Thomas Campbell. Awareness.
Abstract: Awareness is the knowledge and perception of both self and other than self. Awareness is a sense of, an appreciation and understanding of, one’s own existence and of what exists beyond one’s self. Awareness is capable of experience. Awareness as perception requires information as an input. Awareness as knowledge requires memory (or every instant would appear to be the first) and some very rudimentary processing since perception must be processed into knowledge. Awareness can only be implemented within an information system -- i.e., a system that provides information input, memory, and processing. Memory carries the assumption of time.
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Thomas Campbell. Will.
Abstract: 2. Will is awareness focused toward the achievement of a specific goal. Defining and achieving a goal requires both choices and change which carries an assumption of implicit time (before, during, and after the goal was achieved or choices made defining past, present, and future) and the ability to process information (otherwise awareness would remain static and could not evolve). Will can only be implemented within an information system (a system that provides information and dynamic (time based) processing as well as memory (required to support processing) and purpose (required to develop a meaningful goal e.g., system entropy reduction to facilitate evolution). The “distance” to the goal and the affect that past choices have made to that distance are information outputs that become the input to the next iteration of processing and choice. To achieve a goal effectively requires the evolution of an iterative process called learning.
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Thomas Campbell. Intent.
Abstract: Intent is the expression of active will within consciousness to achieve the desired goal through purposeful choice. Will answers the question “what?”and provides the goal. Intent answers “how?” and provides the idea (plan, process, vision, or conceptualization) of how a specific choice might move the system closer to the goal. Thus intent contains the driver, motivation, thrust, impulsion, and the impetus or reason behind the choice or action in making a specific choice. Morality is attached to the being-level intent, not the choice. Making the choice executes change in the system (hopefully moving it toward its goal). The systems purpose defines its most general overall goal (decreasing system entropy), but there are many specific sub goals that must be dealt with by will and intent in the process of moving a system, one small step (dynamic iteration) at a time, toward satisfying its purpose. Will and Intent are an expression of consciousness, they are rooted in the whole consciousness, not just the intellectual part.
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Thomas Campbell. Consciousness.
Abstract: Consciousness (sometimes called “mind”) is an evolving (self-modifying) awareness that employs both will and intent to facilitate its evolution. An awareness that makes intentional, willful choices is called a consciousness. To effectively utilize will and intent in the service of evolution requires consciousness to have input (from an internal and/or external environment), memory, ability to process information, and a purpose. Moreover, the will of consciousness is always free to make choices that are contained within its decision space. A consciousness always has a choice, i.e., a consciousness cannot have a zero decision space and remain conscious or have a free will. Consciousness and free will (and thus a finite decision space) are logically necessary for each other to exist. Consciousness can only be implemented within an information system that has evolved memory, processing, and the ability to change itself through free will choice (in order to facilitate its evolution i.e., satisfy its purpose). Information systems evolve by decreasing their entropy (creating useful information). Entropy is most effectively decreased in the long term when will and intent are applied in such a way that choices are made that move a system toward satisfying its purpose. Within consciousness, the considered effort of will and intent to move the system towards states of higher or lower entropy, define both the practical value (quality) of the choice and the moral value (quality) of the intent. A typical, though dysfunctional, consciousness works (processes) at two distinct levels: the intellectual level and the being level. [Note: Focus toward achieving a specific goal from among many potential goals (perhaps also within a hierarchy of goals), requires a focused assessment of the direction forward (will) and a clear intention (vision and plan) that may suggests a specific choice. The choice, because successful evolution cannot be entirely random, requires memory (of previous choices), processing (a comparative result of those previous choices -- learning) and a purpose (criteria by which to compare the value of one choice to another). Change (as evidenced by choice, memory, processing, and learning) carries an implicit assumption of time which delivers dynamic existence. A choice once made is irreversible and moves the system forward (positive evolution to states of lower entropy) or backward (de-evolution to states of higher entropy) to a new state of being. A good choice (as opposed to a bad choice) moves the consciousness system toward lower entropy states (positive evolution becoming love). It is generally a moral (also called high quality or love based) intent that expresses itself as a good choice that increases the quality (lowers the entropy) of the individual and the consciousness system. Will and intent are attributes of a whole individuated unit of consciousness (IUOC) and not simply creations of the intellectual level of a consciousness.
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Thomas Campbell. Evolution.
Abstract: Evolution represents the process of emergent complexity that naturally begins (self starts) when there are enough degrees of freedom available within a system of sufficient potential to eventually produce (through random changes) basic survivable structures (e.g., like a cell) which leads to even more complex survivable structures (like a multi-celled entity) made of many interactive basic structures as natural selection of evolution progresses. Next, evolution produces functional specialization within multi-celled entities. In systems with many complex potential outcomes, evolution directs and encourages change (through natural selection) toward more profitable states of being (lower entropy configurations). [Note: The existence of evolution as a natural process is one of two assumptions of MBT. The second assumption is that awareness, will, intent, and consciousness all eventually evolve or emerge together within an information system of sufficient potential. We see evolution at work every day and we are indeed consciousness, thus evolution must exist and consciousness did evolve. A crude primordial information system that simply can differentiate one state from another (create information) is the simplest most straightforward and basic system that has the potential to evolve into what we call consciousness. Occam’s razor suggests starting with the fewest and simplest assumptions, and that is where we have started.]
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