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First, I definitely don't think self-awareness is an illusion (any more than anything else is.) You (i.e. your body) are clearly aware of yourself (i.e. your bo

First, I definitely don't think self-awareness is an illusion (any more than anything else is.) You (i.e. your body) are clearly aware of yourself (i.e. your body.) QED. Second, your idea only works if there is also a mechanism that would cause us to value consciousness, free will, etc. You have to explain the reason that those things would make life "meaningful" (i.e. be motivational) for an animal. I'd argue, as the Devil's advocate, that they actually don't and we can probably live without them perfectly fine. I think some people do. I don't know if this solves anything, but the way that I think about it is that the the mind is just the body's UI to the body. The body is the machine and the operator of the machine and the mind is just like the Windows desktop. I think I got this from something Donald Hoffman said. He talks about ideas similar but different from yours by the way. Might be worth a search on YouTube for you. He definitely doesn't think we see reality the way it is and has accumulated good evidence and theory for that and has spent a lot of time connecting it to evolutionary biology.

jwdunne 5y ago
> You (i.e. your body) are clearly aware of yourself (i.e. your body.) QED. Reminds of “I think therefore I am” except a body doubting self-awareness shows the body is aware of the thing it doubts the existence of. Nice.
- guerrilla 5y ago
  Well, "I think therefore I am" is really question begging if taken as a deduction and can be ambiguous, depending on the speaker and context, since the referent of "I" is not always clear. (i.e. does it mean mind, body, soul, etc.) Something thinks though, and something is obviously aware; since you have direct empirical evidence of both. You don't need an argument for either.
- podgaj 5y ago
  You should read "I am a Strange Loop". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_a_Strange_Loop https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_a_Strange_Loop But it is an assumption that the body is aware of itself. That is part of the same illusion. When you dream, does that dream feel real?
  - PeterisP 5y ago
    I don't think I'm capable of actual introspection or self-awareness during a dream; I feel and experience certain things but IMHO I can apply my consciousness to these things to properly notice anything about them only afterwards when I wake up. I.e. the question "does that dream feel real" is only answerable when I have woken up and interpret my recent memories of that dream, which can easily be post-factum rationalization that has nothing to do with what I actually felt back when I was dreaming.

jwdunne 5y ago

> You (i.e. your body) are clearly aware of yourself (i.e. your body.) QED. Reminds of “I think therefore I am” except a body doubting self-awareness shows the body is aware of the thing it doubts the existence of. Nice.

guerrilla 5y ago
Well, "I think therefore I am" is really question begging if taken as a deduction and can be ambiguous, depending on the speaker and context, since the referent of "I" is not always clear. (i.e. does it mean mind, body, soul, etc.) Something thinks though, and something is obviously aware; since you have direct empirical evidence of both. You don't need an argument for either.
podgaj 5y ago
You should read "I am a Strange Loop". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_a_Strange_Loop https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_a_Strange_Loop But it is an assumption that the body is aware of itself. That is part of the same illusion. When you dream, does that dream feel real?
- PeterisP 5y ago
  I don't think I'm capable of actual introspection or self-awareness during a dream; I feel and experience certain things but IMHO I can apply my consciousness to these things to properly notice anything about them only afterwards when I wake up. I.e. the question "does that dream feel real" is only answerable when I have woken up and interpret my recent memories of that dream, which can easily be post-factum rationalization that has nothing to do with what I actually felt back when I was dreaming.