RE: Can someone debunk this
November 5, 2017 at 3:34 pm
(This post was last modified: November 5, 2017 at 3:36 pm by I_am_not_mafia.)
(November 5, 2017 at 3:19 pm)MysticKnight Wrote: The paradox is there is such a huge difference between the two states, at whatever level. While senses like eyes and what not, you can argue started from this to that, and got more complex and what not, because there is bunch of similar things to eye sight (other senses that lead to other senses), there is nothing similar of non-consciousness state with a concsiousness state. A mutation or a few random mutations will not make it step from that step to that step. Something is either conscious or not. Whatever degree even the lowest sense of perception of the ghost in the machine would be so vastly different then no ghost in the machine.
Now everyone will just get into definitions and define this and that.
Well it is important if you are going to argue about what is conscious and what is not. It is not a binary condition. Some people of more conscious of why they act than others. Animals and birds are conscious of what they are doing. What about fish? Or insects? Or bacteria? Or what about a fully formed adult compared to a fertilised egg? When does that become conscious? Or when you are recovering from general anesthetic. At one point you are unconscious and as neurons slowly became active again your brain becomes conscious. How do we recognise the point where something is conscious or not conscious?
But if you're just imagining yourself sitting there aware of your self and comparing that to a static brick wall, then you're going to think that the two are completely different. But you're not comparing like for like. A brick wall will never develop to be conscious ever. whereas a fertilised egg will.
And once you do start to define it then you will have to find better definitions for the terms you use to define it. So we could define consciousness as being aware of yourself but then what does being aware mean?
The more you start to define your terms into smaller more precise definitions the more you realise that consciousness and non-consciousness do merge into one another at some point.
