(January 17, 2019 at 9:07 am)Belaqua Wrote: bennyboy, have you ever suggested that p-zombies roam among us, for real?
Or are you just using them as a thought experiment?
It seems to have been suggested that you take your skepticism too far.
I'll tell you about an experience I had recently. I went to the hospital for ulcer / polyp surgery, and they gave me a knockout drug. I went into a state of apparent non-existence that was qualitatively very different than normal sleep.
When I awoke, I had the sensation of a big thing going in and out of my mouth and throat about 5 times over a couple seconds. I realized later that this was the tube being inserted and removed. What I did not remember was that the doctor had been issuing me verbal commands-- roll over, put your arm over your chest, and so on.
Now, I cannot say whether I was conscious, and just didn't remember anything later, or whether that drug turned me into a temporary p-zombie. But I can say that it VERY much seemed that the latter was the case.
Given that we don't really know what brain parts / functions are responsible for consciousness, it seems perfectly possible to me that given damage to particular brain systems there are people walking around who can respond to their environment, and maybe even demonstrate some simple emotional responses, but who have absolutely no real subjective awareness of the world around them.
