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Isn't consciousness the feeling of existing?


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You've made a huge leap from there-is-no-hard-problem-of-consciousness to there-is-no-consciousness. Consciousness is the experience of being something. I know it exists, because I'm experiencing it right now. The experience is consciousness, despite being illusory in many ways. Even a completely illusory experience is a conscious experience. In no way does it preclude my just being stuff, or other forms of stuff experiencing things too (and thus also being conscious). The mystery is how I can feel anything at all despite being just stuff.

Isn't consciousness a perception?

I am not talking about consciousness though, I couldn't care less about it! I am talking about the subjective feeling of existence, which is what you and I feel in every one of those disjoint moments. And the only reason I know that you feel it, is because I feel it and you're like me. If you sere made of silicon, I wouldn't know, and should not assume that you could

The concept of existence seems to require conscious observers.

Do you mean "consciousness" as being aware of one's own existence and relative position in a larger reality, or as having subjective experiences (qualia, feelings)?

Interesting. Consciousness is the only thing I'm sure of that exists.

I think the real problem is pretending that the phrase “what it feels like to be something” is going to act like a key in my dict of feelings.

A: You know, the feeling of what it is like to be something.

B: sits quietly, looks at ceiling Right, yeah, that feeling.

From a different angle, if OP wants to define “consciousness” as some feeling it sounds like he’s basically done. He’s labeled one of his feelings with the word “consciousness”. I’m not sure what point of contention remains.


Ok, but in that case what you wrote has no relevance to the questions asked in the comment you responded to: "What is consciousness? ... Why do we feel that we exist? Who does the feeling part?"

All you're talking about is its role, and making an unsupported assertion about it at that.


Consciousness does exist in some form though. The "experience" of sensations that we're both having right now is what many would label being conscious surely? I too don't think it's anything necessarily magical or separate from physicality about it, but it certainly exists.

Sure, but consciousness as a phenomenon does exist. I know this with absolute certainty, because I'm conscious typing this right now.

Can you expand on consciousness not being a thing? You mean it doesn't exist at all or it isn't a physical thing?

Consciousness is a real phenomenon. Although it is a subjective experience, the fact that it exists is entirely objective.

Our consciousness is not who we are. Consciousness is only one aspect of the experience, and even if you grasp what causes consciousness, you still haven't addressed what you, the experiencer, are feeling.

What if consciousness doesn't exist?

consciousness

Consciousness

Consciousness

It's funny how on one hand consciousness may be the only thing you can be sure exists (Cogito ergo sum), but on the other hand, results from neuroscience suggest it's basically an illusion and is not persistent.

"Consciousness is the universe experiencing itself"
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