X-Message-Number: 17937 From: "John de Rivaz" <> References: <> Subject: The Old Consciousness Thing Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 13:57:34 -0000 > From: Dave Shipman <> > How can we know whether > another person, animal, or machine is conscious if we can't tell from its > behavior or any other physical manifestation? Well, simply put, we cannot. How can we be sure that person A is more conscious than person B? Even further, do we experience the same level of consciousness all the time? I suggest not. With regards to the suggestion that it is unwise to consider such matters in favour of more pressing matters of wealth generation, biostasis research and so on, I can't agree. The thing is, that if you are interested in *all* of these things, you can often apply one to the other (particularly wealth generation). Also a better understanding of the arguments surrounding the concept of consciousness may be highly useful if one day the authorities start thinking that there may be no such thing as consciousness, therefore there need be no cryopreservation, medical services beyond that needed to insure expenditure on education, and indeed no individual rights beyond those required by economic necessity. To reiterate what I think: whatever consciousness is, it (or what passes as it) is all you have and it is worth preserving. But that doesn't lead me to consider it unworthy of thought and debate. -- Sincerely, John de Rivaz: http://www.deRivaz.com my homepage links to Longevity Report, Fractal Report, music, Inventors' report, an autobio and various other projects: http://www.geocities.com/longevityrpt http://www.autopsychoice.com - http://www.cryonics-europe.org - http://www.porthtowan.com Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=17937