> Another problem with the essay is that the term "consciousness" needs to be defined before discussing it, as different people take that word to mean different

> Another problem with the essay is that the term "consciousness" needs to be defined before discussing it, as different people take that word to mean different things. This is really the crux of the issue. There's consciousness as in experiencing existence in some way, there's consciousness as self-awareness and there's even consciousness as "able to think and plan." Materialism falls flat if you apply it to that first definition, because your burden of proof is through the roof. This is where people get lambasted for talking about consciousness as an emergent property - it's basically a religious/chauvinist stance hand waved with fancy words and pseudo-scientific bullshit with no actual scientific or logical foundation. Consciousness in the second and third sense are most definitely "emergent" to some degree. Nervous systems are simple in terms of basic organization and operation, but they allow for marvelously complex beings.