Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Why can't we explain why it hurts so much?

We can describe the entirety of an operating system down to its individual ones and zeroes. Do you posit that some irreducible "Tuxness" state exists that computer scientists just refuse to acknowledge?



The unpleasant feeling of pain is a very real phenomenon, unlike tuxness. It can't be reduced to smaller parts. All that we can do is say "When we arrange brain's atoms like this, it hurts."

We could construct robots, that react to pain exactly like humans (screaming, sweating, ...) without feeling anything. Why aren't we like that?




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: