Re:Making the hard problem of consciousness easier
by Isinlor on Sunday May 30, 2021 @07:56PM
(#27338262)
So, how does it depend on the virus? When it is when it is not?
Re:Making the hard problem of consciousness easier
by lisper on Sunday May 30, 2021 @08:06PM
(#27338339)
Because some viruses are ERVs and some are not. Those that are are "part of me" and those that aren't aren't. (Isn't that obvious?)
Re:Making the hard problem of consciousness easier
by collyw on Monday May 31, 2021 @11:06AM
(#27344779)
So it becomes part of you by integrating into your DNA? It's only going to be a fraction of your cells that contain that DNA. I don't see how that makes it any more you than a virus that doesn't integrate. Herpes stays in your system for life, and doesn't incorporate into DNA.
Re:Making the hard problem of consciousness easier
by lisper on Monday May 31, 2021 @11:39AM
(#27345137)
> It's only going to be a fraction of your cells that contain that DNA.
No. ERVs are part of your genome.
Re:Making the hard problem of consciousness easier
by collyw on Monday May 31, 2021 @03:13PM
(#27347247)
OK, that's an interesting case that I didn't know about, but it just shows how blurred the lines between genes, virus and transposons are. This is a virus that you can pass on to your children, but not others around you, correct? It's not what I was considering when taking about viruses, because of the infectious element. You have shifted my mental boundary about what is considered a virus.
It looks like think something that is part of your genome is part of "you" - I won't argue that it isn't, it certainly is from one point of view. I don't plan to have children, so I have a different perspective on things.
Depends on the virus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endogenous_retrovirus
> Is that lump of physical matter conscious or not?
Depends on the lump. The only lump of physical matter that I know with 100% certainty is conscious is me. But my consciousness produces behavior in me that is similar to behavior I observe in other lumps of physical matter. Furthermore, there's a lot of evidence that my consciousness is somehow bound to a particular physical structure, namely, my brain. So it seems reasonable to suppose that other lumps of physical matter that have brains and exhibit the kinds of behavior that I associate with my own consciousness also possess consciousness, and that lumps of physical matter that lack these things don't.