Consciousness is simply an illusion emergent of a Boltzmann brain configuration....

[Time Traveler]

....and nothing more. True or false?  Secular reasoning only plz.....

I personally think it is, but that doesn't mean to say that this "illusion" isn't valuable.  Probably more valuable than the molecules that create it even.

My understanding of a Boltzmann brain is that you have this soup of matter and energy in the universe which, if infinite, will eventually swirl together to form an intelligent, self-aware conscious mind in space. If this is accurate, my initial questions are: 1) Just because you achieve a random configuration which achieves consciousness doesn't say anything for how long this configuration lasts or can last. What's to say these BB's don't form and disassemble instantly? 2) The brains that we have evidence of on this planet do not exist alone. They require some mechanism of nourishment. They also require some sensory input to collect information to store in the brain (eyes, ears, etc.). How is a Boltzmann brain floating alone in empty space different from handing you a CPU that isn't plugged into anything and has no input/output mechanisms? Can brains, by themselves, do anything? 3) What are the elements necessary to form such a brain? For example, in the early universe after the big bang, the only elements present were hydrogen, helium and lithium (if I'm not mistaken). Our brains have much more complex molecular requirements for existence. If you acknowledge that specific elements must exist (even in an infinite universe) to form Boltzmann brains, then perhaps myriad other restrictions exist as well. 4) Imagining we are some disconnected brain only dreaming of our existence as humans defies Occam's razor. Is it not far simpler to assume we are the products of evolution, our brains (and consciousness) becoming more complex over time, rather than a randomly assembled brain creating illusions of reality? 5) Just because something is logically possible doesn't prove its existence. Is there any empirical evidence for Boltzmann brains, Russell's teacup, or unicorns in space actually existing? Logical speculation without confirmation in reality is only... speculation.