Sam Harris On Defining Consciousness

[Rhondazvous]

For what it might be worth I also see consciousness as a continuum.  But I only expect to find it in multicellular animals.  A jellyfish or a daisy might have something that also falls on the continuum but the trail grows colder in that direction.  A fascinating question is how did it ever come to pass that a colony style multicellular creature such as a jellyfish ever evolved a central nervous system.  Naturally I assume it happened without a designer, but being soft celled creatures we're highly unlikely to find any transitional forms unless, like jellyfish themselves, they are still alive and well somewhere.

Looks like the devil may indeed be in the details.  In my discussion with Rhythm I was only thinking of consciousness as we experience it as humans.  If we're going to split that up into our sentience, self-awareness, sapience and bare-bones consciousness then .. never mind.

However I don't withdraw the idiocy remark.  The one thing of which I am certain is that anyone who calls me an idiot is mistaken in the way only a true idiot can be mistaken.  As an atheist I don't turn any cheeks.

We might answer that question in terms of natural selection. Organisms with a central nervous system are better able to detect and avoid dangers within their immediate vicinity.

You are looking at two different kinds (or levels if you prefer) of consciousness, or as you said, consciousness on a continuum. 1. the ability to respond to external or internal stimuli. 2. the cognition of one's own existence. The first is demonstrable under laboratory conditions But is there a difference between a human who says "I know that I exist" and a computer that's programmed to say the same thing?

If we agree to use one or the other of these two, that will go a long way in keeping the discussion focused and helping us know we are on the same page in the way we are using the word. I think wheteverist is using the second one and so am I.