The point, as I see it, is that we are trapped in our own paradigmatic understanding of the world, and use the most advanced metaphors we have at our disposal t

The point, as I see it, is that we are trapped in our own paradigmatic understanding of the world, and use the most advanced metaphors we have at our disposal to conceptualize something that is still complex beyond our reach. Hilarity ensues years later when we see the body understood as steam pumps or engine valves etc (described by Zarkadakis in the essay). The challenge for us in 2017 is to not fall into the same trap and to understand consciousness in a deeper way that isn't through the lens of "wires, circuitboards, central processors, data, etc etc" Its enticing but it detracts from understanding the consciousness of all living things in a more advanced way. I am with you on your materialist presupposition, I just think we can do better. I think the de-simplification of these terminologies will actually lead to better augmented reality and better AGI.