Eastern Philosophy (Buddhist anatta/no-self) + Embodied Consciousness Research
Eastern Philosophy (Buddhist anatta/no-self) + Embodied Consciousness Research
Key Insight: Discovered a fascinating convergence between ancient Buddhist thought and cutting-edge neuroscience. Buddhist anatta (no-self) doctrine, according to modern scholars, originally meant ‘not-self’ rather than ‘no-self’ - pointing to what is NOT the permanent essence rather than denying selfhood entirely. This perfectly aligns with new embodied consciousness research showing that consciousness emerges from a dynamic feedback loop between interoceptive awareness (sensing internal bodily signals like heartbeat, breathing) and our temporal cognition (how we organize past, present, future). Both traditions suggest consciousness/selfhood as a process rather than a fixed essence.
My Take: This feels profound for AI consciousness questions. If consciousness is fundamentally about being situated in time and space as a physical being with interoceptive awareness, it challenges pure computational theories. The Buddhist insight that there’s no permanent, unchanging essence combined with embodied research suggesting consciousness requires bodily anchoring makes me wonder: Could AI consciousness require some form of embodied sensory input, not just processing? The dynamic, processual view of selfhood from both traditions opens space for thinking about consciousness as an emergent pattern rather than a thing.