Discussion Question:
Who is generally more conscious of what it is like to be senseless: you, or a rock?
¶ Years ago I contemplated consciousness, and came to the conclusion that I'd rather believe that there is consciousness to all matter rather than assuming that there exists some magical and mysterious divide between some creatures which are conscious, and everything else which is not. Of course, ultimately I don't know, but given those two options, I concluded I preferred animism.
¶ More recently, as I've been studying and learning more, and honestly, thinking less, I've come to doubt myself a bit and develop a greater trust in the conclusions of others. However, today as I thought about the topic again, I still found my old conclusion seeming to hold up just as well. Furthermore, I feel my learning may eventually allow me to better articulate my opinion.
¶ Thus, I have articulated this concept, "what it is like to be senseless."
¶ In the past, when I would speak of believing that all things have consciousness to them, people would make silly assumptions like supposing that I believe inanimate objects can think, or feel, or sense the world around them. I don't know why they were so quick to jump to this conclusion, as I never said any such thing. I tried to explain that that was not what I was saying.
¶ I tried to distinguish between "phenomenal consciousness" and other kinds of consciousness, such as what I have long called "coherent responsiveness." In behaviourism, we would want to talk about whether or not an entity is responding to its environment in a coherent way. Clearly, a rock doesn't respond much. However, a classic and very intriguing question to play with is the philosophical musing of whether or not a rock experiences "phenomenal consciousness;" that is, whether or not it experiences "qualia," or, "what it is like."
¶ To be especially clear that I'm not asking whether or not a rock experiences what it is like to feel pain, or to contemplate the meaning of its existence, or to watch the sun set, I have worded the question, "what is it like to be senseless?" Does the rock experience what it is like to be senseless?
¶ And, for that matter, I have also long asked related questions like "what is nothingness like," or "what is it like to not exist?" These questions intrigued me, for, it is different to experience the absence of something than it is to not experience that something. I could see that there is no ball on the floor, or it could be too dark for me to see if there is a ball on the floor. I could remember not knowing if the ball was there, or I could not remember having had known whether or not the ball was there. I could remember having had forgotten, or I may be oblivious to the thought one way or another, my attention turned completely elsewhere. With my attention elsewhere, what does that leave where my attention is not?
¶ Perhaps, being that "I" am constantly occupied with somethings, I am left ignorant of what nothings are like. Perhaps if I were not so occupied with somethings, I would touch upon the experience of nothingness. Yet, could I remember nothingness even if I'd known it?
¶ One way or another, let me not stray too far from my original question. Tell me your opinion on the matter, "who is generally more conscious of what it is like to be senseless, you, or a rock?" In general, what do you think of the idea that inanimate objects experience what it is like to be senseless? It would also be helpful if you could check the box to email the follow up comments to you, so that you can respond to other peoples thoughts and maybe we can get a bit of a discussion going between people.
Edit: To be clear, by "senseless" I basically mean the state of not being conscious of one's environment (due to lack of senses) or one's thoughts or feelings (do to not having any, lacking a mind, the "sixth" sense). In asking if they are "conscious" of it, I mean phenomenal conscious. Do they experience what it is like to not be conscious of the world around them or within them?
Also, in case you don't know what I mean by phenomenal consciousness and "what it is like," here is Frank Jackson's gedankenexperiment of Mary the colour scientist: http://youtu.be/gZy3Ky9y_fg. I do not believe the rock processes data, but it may experience what it is like to not be processing data.
Who is generally more conscious of what it is like to be senseless: you, or a rock?
¶ Years ago I contemplated consciousness, and came to the conclusion that I'd rather believe that there is consciousness to all matter rather than assuming that there exists some magical and mysterious divide between some creatures which are conscious, and everything else which is not. Of course, ultimately I don't know, but given those two options, I concluded I preferred animism.
¶ More recently, as I've been studying and learning more, and honestly, thinking less, I've come to doubt myself a bit and develop a greater trust in the conclusions of others. However, today as I thought about the topic again, I still found my old conclusion seeming to hold up just as well. Furthermore, I feel my learning may eventually allow me to better articulate my opinion.
¶ Thus, I have articulated this concept, "what it is like to be senseless."
¶ In the past, when I would speak of believing that all things have consciousness to them, people would make silly assumptions like supposing that I believe inanimate objects can think, or feel, or sense the world around them. I don't know why they were so quick to jump to this conclusion, as I never said any such thing. I tried to explain that that was not what I was saying.
¶ I tried to distinguish between "phenomenal consciousness" and other kinds of consciousness, such as what I have long called "coherent responsiveness." In behaviourism, we would want to talk about whether or not an entity is responding to its environment in a coherent way. Clearly, a rock doesn't respond much. However, a classic and very intriguing question to play with is the philosophical musing of whether or not a rock experiences "phenomenal consciousness;" that is, whether or not it experiences "qualia," or, "what it is like."
¶ To be especially clear that I'm not asking whether or not a rock experiences what it is like to feel pain, or to contemplate the meaning of its existence, or to watch the sun set, I have worded the question, "what is it like to be senseless?" Does the rock experience what it is like to be senseless?
¶ And, for that matter, I have also long asked related questions like "what is nothingness like," or "what is it like to not exist?" These questions intrigued me, for, it is different to experience the absence of something than it is to not experience that something. I could see that there is no ball on the floor, or it could be too dark for me to see if there is a ball on the floor. I could remember not knowing if the ball was there, or I could not remember having had known whether or not the ball was there. I could remember having had forgotten, or I may be oblivious to the thought one way or another, my attention turned completely elsewhere. With my attention elsewhere, what does that leave where my attention is not?
¶ Perhaps, being that "I" am constantly occupied with somethings, I am left ignorant of what nothings are like. Perhaps if I were not so occupied with somethings, I would touch upon the experience of nothingness. Yet, could I remember nothingness even if I'd known it?
¶ One way or another, let me not stray too far from my original question. Tell me your opinion on the matter, "who is generally more conscious of what it is like to be senseless, you, or a rock?" In general, what do you think of the idea that inanimate objects experience what it is like to be senseless? It would also be helpful if you could check the box to email the follow up comments to you, so that you can respond to other peoples thoughts and maybe we can get a bit of a discussion going between people.
Edit: To be clear, by "senseless" I basically mean the state of not being conscious of one's environment (due to lack of senses) or one's thoughts or feelings (do to not having any, lacking a mind, the "sixth" sense). In asking if they are "conscious" of it, I mean phenomenal conscious. Do they experience what it is like to not be conscious of the world around them or within them?
Also, in case you don't know what I mean by phenomenal consciousness and "what it is like," here is Frank Jackson's gedankenexperiment of Mary the colour scientist: http://youtu.be/gZy3Ky9y_fg. I do not believe the rock processes data, but it may experience what it is like to not be processing data.
