People who study consciousness would likely tell you that it feels like the precise opposite—memetic rivalry/parasitism? That’s because they talk about consciousness in a very specific sense—they mean qualia (see Erik Hoel’s answer to your post). For some people, internalizing what they mean is extremely hard and I don’t blame them—my impression is that many illusionists have something like aphantasia applied to the metacognition about consciousness. They are right to be suspicious about something that feels ineffable and irreducible, however that’s the thing with many fundamental concepts as Rami has greatly pointed out.
However, I like your sample! My guess is that most “normal” people’s intuitive definitions would be close to 1) lifeforce, free will or soul; or 2) thinking, responding to stimuli. The first category is in rivalry because it creates the esoteric connotation, which gives consciousness a stigma within academia. The second is in rivalry because people think they know what you mean & you usually need to start the conversation by vigorously convincing them they may not. :)
In contrast, I can actually imagine that for someone, the experience of reading any of your definitions can highlight the feeling of “I am conscious” that philosophers mean, although many of them confuse this feeling with the cognitive realization that this feeling exists or the cognitive process that creates it, making them not work as definitions.
People who study consciousness would likely tell you that it feels like the precise opposite—memetic rivalry/parasitism? That’s because they talk about consciousness in a very specific sense—they mean qualia (see Erik Hoel’s answer to your post). For some people, internalizing what they mean is extremely hard and I don’t blame them—my impression is that many illusionists have something like aphantasia applied to the metacognition about consciousness. They are right to be suspicious about something that feels ineffable and irreducible, however that’s the thing with many fundamental concepts as Rami has greatly pointed out.
However, I like your sample! My guess is that most “normal” people’s intuitive definitions would be close to 1) lifeforce, free will or soul; or 2) thinking, responding to stimuli. The first category is in rivalry because it creates the esoteric connotation, which gives consciousness a stigma within academia. The second is in rivalry because people think they know what you mean & you usually need to start the conversation by vigorously convincing them they may not. :)
In contrast, I can actually imagine that for someone, the experience of reading any of your definitions can highlight the feeling of “I am conscious” that philosophers mean, although many of them confuse this feeling with the cognitive realization that this feeling exists or the cognitive process that creates it, making them not work as definitions.