A Conscious Universe

[bennyboy]

Is it really correct to say, "I denounce solipsism because it's a pointless position that lends little to an understanding in life," and then follow that arbitrary assumption through a chain of ideas to the brain as creator of mind?

How much more is needed besides the obvious evolutionary history of the brain and its effects on everything we can even possibly consider an "experience" or "qualia" or a modus of thought?

I don't think the evolutionary narrative proves anything. It shows a relationship between brain and behavior, but I don't think it allows us to establish in a philosophically satisfying way whether a given physical system is or isn't experiencing qualia. It doesn't define qualia, give a mechanism for it (other than a vague sense that it's in the brain, somewhere, cuz 'where else?'), or explain why any organism would need to be aware of the processes in the brain in order for it to respond to its environment.