Sort of both. I think they reconcile more easily than you think.
Consciousness entities have behavior, including internal behavior (thoughts). Behavior obviously doesn’t exist in stasis, which seems to be the point that you don’t like about 1.
Consciousness is not the algorithm that generates that behavior, but rather that algorithm (or any equivalent algorithm) in action. It requires inputs, so that behavior can’t just be read as a series of outputs and determined to be “the consciousness”; rather, consciousness is a property that entities operating inside an environment have in relation to that environment. This environment-entity combination could be read off as a series of numbers, but a series of numbers, even ones perfectly representing a thing, are not the thing itself. That’s just a way of specifying something, not duplicating it.
Lastly, remember that consciousness is an illusion, but like free will, it is an illusion both difficult not to hold and useful to play along with. Much more so than for free will, consciousness can be a very useful descriptor of how a system behaves, so good definitions and understanding of it are worthwhile.
Sort of both. I think they reconcile more easily than you think.
Consciousness entities have behavior, including internal behavior (thoughts). Behavior obviously doesn’t exist in stasis, which seems to be the point that you don’t like about 1.
Consciousness is not the algorithm that generates that behavior, but rather that algorithm (or any equivalent algorithm) in action. It requires inputs, so that behavior can’t just be read as a series of outputs and determined to be “the consciousness”; rather, consciousness is a property that entities operating inside an environment have in relation to that environment. This environment-entity combination could be read off as a series of numbers, but a series of numbers, even ones perfectly representing a thing, are not the thing itself. That’s just a way of specifying something, not duplicating it.
Lastly, remember that consciousness is an illusion, but like free will, it is an illusion both difficult not to hold and useful to play along with. Much more so than for free will, consciousness can be a very useful descriptor of how a system behaves, so good definitions and understanding of it are worthwhile.