity,or even similarity, between our conscious experiences (Hoffman 2006).9. ConclusionAbraham Pais, describing his interactions with Einstein, wrote (Pais1979, p. 907):Einstein never ceased to ponder the meaning of the quantum theory. . . We often discussed his notions on objective reality. I recall thatduring one walk Einstein suddenly stopped, turned to me and askedwhether I really believed that the moon exists only when I look atit.MUI theory says that the moon you see is, like any physical objectyou see, an icon constructed by your visual system. Perception is notobjective reporting but active construction. A perceptual constructionlasts only so long as you look, and then is replaced by new constructionsas you look elsewhere. Thus the answer to Einstein’s question, accordingto MUI theory, is that the moon you see only exists when you look atit. Of course the moon Jack sees might continue to exist even when themoon Jill sees ceases to exist because she closes her eyes. But the moonJack sees is not numerically identical to the moon Jill sees. Jack sees hismoon, Jill sees hers. There is no public moon.Something does exist whether or not you look at the moon, and thatsomething triggers your visual system to construct a moon icon. But thatsomething that exists independent of you is not the moon. The moonis an icon of your MUI, and therefore depends on your perception forits existence. The something that exists independent of your perceptionsis always, according to conscious realism, systems of conscious agents.Consciousness is fundamental in the universe, not a fitfully emerging latecomer.The mind-body problem is, for the physicalist, the problem of gettingconsciousness to arise from biology. So far no one can build a scientifictheory of how this might happen. This failure is so striking that it leadssome to wonder if Homo sapiens lacks the necessary conceptual apparatus.For the conscious realist, the mind-body problem is how, precisely,conscious agents create physical objects and properties. Here we have a