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OED: "The state or fact of being mentally conscious or aware of anything" ( (https://www.oed.com/oed2/00047729 https://www.oed.com/oed2/00047729, #3). This jiv
by elmomle 4y ago
OED: "The state or fact of being mentally conscious or aware of anything" ( (https://www.oed.com/oed2/00047729 https://www.oed.com/oed2/00047729, #3).
This jives more with my intuition that a toddler is conscious, even if they aren't really aware of themselves as a perceiving entity (aside, I wonder if such self-awareness is even binary or more continuous). And given this framing, it's very reasonable to ask whether insects may be conscious.
- simonh 4y agoAs always the root of most disagreement is actually not disagreement about the issue itself but the terms we’re using to discuss it. I think we have a word for your definition and it’s awareness. Perception might also do. If we say consciousness is the same also, then we have a pileup of three words all for basically the same thing, and no word for the strong sense of self awareness and internal reflection I prefer. I would be absolutely fine accepting your definition of consciousness, as long as we have a clear widely accepted unambiguous term specifically for awareness of your own mental state and thought processes. IMHO we need a term for that, and that’s actually the interesting subject. I think toddlers are conscious in the strong sense I prefer, based on my discussions with my own children when they were toddlers, as I was interested in this question at the time.
- andrewmcwatters 4y agohttps://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jibe#note-1 https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jibe#note-1