On Jun 1, 2007, at 6:53 AM, Stathis Papaioannou wrote: > > I assure you, at least one entity in the universe is conscious: me. > If evolution could have made me a zombie, it would have. Therefore, > it seems reasonable to assume that evolution couldn't help but > grant me consciousness as a side-effect or epiphenomenon, the real > prize being intelligent behaviour. <snip>
I'm with Dennett too, and I'll bring up the point he made about this "epiphenomenon" view of consciousness that keeps cropping up. The point is that whatever consciousness is, it >cannot< be "epiphenomenal" in the philosophical sense of "having no physical effects". I'll put it this way: your hands and fingers are physical objects. When they move, that is a physical event. Whatever causes them to move, is also a physical event. When you type the words "I am conscious", that is also a physical event. If you think that your consciousness is epiphenomenal, you must believe that your being conscious has >nothing whatever< to do with your typing the words "I am conscious". It's just a coincidence! The same goes for whatever makes you >say< "I am conscious". If you really think consciousness is epiphenomenal, you must endorse something like this: "I know I'm conscious (for whatever reason). And, for some totally unrelated reasons having nothing whatever to do with the fact that I'm conscious, I also >say< that I'm conscious." --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
