If someone says to me "consciousness, therefore god", what's the best way to respond?

[Brakeman]

That consciousness is spiritual and magical, not metaphorically, but really is.

No, No, and NO. There is nothing at all that is "supernatural" or "magical" about  the consciousness of the brain.





The argument of consciousness falls apart when one questions just how MUCH consciousness equals god. We have examples at every level from an amoeba to Einstein. A dog's or cat's brain works exactly the same as ours, only at a less evolved level. Our brain is comprised of billions of cells and the quality of consciousness that we enjoy depends on the cooperation and health of these cells.

Our consciousness is very akin to a computer program that evolved to write itself, and the wild variation of our consciousness is testament to it's ancestry.  Computers who are given a program all run it in the exact same way, but our brain variation is so extreme that no two humans who have ever lived have thought exactly alike. Thus there is no god handing out "consciousness. No god at all.