Many of you reading this thread will have heard of the “hard problem of consciousness“; WP is as good an intro as any.
In this thread, I’d like to discuss a somewhat orthogonal question: is consciousness, of the “hard problem” kind, binary?
It’s a question I’ve not seen discussed; if you know of a good one, please cite.
Often, consciousness of the hard problem kind seems to refer to fully conscious, fully functioning adult humans, as well as AIs, philosophical zombies, etc.
But does whatever consciousness we have when dreaming, with brains ravaged by disease or drugs, etc count as consciousness?
In a recent discussion elsewhere - on an unrelated topic - a participant talked about a repugnance to torture dogs, but zero qualms about “torturing” azalea bushes. He said this had to do with a recognition that dogs have consciousness (of the hard problem kind), but azaleas do not. And torturing computers - AI or not - is impossible. IOW, he was, briefly, sketching boundaries.
So, where does consciousness begin, and end? When did it first evolve? Any convergent evolution (e.g. Octopoda vs Primate)?
In this thread, I’d like to discuss a somewhat orthogonal question: is consciousness, of the “hard problem” kind, binary?
It’s a question I’ve not seen discussed; if you know of a good one, please cite.
Often, consciousness of the hard problem kind seems to refer to fully conscious, fully functioning adult humans, as well as AIs, philosophical zombies, etc.
But does whatever consciousness we have when dreaming, with brains ravaged by disease or drugs, etc count as consciousness?
In a recent discussion elsewhere - on an unrelated topic - a participant talked about a repugnance to torture dogs, but zero qualms about “torturing” azalea bushes. He said this had to do with a recognition that dogs have consciousness (of the hard problem kind), but azaleas do not. And torturing computers - AI or not - is impossible. IOW, he was, briefly, sketching boundaries.
So, where does consciousness begin, and end? When did it first evolve? Any convergent evolution (e.g. Octopoda vs Primate)?
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