The Scripture Is False And The Biblical God Is Dead.

[emjay]

No worries... I've always figured we're kind of on the same page (or at least within the same book ) in on our thinking on these sorts of things, so I think I know you get it Anyway I may not be the best at articulating my ideas, even to myself, but it doesn't stop them from being genuine philosophical conundrums to me... ie not just wordplay.

Meh, let them say wordplay all they want. I personally find consciousness to be a fascinating topic to explore, and like you, see something "extra" about it that isn't being adequately accounted for in current science.

Funny thing is, when I first joined these forums, I didn't even think there was such a thing as a hard problem (at the time, I thought of consciousness as something that can be entirely described in functionalist terms, and didn't find anything baffling about it).

Also, I find the biggest question for me isn't how/why we exist at all, but rather how/why we are conscious that we exist.

I find it fascinating too... when I'm in the mood for it; I'm sorry about what I said before - I haven't given up on it completely... and it seems I'm just as opinionated as I've always been ... it's just I've just been in a bit of a mental funk lately... lacking confidence, feeling inadequate, depressed... and probably projecting quite a lot of that... and it's definitely use it or lose it when it comes to something like philosophy I'm finding... ie for example I've paid a price intellectually for not engaging here as much as I used to. But thankfully this new topic of Objectivism has lit a fire under me, and I'm excited about philosophy again.