Philosophy Now Forum

I see, so you don't even agree with Chalmers. Well, I guess there's no debate to be had with you.

we assume that consciousness CANNOT be accounted for by any mechanical processes. Who is "we". I know of no scientist who would make this claim. The reason that reductive explanation fails for consciousness, according to Chalmers, is that it cannot be functionally analyzed. .. If consciou...

This isn't the place for trolls. Do you even know what scientific means? Why would you be asking for something purely scientific on a philosophy forum? :roll: If philosophers didn't base all their thinking on something solid, we would end back in the medieval times, where people are superstitious a...

He's not saying nonsense, in my opinion, he's only making confusion as he writes that comparison and consciousness cannot exist without each other, but I'd say comparison cannot exist outside a consciousness. Comparison is a proof of having a consciousness. The quote is pure nonsense and babble, so...

Hello again, thanks for all the replies. I'm noticing the confusion among you, so I'm going to try to explain this from a different point of view. I think this helped the last forum get what I'm trying to say. Please read it all. I'm trying to be as short and concise as I can. (Caps are only for emp...

Do animals make comparisons? I think so. Do animals have a consciousness? I'd rather define "comparison", before. Why wouldn't they? Animals rely on their senses just as we do. Perhaps people don't think animals feel emotions, but every time I do something to annoy my dog, and he gives me...

Computers compare all the time. Does this equate to consciousness? How about an old-fashioned weight scale? That's a comparison machine. Fire cannot exist without at least 13% oxygen. What consciousness is comparing the oxygen content, before and after it ignites? I could go on with a very long lis...

If you look at the very fundamentals of what it means to be conscious, and what consciousness is capable of, you find this simple fact. Consciousness is the result of making comparisons. At every moment in our conscious state, we are constantly making comparisons about how we feel and why we feel t...

I don't think comparisons lead to consciousness because I think it is perfectly plausible to be conscious and think of nothing at all. That is not correct. You wouldn't even by alive if your body was not making comparisons about the fuel you need to metabolize (whether it has enough fuel or not). T...

I don't think comparisons lead to consciousness because I think it is perfectly plausible to be conscious and think of nothing at all. That is not correct. You wouldn't even by alive if your body was not making comparisons about the fuel you need to metabolize (whether it has enough fuel or not). W...

Hello everyone. I've been posting this idea on several philosophy forums to get criticism for it. This post is going to be very short because I'm trying to make things as simple and clear as possible. We might have all heard about David Chalmers' hard problem of consciousness, the question being, ho...