There is only one reason why consciousness exists. Evolution required it.
Some have seen consciousness as an inevitable thing once a neural network achieves a certain level of complexity, but I disagree. Yes, a mode of operation is going on that is a high order of complexity, but the nature of the experience IS the operation going on. We experience it the way we do only because the brain is designed that way, not because it is inevitable. We have a sense of "self" because our bodies need us to.
The qualia and experience of an alien might be nothing like ours (unless evolutionary pressures always end up with the same end result). "We are Borg" is going to be a completely different existence that doesn't include much sense of the self.
Some have seen consciousness as an inevitable thing once a neural network achieves a certain level of complexity, but I disagree. Yes, a mode of operation is going on that is a high order of complexity, but the nature of the experience IS the operation going on. We experience it the way we do only because the brain is designed that way, not because it is inevitable. We have a sense of "self" because our bodies need us to.
The qualia and experience of an alien might be nothing like ours (unless evolutionary pressures always end up with the same end result). "We are Borg" is going to be a completely different existence that doesn't include much sense of the self.
