Are thoughts necessary to consciousness? One can be consciousness yet not be possessed of any thoughts. Thoughts in a human's biological apparatus are essentia

Are thoughts necessary to consciousness? One can be consciousness yet not be possessed of any thoughts. Thoughts in a human's biological apparatus are essentially neurons firing off in the brain, e.g. replaying an incident stored in memory. A computer can do much the same thing, with different apparatus of course, yet it’d not be considered conscious. Not that it couldn’t be (it could well be possible for a lifeform to be constructed of circuitry, it just isn’t (yet) known if or how), just that it wouldn’t be. If the above is indeed true, it’d be inferred that consciousness is of the nature of consciousness itself. If the abstract notion of thinking can be reified either in a human (biological) form or an electronic form, it stands to reason that the only thing different between the two must be that which distinguishes the human from the machine, i.e. consciousness. Thus, in the paradigm of “thought” in this discussion, all consciousness is, is the awareness of the process of thinking, or of the thoughts as they come and go. Because a thought cannot be considered to be aware of itself, it can only be the object of awareness, the subject being the consciousness manifested in said human. The same reasoning applies to paradigms other than “thought”, e.g. “experience”. A computer with sensors can detect itself falling to the floor, as can a human with their senses. An appropriately programmed computer can even take preventive action (e.g. some hard disks disconnecting/parking the head) as can a human, by virtue of their instincts/memories. But a computer would not be considered to be conscious of the fall. Only an entity in possession of consciousness can be considered to truly experience things. So neither thoughts nor senses are determinants of consciousness. Nor are they of the nature of consciousness. Only consciousness is of the nature of consciousness, everything else is a simulation thereof. It is a coincidence (or part of a grand design, for the theologically inclined) that the particular configuration of matter in a human supports the manifestation of consciousness. It is questionable if all life forms are indeed capable of consciousness. Equally questionable if there can exist varying levels of manifestation of consciousness. Plants, presumably would be at the lower end.