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Re:The unending quest to explain consciousness by nkrisc on Friday December 06, 2019 @11:42AM (#21723448)
How so? Somewhere between conception and birth consciousness arises. Gametes are clearly not conscious as far as we can tell, and yet a baby is. So somewhere in the physical development that happens in between, consciousness arises as a result. The exact point is a topic of much debate.

Somewhere between mortal injury and decomposition, consciousness vanishes. Live humans, yet to succumb to a mortal wound, are clearly still conscious, yet a decomposed corpse is clearly not. So somewhere in between, consciousness ceases to be. We don't know yet exactly when, but I'd while say we've got it pretty narrowed down, the exact point currently a topic of debate in relation to organ donation.

This is all to say nothing of the how of consciousness, or what happens in between, but it's pretty clear there is a beginning and an end to it.

These are pretty basic observations that anyone can make. As for any presence of "consciousness" before or after these points, well, what evidence is there? None I've ever seen, just conjecture and speculation presented as fact.

Re:The unending quest to explain consciousness by yohsii on Friday December 06, 2019 @12:59PM (#21724346)
if consciousness was created by physical processes, what created the first consciousness? consciousness has always been and will always be, the physical realm is just a play of form, temporary and changing and your identity on this earth is also a temporary form that ostensibly begins at conception but is actually is process that goes back to the origins of the universe and beyond the physical realm, to a supreme intelligence and consciousness that is behind everything.
Re:The unending quest to explain consciousness by nkrisc on Friday December 06, 2019 @01:25PM (#21724602)
Conjecture and speculation, on your part.

> if consciousness was created by physical processes, what created the first consciousness?

Perhaps a different physical process, since we can see that a physical process is capable of creating consciousness. It seems very plausible that consciousness is simply an emergent property of complex, multi-cellular life. If so, then a better question isn't what created the first consciousness, but what created life? But that's a whole different can of worms. I'm afraid we may not be very special at all, just clusters of animated molecules that last a short while before entropy catches up to us and we revert to dust. But I understand why this scares some and they seek comfort in other explanations.

> supreme intelligence and consciousness that is behind everything

Evidence?

Re:The unending quest to explain consciousness by yohsii on Friday December 06, 2019 @04:11PM (#21726027)
i've experienced it, and so can you. don't take my word for it. invest serious time in meditation and if you want a shortcut, drink ayahuasca or consume 5meo-dmt. it is just as scary to realise that your ultimate identity is God (with all the responsibility that entails - full responsibility for your own life and your environment etc), that you are fundamentally alone (we are all the same consciousness experiencing itself from different perspectives) and eternal with no respite of death. you are kidding yourself if you think your life is an accident. you are alive because you desired to be. it is your deepest desires that drive your incarnation into each life.
Re:The unending quest to explain consciousness by nkrisc on Friday December 06, 2019 @08:35PM (#21727845)
Conveniently unprovable.