Evolution

[Amarok]

If by conscience you mean capable of some level of awareness both are in way . I also point out that having a broader palette of senses and cognitive abilities. Thou maybe not needed would be useful .

A bit off the original topic, but it's an interesting question. Does sensation alone lead to consciousness, or are cognitive abilities required too? My first answer is that sensation alone = consciousness, but I could be wrong about that. I haven't really thought about it much. Any thoughts?

I accept sensation as a primitive  form of consciousness.

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LOL Tiz!

Sorry could not help it . Any conversation about the minds  Dualism and like . Always makes be think of this comic .

[polymath257]

If by conscience you mean capable of some level of awareness both are in way . I also point out that having a broader palette of senses and cognitive abilities. Thou maybe not needed would be useful .

A bit off the original topic, but it's an interesting question. Does sensation alone lead to consciousness, or are cognitive abilities required too? My first answer is that sensation alone = consciousness, but I could be wrong about that. I haven't really thought about it much. Any thoughts?

And what, precisely, does 'sensation' mean? For example, is a thermostat conscious? It can 'sense' the temperature of a room and 'react' in such a way to heat up the room if cold.

And if this is a form of consciousness, then is *all* interactivity also? So, is an electron 'conscious' of a photon when it interacts with it (thereby detecting it)?

[vulcanlogician]

A bit off the original topic, but it's an interesting question. Does sensation alone lead to consciousness, or are cognitive abilities required too? My first answer is that sensation alone = consciousness, but I could be wrong about that. I haven't really thought about it much. Any thoughts?

And what, precisely, does 'sensation' mean? For example, is a thermostat conscious? It can 'sense' the temperature of a room and 'react' in such a way to heat up the room if cold.

And if this is a form of consciousness, then is *all* interactivity also? So, is an electron 'conscious' of a photon when it interacts with it (thereby detecting it)?

good point.

[Amarok]

A bit off the original topic, but it's an interesting question. Does sensation alone lead to consciousness, or are cognitive abilities required too? My first answer is that sensation alone = consciousness, but I could be wrong about that. I haven't really thought about it much. Any thoughts?

And what, precisely, does 'sensation' mean? For example, is a thermostat conscious? It can 'sense' the temperature of a room and 'react' in such a way to heat up the room if cold.

And if this is a form of consciousness, then is *all* interactivity also? So, is an electron 'conscious' of a photon when it interacts with it (thereby detecting it)?

A thermostat has no ability or means  to itself process cold or hot . It does not feel cold or heat . The way even a bateria can very sensory system.

[Jackalope]

A thermostat has no ability or means  to itself process cold or hot . It does not feel cold or heat . The way even a bateria can .

Sure it does. A classic thermostat has a metal coil that expands and contracts based on temperature, which in turn activates or deactivates the heating/cooling systems.

Sounds like processing heat and cold to me.

[Amarok]

well let's start with a definition of sensation 

.

a physical feeling or perception resulting from something that happens to or comes into contact with the body.

a : a mental process (such as seeing, hearing, or smelling) resulting from the immediate external stimulation of a sense organ often as distinguished from a conscious awareness of the sensory process — compare 
b : awareness (as of heat or pain) due to stimulation of a sense organ
c : a state of consciousness due to internal bodily changes 

• asensation of hunger
  

The type of sensation most like the form Bateria would apply would be 

Cutaneous sensations

Sensations on the skin are detected by cutaneous receptors. These receptors may feel sensations such as pain, tickle, cold, hot, soft, and rough. Mechanoreceptors detect light pressure (e.g., caress), vibration, and texture, nociceptors detect strong pressure (e.g., pain), and thermoreceptors detect temperature.

For example, if your dog lightly presses its nose on your leg, mechanoreceptors in your skin will sense the smooth texture of your dog’s nose whereas thermoreceptors will detect its coldness. When a dog bites someone, nociceptors detect the sharp pressure. Astereognosis is the inability to identify an object by touch.

Somatosensory

Somatosensory sensations occur when receptors detect changes on one's skin or within one's body.

[vulcanlogician]

We may be reasoning in circles here. Doesn't sensation in one regard: feeling/perception necessarily involve consciousness of some sort? But in another regard, a sense organ is no different than that coil on the thermostat-- ASIDE FROM the fact that a sense organ is plugged into a central processing unit.

Hmmmmmmmm.....

[Amarok]

Or is the ability to do all the above define consciousness. As how would one be conscience without perception or stimulation . Even of oneself ? Where would the higher cognitive abilities come from if not from sensation or perception .

[polymath257]

We may be reasoning in circles here. Doesn't sensation in one regard: feeling/perception necessarily involve consciousness of some sort? But in another regard, a sense organ is no different than that coil on the thermostat-- ASIDE FROM the fact that a sense organ is plugged into a central processing unit.

Hmmmmmmmm.....

OK, so is a thermostat that is connected to a central processor that 'evaluates' temperature and 'reacts' to it by changing the furnace a form of conscious system?

And what precise value does the CPU have? Isn't it just another stage of processing? So doesn't the processing the thermostat itself do qualify? Especially if that coil in the thermostat opens or closes a circuit for the furnace?

[Amarok]

Which does not answer the question without stimuli or the ability to sense . What is being processed .