upvote

points

by Nevermark13 hours ago |
comments
upvoteby runeks10 hours ago|
next
[-]
> We literally spend almost all day, every day, thinking about ourselves, in terms of our inner self.

> That is consciousness.

So thinking is consciousness?

Can there be consciousness without content? E.g. can I just be conscious of being conscious? If so, consciousness cannot be defined as the thing(s) we're conscious of.

reply
upvoteby layer88 hours ago|
parent|
[-]
> Can there be consciousness without content? E.g. can I just be conscious of being conscious?

Being conscious of being conscious means that there is content. You are conscious of something.

It’s a bit like a Gödel statement that quotes itself, that is a statement about itself. It doesn’t mean that it has no content.

Thinking isn’t consciousness. Consciousness doesn’t require thinking, it only requires perception. The perception of a process of perception within the same mind might constitute consciousness.

reply
upvoteby ludwik11 hours ago|
prev|
[-]
I think this is exactly it, but let me ask another question (which is not rhetorical, I really don't know). Does the fact that one can describe what consciousness is and where it came from in humans help them to detect it in non-human and/or non-biological entities?
reply
upvoteby Nevermark11 hours ago|
parent|
[-]
That is a really good point. Yes, I think function is diagnosis on this.

Constant self-awareness, self-experience, self-focus, self-management, and self-improvement of one's own self (mind), is going to be an adaptive behavior for anything intelligent with resources to leverage. Whether truly independent, or highly motivated to serve others. The mind is the greatest tool.

I think that is more than simply a good functional definition of consciousness. How could all that integration and self-integration not be conscious.

reply