Consciousness is almost definitely the most striking and absurd aspects of our universe. It's origin is perhaps the single hardest problem to explain, and has remained so for the majority of human history. If consciousness is something which is knowable, it is conceivable that a theory of consciousness might be proposed which can explain the data and origin of consciousness, make predictions about when and where it will arise, and most importantly it could provide the basic knowledge necessary to construct artificial conscious minds Such machine intelligences will not just be data crunching devices which rely on symbol manipulation to run logical processes, but would have a subjective experience complete with qualia, emotions, and a personal affect. To date, no such theory has been purposefully proposed and it is unclear at this time if one ever will be in the future.
In either case, the implications for the human race now and into the future are staggering.
If it is possible, then it lends a significant credibility to physicalism & naturalism that would mitigate the major critique of the philosophy, namely the "hard problem of consciousness" which is thus far without a complete and satisfying answer. This would imply that mind uploads are possible without destroying the human mind, meaning that the human race might opt to switch to a non-biological future where man is integrated with computers, and exploration is done through use of robots. We might create fully sapient machines or simulations, opening up all sorts of moral and ethical questions which have been thus far restricted to the realm of science fiction.
On the flip side, if artificial consciousness can not be created, as there is something special, or specific about consciousness that exceeds scientific understanding, there are equally profound conclusions. For example, this would effectively disprove the infamous simulation theory as it would demonstrate that we, as conscious entities do in fact live in the real, base reality and any simulations can not have experience. Computers & robots would deserve no rights, even more so than animals as they can not have any subjective experience and thus can not suffer. Any undesirable outcomes from the use or production of AI could not be attributed to any subjective agency, and only to human action of the programmers. Being limited to biological bodies, it is unlikely that man will ever step very far into the universe due to the extreme vital requirements of human bodies as worlds which we might live on comfortably will be rare and distant.
Do you think that an artificial consciousness can or can not be created?
At some point in the distant past, the universe went through a phase of cosmic inflation,
Stars formed, planets coalesced, and on at least one of them life took root.
Through a long process of evolution this life developed into the human race.
Humans conquered fire, built complex societies and advanced technology .
All of that so we can argue about nothing.
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