From: *Stathis Papaioannou* <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
It is possible that consciousness is fully preserved until a threshold is reached then suddenly disappears. So if half the subject’s brain is replaced, he behaves normally and has normal consciousness, but if one more neurone is replaced he continues to behave normally but becomes a zombie. Moreover, since neurones are themselves complex systems it could be broken down further: half of that final neurone could be replaced with no change to consciousness, but when a particular membrane protein is replaced with a non-biological nanomachine the subject will suddenly become a zombie. And we need not stop here, because this protein molecule could also be replaced gradually, for example by non-biological radioisotopes. If half the atoms in this protein are replaced, there is no change in behaviour and no change in consciousness; but when one more atom is replaced a threshold is reached and the subject suddenly loses consciousness. So zombification could turn on the addition or subtraction of one neutron. Are you prepared to go this far to challenge the idea that if the observable behaviour of the brain is replicated, consciousness will also be replicated?
If the theory is that if the observable behaviour of the brain is replicated, then consciousness will also be replicated, then the clear corollary is that consciousness can be inferred from observable behaviour. Which implies that I can be as certain of the consciousness of other people as I am of my own. This seems to do some violence to the 1p/1pp/3p distinctions that computationalism rely on so much: only 1p is "certainly certain". But if I can reliably infer consciousness in others, then other things can be as certain as 1p experiences.....
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