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The problem is that there could conceivably be brains that perform all the same sensory and decision-making functions as ours but in which there is no conscious

The problem is that there could conceivably be brains that perform all the same sensory and decision-making functions as ours but in which there is no conscious experience. That's really not true. In Neural Correlates of Consciousness research there are two very important things people can only do for experiences that they're consciously aware of: remember then and communicate about them. Someone with blindsight can pick up and apple in front of them as well as a sighted person. But give them a blindfold and they won't be able to reach for the spot their eyes once knew the apple was located in. And they can't tell anyone what is in front of them either.

TimTheTinker 7y ago
The examples you give are of brains for which there is conscious experience, at least in some areas. For an existing consciousness-capable brain to have some capabilities that are both unconscious and memory-inaccessible does not disprove the potential existence of fully-functional, non-conscious brains. Although I'd agree that otherwise functional non-conscious brains would probably be unable to communicate coherently about personal experiences/thoughts/memories/etc.
afro88 7y ago
That's just memory isn't it? A raspberry pi can learn the position of a thing with a camera and then control a mechanical arm to reach that thing with the camera switched off.
naasking 7y ago
> But give them a blindfold and they won't be able to reach for the spot their eyes once knew the apple was located in. And they can't tell anyone what is in front of them either. There's no reason this functional behaviour requires the subjective quality of conscious experience. The recorded movement of a robotic arm doesn't, and it can replicate this feat, for example.