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First Talos Principle question

Starthrower January 13, 2018 at 03:47 7375 views 13 comments
I'm surprised nobody else has mentioned the Talos Principle. This game is very philosophical, and forces players to ask themselves deep questions.

My question: what is sentience? What makes something capable of thought? And are we, as humans, capable of true thought?

Comments (13)

T Clark January 13, 2018 at 09:19 #143280
Quoting Starthrower
I'm surprised nobody else has mentioned the Talos Principle.


Why don't you tell us more about it. I looked at the website.
Rich January 13, 2018 at 14:16 #143379
Quoting Starthrower
My question: what is sentience? What makes something capable of thought? And are we, as humans, capable of true thought?


Sentience is us. We are Evolving Minds that create and learn. This is Evolution.
Starthrower January 13, 2018 at 16:46 #143399
Reply to Rich Wait, are you, also, a human supremacist?
Starthrower January 13, 2018 at 16:50 #143402
Reply to T Clark The Talos Principle is a puzzle game that involves a shady, deceptive character named Elohim, an unnamed android, a bunch of ruins and a mysterious tower that Elohim doesn’t want you to touch. The point of the game is: 1) to think creatively to solve puzzles for sigils that unlock things, and 2) to think independently, to ask questions.
Rich January 13, 2018 at 16:53 #143404
Reply to Starthrower Nice game.
Starthrower January 13, 2018 at 16:56 #143409
Reply to Rich Have you tried it?
Starthrower January 13, 2018 at 18:13 #143433
Reply to Rich But what makes something sentient? When would a machine become sentient, capable of thought? And are we humans REALLY capable of thought? Or the illusion of it?
Rich January 13, 2018 at 18:22 #143435
Reply to Starthrower We are Mind/Memory. And we are evolving. Machines aren't mind. They are tools created by our Minds. We even create myths that we are machines. Imagination moves in all directions.
Starthrower January 13, 2018 at 19:53 #143461
Reply to Rich Intriguing idea, but what of other life forms, such as those beyond in space?
Rich January 13, 2018 at 22:21 #143531
Reply to Starthrower This would be highly speculative to the nth degree, but given that we are c attempting to understand the Universal Mind, it could be anything, anywhere, observable and not. It is the nature of the neverending exploration of the Mind by the Mind. Dreams are quite interesting.
Michael Ossipoff January 14, 2018 at 23:01 #144007
Reply to Starthrower

Sentience is the property of being a purposefully-responsive device, as are people and other animals.

Michael Ossipoff
TheMadFool January 15, 2018 at 08:43 #144081
Quoting Starthrower
My question: what is sentience? What makes something capable of thought? And are we, as humans, capable of true thought?


I like to think of sentience as having two components. I don't know if they're related but, to me, they deserve separate categories. They are:

1. Self awareness
2. Thinking ability. By this I don't mean just rational thinking but also imagination and, of course, its child creativity.

To say x is sentient we must have both of the two attributes I described above. By that definition only humans are sentient. Does anyone disagree?

Starthrower January 15, 2018 at 19:30 #144218
Reply to TheMadFool Nope. Nice sum-up.