consciousness
We can make predictions about the world around us. If I throw a ball, I can predict where it’s going to land. This is known as “having a model” of the world, and its useful to have.
Similarly, it’s useful to have a model of other people. If I say “you look beautiful”, it’s good to be able to predict how someone will react.
Finally, we have a model of ourselves. I know not to order certain food at a restaurant because I know I won’t like it.
Consciousness is having a model of yourself, and something is more / less conscious depending on how strong its model is of itself.
(This is all my take on it, and doesn’t necessarily align with other philosophers)
consciousness is just a narrative
Searle posed a thought experiment called “The Chinese box”. The Chinese box is a room filled floor to ceiling with English -> Chinese dictionaries. You can write some English on a piece of paper and slip it into the box, and a librarian will diligently find the translation and return it to you. It would be absurd to say the librarian speaks Chinese, and it would be doubly absurd to say the box speaks Chinese.
Searle believes that some things that appear conscious are actually Chinese boxes, in that they mimic consciousness without actually being conscious. I believe that any “Chinese box” that can realistically mimic consciousness would be infinitely big, and couldn’t actually exist. I also believe that it doesn’t really matter, if something can realistically act conscious, I don’t care what underlies it.
