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Or phrased another way: we still have no real solid leads on consciousness. There's all sorts of neat things thought up about it, we have some questions we'll w
by MichaelGG 11y ago
Or phrased another way: we still have no real solid leads on consciousness. There's all sorts of neat things thought up about it, we have some questions we'll want to answer or dissolve, but there's not even a consensus on what consciousness is.
This is really disappointing, because consciousness is neat.
I also find it questionable to posit fake scenarios then try to draw conclusions from them. I can say "what about a fire that boils water, but it's actually frozen?", but it doesn't really mean such a thing is possible. See also p-zombies, an exercise in imagining nonsensical things in order to draw questionable conclusions.
- obituary_latte 11y agoSeems like common sense to me. Consciousness is the time between when you are born and you die while your brain is in proper/typical working order (e.g. when you can remember and relate and learn from memories).
- rybosome 11y agoI don't think that philosophical zombies are a nonsensical line of thought at all. As Ray Kurzweil states in one of his books (paraphrasing), "I take it on faith that the universe exists". Accepting the inability to receive proof of others' consciousness is a major battle in the quest for developing a rational view of the subject.
- MichaelGG 11y agoThe pzombie line is "posit the same world as ours, but no one's conscious". At best, it's useless because we don't know what consciousness is. At most likely, it's just dumb and non-sequitur. Like saying "OK imagine this glass of water. It's identical to water in every way. But it's fire. Ah-ha! What does that mean? <spooky voice>". So either consciousness is based in physics, in which case pzombies are non-starter, or we don't know what consciousness is and it's a pointless conversation.
- eli_gottlieb 11y agoWell, you could try asking neuroscientists about consciousness rather than philosophers. But that would, apparently, be far too much of a downer for most people, finding out that questions can be answered with evidence.