3 ms·
> Because then you're under, you can even be "interactive" but you're not conscious of it because your short term memory has been disabled. I don't find this c
by feoren 3y ago
> Because then you're under, you can even be "interactive" but you're not conscious of it because your short term memory has been disabled.
I don't find this convincing. If you asked someone under such anesthesia if they were currently conscious, they'd probably say "yes". Doesn't it seem more likely that you just don't remember having been conscious? If I magically wiped away a year's worth of your memory, does that retroactively mean you had actually been unconscious during that year?
- digging 3y agoBut their saying "Yes" doesn't necessarily make it so. I've made comparable claims while asleep. (Conversely, I've believed myself completely awake while actually asleep and unaware of what my body was doing.) There would need to be a deeper test than either long-term memory or a yes-or-no question asked in the moment.
- drdeca 3y agoI feel like saying that one is in a sense "conscious" while dreaming..? Though this use of "conscious" seems to conflict with another use which has "asleep" as a primary example of "not conscious"... I guess maybe this calls for another word. Not sure what word is best.