this really is getting at something important. however the question I would pose is, if the thermostat is conscious, does it have a sense of self, i.e. an ident

this really is getting at something important. however the question I would pose is, if the thermostat is conscious, does it have a sense of self, i.e. an identifiable boundary between itself and the world around it? I would say not. My understanding is that humans have an identifiable region(s) of the brain that correspond to a sense of self: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neural_basis_of_self#:~:text=Two%20areas%20of%20the%20brain,the%20ability%20to%20self%2Dreflect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neural_basis_of_self#:~:text=T.... I think in a lot of these conversations people say consciousness and assume that consciousness always mirrors their own, which just so happens to come along with a sense of self for 99.9% of sober individuals. So I think it's important to distinguish between the two things.