From Biological to Artificial Consciousness

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

   PDF

2. The Mystery of Consciousness

   • Masataka Watanabe

   Pages 1-26

3. Pursuing the Shadows of Consciousness

   • Masataka Watanabe

   Pages 27-60

4. Neural Manipulation for Causal Investigation of Consciousness

   • Masataka Watanabe

   Pages 61-85

5. The Quest for a Natural Law of Consciousness

   • Masataka Watanabe

   Pages 87-113

6. Is Consciousness Information or Algorithm?

   • Masataka Watanabe

   Pages 115-138

7. Uploading Human Consciousness

   • Masataka Watanabe

   Pages 139-153

8. Back Matter

   Pages 155-170

   PDF

How does consciousness emerge from a brain that consists only of physical matter and electrical / chemical reactions? The deep mysteries of consciousness have plagued philosophers and scientists for thousands of years. This book approaches the problem through scientific studies that shed light on the neural mechanism of consciousness, and furthermore, delves into the possibility of artificial consciousness, a phenomenon that may ultimately solve the mystery. Finally, two key suggestions made in the book, namely, a method to test machine consciousness and a theory hypothesizing that consciousness emerges from a neural algorithm, reveal a novel and credible pathway to mind-uploading.The original Japanese version of this book has become a best-seller in popular neuroscience and has even led to a neurotech startup for mind-uploading.

• Consciousness
• Brain
• machine
• neuroscience
• neurons
• consicous research
• cranial nerve
• Artificial consciousness
• machine consciousness

• School of Engineering, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

  Masataka Watanabe

Masataka Watanabe obtained a doctoral degree at University of Tokyo, School of Engineering in 1998. Following appointment as an assistant professor in 1999 and associate professor in 2001, he spent a sabbatical year in the USA at the California Institute of Technology, and also a decade at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany. He currently holds a position as Associate Professor at the University of Tokyo and specializes in theoretical and experimental neuroscience with particular focus on consciousness. He has published in leading scientific journals such as Science, Current Biology and others.

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