On naturalism and consciousness

[bennyboy]

Along Rhythm's lines, you could see a mind as a kind of transistor of unlimited power.

Let me stop you right there. The production of unlimited power (power=Energy/time) would mean unlimited energy source. Conservation of energy is a core law of science. You need some really impressive observations to say energy is no longer conserved.

Okay fair enough.

When I say unlimited, I don't mean infinite. I mean that a small amount of data can serve as a trigger for all the technology at a mind's disposal, for example "A single mind could, based on just a little information, decide to push a big red button and destroy a planet. Or that same information could be that last drop in the bathtub that draws a 'Eureka!' and changes the mental functioning of billions of beings through the spread of a new idea."

That's a pretty major effect for a few photons, and at least figuratively I think you could see those photons as the input of a "transistor of destiny" (echoes ominously), or as a very very long-range gate.