On naturalism and consciousness

[Neo-Scholastic]

Interpreting signals from your eyes and then creating a "visual image" based upon that abstraction -is computing-.

It -is- data processing, even if there's "more" to it. That visual field -is- data -being- processed....

The key word here is 'interpreting', as in who is doing the interpretation. An abacus is also a data processing device, albeit manually powered. The beads are manipulated according to an algorithm but have no meaning in themselves. The meaning comes from outside the algorithmic system. Likewise, electronic switches and lights have no meaning other than what they get assigned by a knowing subject. And by logical extension, the activity of neurons, firing and not firing, also have no inherent meaning. Yes, they correlate with mental properties. But the beads and switches also correlate with their assigned meanings. As such I see no justification for claiming that the brain, as a physical mechanism, does anything more that produce signs awaiting interpretation by a knowing subject.