Consciousness, Cognition, Rationality

This course explores recent interdisciplinary insights on how the conscious mind works. Researchers of different disciplines will contribute to this course, so you will learn how interdisciplinary research is done, involving philosophers, a computer scientist, and an economist. A key research thesis that will be explored in this course is that consciousness is strongly related to cognition and rationality.

The philosophers (G. Andreoletti, L. Vervoort) will place the topic of this course in its general context, and study questions as: Which theories of consciousness exist? What is the conceptual link between consciousness, cognition, rationality? Which lines of research are promising?

The computer scientist (A. Lysenko) will delve into the topic of AGI (artificial general intelligence), which is believed to mimic or even to surpass (features of) human consciousness, cognition and rationality. He will deal with questions such as: What are the best approaches for reaching AGI in computers and robots – approaches such as “deep learning”? Can robots and systems based on A(G)I become conscious? What are the most advanced forms of cognition and rationality that computers can reach (now and in the future)?

Finally, the economist (A. Usvitskiy) will study rational consciousness and rationality from the point of view of economics. In particular, what is considered rational in economics? How can we relate this to the real decisions of people? Does the notion of rationality change over time? What are the limitations of rationality?

Watch the course on YouTube.