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It was from a conversation between two neuroscientists. They were talking about Nagel earlier in the discussion. I don’t know if Nagel came up with that definit
by PinkMilkshake 9y ago
It was from a conversation between two neuroscientists. They were talking about Nagel earlier in the discussion.
I don’t know if Nagel came up with that definition though.
Could you explain how the way I stated it is circular?
- iainmerrick 9y agoIf it isn’t something to be like a bat - the “lights are off” so to speak - then it’s not conscious. I guess I'm focusing more on the "lights are off" part, although that's just an aside. "Conscious" and "lights are on" seem like alternate ways of saying exactly the same thing. Nagel's "is it like something to be" terminology has always struck me as wilfully contorted and confusing, but amounting to the same thing again -- you're conscious if you're conscious. It doesn't help us explain consciousness and it doesn't even help figure out what things are conscious and which aren't. Is a plant conscious, or a rock? Writers can certainly imagine what it might be like to be those things.