I continue to play around with the various AIs and am finding ChatGPT increasing valuable as a ready research assistant for writing. For example, while editing my book manuscript I wanted to be straight on the timeline for FDA’s requirement for clinical trials, the PDUFA regulations and the idea of “evidence based medicine”. It was easy to type in a question and get an answer way faster than searching. I did doublecheck some facts, but all seemed to be just as it seems.
I did have an interesting experience with my assistant yesterday. I’ve been exploring the nature of self identity in my Substack posts. I came up with the idea of using sedative hypnotics as a real example of what philosophers call zombies, a hypothetical person who appears to behave normally but is devoid of subjective experience. Well, from personal and professional experience, it seemed to me that sedative hypnotics at the right dose can do exactly this. So I coined the term “Pharmacological Zombie”.
I got to thinking, “Did I really think this up? Maybe it’s been discussed before?” After all, most of what I write is compilation and synthesis from others. So I asked my assistant.
Me: Is there such a thing as a pharmacological zombie?
A “pharmacological zombie” could conceptually refer to a state where an individual appears awake and responsive but lacks conscious awareness or subjective experience, akin to philosophical zombies in thought experiments. In pharmacology, this might resemble conditions induced by certain drugs:
1. Sedatives like Midazolam: Benzodiazepines can create anterograde amnesia, where individuals appear to interact but retain no memory of their actions, giving a “zombie-like” impression.
2. Ketamine or Dissociatives: These can induce a dissociative state where patients seem conscious but experience detachment from reality and self.
3. Anticholinergic Delirium: Overdoses of anticholinergic drugs like scopolamine can cause confusion and a trance-like state.
4. Neuromuscular Blockers without Sedation: Rare and unintended situations during surgery where patients are paralyzed but conscious could mimic this condition.While not literally a “zombie,” these examples demonstrate altered states where conscious awareness and behavior are disconnected, resembling the concept metaphorically.
Me: Can you give me an attribution for this discussion?
If you’re asking about the term “pharmacological zombie” specifically, it does not appear to have a formal attribution in scientific or philosophical literature. It seems to be a metaphorical or colloquial way to describe drug-induced states where behavior and consciousness are disconnected.
If you encountered the term in a specific context, it may have been coined or used creatively by a writer, journalist, or researcher to illustrate the effects of certain medications (e.g., amnesic or dissociative drugs). Without a direct citation or context, there isn’t a definitive source or individual to attribute it to.
And it’s true based on a Google search. I seem to have invented this. Although my thought may have been triggered by the tranquilizer xylazine being termed a “zombie drug” in the media.
This is quite remarkable really. Simply given my phrase, “Pharmacological Zombie”, ChatGPT came up with exactly the same concept that I was thinking about. Somehow the idea is inherent in that two word phrase. It didn’t come up with description until I prompted it, but the idea was latent in the training database.
But it also occurred to me that since Google and other search engines don’t index substack, my discussion is not discoverable other than through Substack. It’s public in that anyone using the service can read it, but not everyone. Yes, yet another walled garden. You’ve got to come in and visit to see what’s here.
So I’m going to work on at least duplicating my writing here. Others have come to the same conclusion I see- multiple channels seems to be the way to go.
