5 ms·
Spoiler: if you redefine "conscious" to whatever an electron is.
by blacksqr 6y ago
Spoiler: if you redefine "conscious" to whatever an electron is.
- 6gvONxR4sf7o 6y agoMore like, consciousness is a matter of degree, rather than a binary yes/no.
- Analemma_ 6y agoEven materialists agree that consciousness is a matter of degree; panpsychists don't have a monopoly on that position. Humans are more conscious than mammals who are more conscious than fish who are more conscious than insects. But the materialist position is that any non-zero degree of consciousness requires a substrate capable of computation, and so you bottom out to zero long before you get to electrons.
- 6gvONxR4sf7o 6y agoSo if I'm getting this right, the usual materialist position is that thinking is a matter of degree for stuff that can think, and just a straight no for everything else. While the panpsychists think it's just a matter of degree, full stop? No 100% unthinking allowed?
- dvsfish 6y agoGreat explanation. My thoughts approximately (but more eloquently).
- notaphilosopher 6y agoI think I read that somewhere on the side of a bottle of Dr. Bronner's soap in the shower. Although, every permutation of writing that could ever be written by a million monkeys at typewriters is on the side of a Dr. Bronner's too. Even this comment. #meta Entities with too much consciousness can't handle their own consciousness and either go Warhol, invent the atom bomb, or make a startup selling silicone girlfriends because their bulging brains get in the way of their more fundamental drives. Mental onany isn't as good as reality.