If you use the word “consciousness”, you ought to know what you mean by it.
The same applies to you. Any English speaker can attach a meaning to “consciousness”. That doesn’t imply the possession of deep metaphysical insight. I don’t know what dark matter “is” either. I don’t need to fully explain what consc. “is”, since ..
“I don’t think the argument requires consc. to be anything more than:
1) something that is there or not (not a matter of interpretation or convention).
2) something that is not entirely inferable from behaviour.”
You repeatedly miss the point of my argument. If you were teaching English to a foreign person, and your dictionary didn’t contain the word “Conscoiusness”, how would you explain what you meant by that word?
I’m not asking you to explain to an alien. You can rely on shared human intuitions and so on. I’m just asking you what the word means to you, because it demonstrably means different things to different people, even though they are all English users.
I’m just asking you what the word means to you, because it demonstrably means different things to different people, even though they are all English users.
I have already stated those aspects of the meaning of “consciousness” necessary for my argument to go through. Why should I explain more?
1) something that is there or not (not a matter of interpretation or convention).
2) something that is not entirely inferable from behaviour.
A lot of things would satisfy that definition without having anything to do with “consciousness”. An inert lump of metal stuck in your brain would satisfy it. Are you saying you really don’t know anything significant about what the word “consciousness” means beyond those two requirements?
Yep. They weren’t an exhaustive definition of consc, and weren’t said to be. No-one needs to infer the subject matter from 1) and 2), since it was already given.
Tell me, are you like this all the time? You might make a good roommate for dr Dr Sheldon Cooper.
I think the conversation might as well end here. I wasn’t responsible for the first three downvotes, but after posting this reply I will add a fourth downvote.
There was a clear failure to communicate and I don’t feel like investing the time explaining the same thing over and over again.
The same applies to you. Any English speaker can attach a meaning to “consciousness”. That doesn’t imply the possession of deep metaphysical insight. I don’t know what dark matter “is” either. I don’t need to fully explain what consc. “is”, since ..
“I don’t think the argument requires consc. to be anything more than:
1) something that is there or not (not a matter of interpretation or convention).
2) something that is not entirely inferable from behaviour.”
You repeatedly miss the point of my argument. If you were teaching English to a foreign person, and your dictionary didn’t contain the word “Conscoiusness”, how would you explain what you meant by that word?
I’m not asking you to explain to an alien. You can rely on shared human intuitions and so on. I’m just asking you what the word means to you, because it demonstrably means different things to different people, even though they are all English users.
I have already stated those aspects of the meaning of “consciousness” necessary for my argument to go through. Why should I explain more?
You mean these aspects?
A lot of things would satisfy that definition without having anything to do with “consciousness”. An inert lump of metal stuck in your brain would satisfy it. Are you saying you really don’t know anything significant about what the word “consciousness” means beyond those two requirements?
Yep. They weren’t an exhaustive definition of consc, and weren’t said to be. No-one needs to infer the subject matter from 1) and 2), since it was already given.
Tell me, are you like this all the time? You might make a good roommate for dr Dr Sheldon Cooper.
I think the conversation might as well end here. I wasn’t responsible for the first three downvotes, but after posting this reply I will add a fourth downvote.
There was a clear failure to communicate and I don’t feel like investing the time explaining the same thing over and over again.