DESIGNED MIND 2017

Call for Papers

Informatics Forum · 10 Crichton St · Edinburgh · EH8 9AB
8 & 9 November 2017

Our intuition tells us that consciousness is a special non-physical realm, inhabited by thoughts and feelings. An emerging scientific picture reveals consciousness as an elaborate reflective capability, designed by evolution to give us a level of agency and self-monitoring that non-conscious beings lack. A rich internal narrative underwrites that capability: a virtual world which ascribes phenomenal properties — colours, tastes, feelings — to things and to ourselves.

This two-day event brings together researchers working on all aspects of the science of consciousness, including philosophy of mind, evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, and artificial consciousness. The symposium will be followed by Expecting Ourselves: Prediction, Action, and the Embodied Mind, also in the Informatics Forum. Registration is separate for this event.