If Materialism Is True, the United States Is Probably Conscious (2015)

Re:If Materialism Is True, the United States Is Probably Con... by metalliqaz on Sunday February 21, 2021 @08:36PM (#26219634)

I don't know what it means to define consciousness without self awareness. Sounds like just emergent behaviors.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:If Materialism Is True, the United States Is Probably Con... by MaxBarraclough on Monday February 22, 2021 @07:51AM (#26223904)

> I don't know what it means to define consciousness without self awareness

Any entity capable of suffering presumably counts as being conscious. (I'm not claiming the converse here, though.) I don't see an obvious reason why every entity capable of suffering must necessarily be capable of self awareness.

With the right blend of psychotropics, I suspect it would be possible to dissolve a person's sense of self while still causing them to suffer. They would still count as being conscious.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:If Materialism Is True, the United States Is Probably Con... by elindbe3 on Sunday February 21, 2021 @08:48PM (#26219748)

A lot of animals (such as insects) aren't self aware. I still think they have some form of consciousness.

Emergent behaviors by themselves aren't goal-oriented.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:If Materialism Is True, the United States Is Probably Con... by grassmudhorse on Sunday February 21, 2021 @08:54PM (#26219800)

Or, from an insects perspective:

"The swarm doesn't think humans are swarm-aware. Swarm still thinks they have some form of consciousness"

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:If Materialism Is True, the United States Is Probably Con... by grassmudhorse on Sunday February 21, 2021 @08:55PM (#26219813)

I don't know what it means to define self-awareness without consciousness. Sounds like just emergent behaviors.

[ Parent | on HN ]