Read "Godel Escher Bach - an Eternal Golden Braid"? Wonderful book by a remarkably clever computer scientist attempting a (very tricky) definition of conscious

Read "Godel Escher Bach - an Eternal Golden Braid"? Wonderful book by a remarkably clever computer scientist attempting a (very tricky) definition of consciousness (or 'a system getting meaning when composed of meaningless parts', like your singular identity from a jumbled mass of 'selfish' neurones), with a view to explaining his thoughts on how to achieve strong AI http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_Bach http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_Bach