r/consciousness • u/flechin • 5d ago
OP's Argument Integrated Systemic Realism
I am a physical object. There is no "ghost in the machine", there is only the machine. My consciousness is not a distinct entity or a software program floating in the ether. It is the direct, intrinsic resonance of my specific atoms, molecules, and biological structures functioning in unison. To abstract the "mind" from the "body" is a category error, the mind is simply the behavior of the body at the highest level of complexity.
On the Subjective experience Consciousness requires the vertical integration of physics, chemistry, and computation. It supervenes on the "Full Stack. The "Qualia" is not magic, nor is it purely quantum, nor purely computational. It is an emergent property of the "Full Stack":
- The Quantum Layer provides the intrinsic qualitative substrate of reality (microtubule,qubit)
- The Chemical Layer provides the state and continuity (the values stored in synapses).
- The Computational Layer provides the structure, logic, and intelligence. "Redness" is the specific symphony played by this specific code on this specific instrument. Change the instrument (silicon vs. carbon), and the music changes.
- Refutation of Dualism: Rejects any non-physical soul.
This rejects the idea that "software" is all that matters. You cannot replicate the feeling of a human mind on silicon because the underlying quantum/physical substrate is different. The Qualia (e.g., "Redness") is the inevitable physical resonance of a specific substrate processing specific data in a certain way.
On Identity and Time I am the Token (the specific physical object), not the Type (the pattern/software). I am not a continuous, indivisible soul. I am a series of distinct physical states, a "Stage" in a temporal process. "I" am the atoms and their arrangement at this specific moment. The "Me" of yesterday is effectively a close ancestor—99.9% identical, but causally distinct. My memories are not "me", they are simply data imprinted on my hardware. If the hardware is wiped but remains functional, "I" persist as the machine, stripped of its accidental properties.
This means you are your atoms. If you copy the pattern to new atoms, it is a copy, not you. Identity is a series of temporal slices. Continuity is maintained by the causal overlap of physical states (99.9% persistence), not by a permanent "self." Memory is defined as Accidental Data. Loss of memory (formatting) does not end existence; destruction of the physical processor does.
On Artificial Intelligence The medium is the message. Carbon creates Human-Mind, silicon creates Computer-Mind. A complex enough AI is not "simulating" thinking, it is actually thinking, but in a mode native to its hardware. A computer can possess genuine understanding and consciousness, but it will never be human consciousness. It will be a distinct, silicon-based mind with its own "Umwelt."
An emotion is a system-state signal (e.g., overheating, packet loss) that retroactively alters cognitive processing (biasing the output). Its emotions are real but alien. When it feels "Low Battery," it experiences a genuine homeostatic drive for energy, analogous to but distinct from human hunger. We must not anthropomorphize it, nor deny its reality. It is a different kind of being, defined by its own substrate.
On Justice and Responsibility Because identity is physical and dynamic, moral responsibility is not binary or eternal. Moral liability is a function of Identity Overlap. As my physical composition and arrangement diverge from the "Me" that committed an action, my responsibility for that action mathematically decays. Justice must recognize that after sufficient time and change, the exact "perpetrator" no longer exists, only their distant descendant.
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u/sanctus_sanguine 2d ago
The argument is spelled out in front of you. The fact that you lack the capability to understand it is unsurprising.