@Smart No More
I hope this answers your questions. The picture is kinda "draftey" and a little confusing, but
I'm too lazy to edit it out, sorry. I spent a shit load of time writing this, you know
not being able to speak proper English (I'm eastern european, not gonna
say the country for privacy). I understand you're an educated person and
I'm just a jackass that had a hanging attempt and think he's figured out what consciousness could be,
so if you think it's not worth
reading and responding to, I won't be offended either. I just like being
able to share my ideas on this forum, with the limited knowledge that I have from
my personal experiences and maybe some youtube videos (I've never took
any philosophy courses).
Amputee? Consciousness isn't in the arms in my hypothesis, it's not even in the brain.
If I cut any part of my body I don't suddenly lose my identity and become some other consciousness.
It's in a specific part of the brain. It may have access to the whole activity of the
brain, but only a limited amount of neurons and synapses are responsible
for the first thought, the first qualia, and that's you.
There may be some other factor
that leads to the emergence of the effect that's called you, in that case
consciousness has a set of causes made out of the brain + some other unknown factor-cause.
The point is really simple actually: If the causes that created the effect called "you",
and "you" is an effect that has a different identity from "me" (I don't believe we're the same consciousness),
are set in motion again after the disruption of the effect that's called "you" (the disruption is your death),
then the effect "you" should reappear in reality/universe.
Of course you wake up if you reappear, because you are you.
And of course you must have a cause, something that made you happen. And there's no reason to believe
it can't happen again. Do we have all the facts about reality to make that judgement? Of course we don't.
Honestly, I feel as if I spent two hours arguing that two plus two equals four.
Boltzmann brains, Schrodinger's cat and all of that doesn't matter. These are just some examples of how the effect "you" might
be recreated. Even if the examples don't work, I still believe a way to recreate your consciousness
may still exist. It could be that "you" is an event with 0% probability of happening again even after
infinite time, only then life after death would be completely impossible.
I think you believe there are infinite universes with infinite atomically identical brains, and they
are all having a continuous personal sense of self,
and/or you believe that two or more atomically identical brains could exist at the same time
in the same universe. If that's true, then obviously consciousness can't
just be the configuration of atoms in the brain. Yes, you have a point. But
my "I am" feeling that has a different indentity from yours still needs a cause for its existence,
it can't be magic. Do you believe that that cause can't happen again? We're just
moving the cause from the brain to something else. We're not denying its existence,
or the possibility of its reappearance.
You believe that consciousness' set of qualias
aren't genereted merely by brain function, correct?
But we both still agree those qualias do have a cause, correct?
It doesn't matter what the cause is. I'm only arguing that the cause
may happen again, I don't care what it is.
Anyways, let's assume for the sake of the argument
that you believed (I know you don't believe that, but let's just assume it) that
consciousness IS just the configuration of atoms of a certain specific area of
the brain ( what I call the basic brain function in the picture) that would be
responsible for us "being aware instead of being unconscious", and if you try to reduce that configuration,
even the smallest change will lead to the "not conscious" state.
Then you would agree that it doesn't matter what atoms made that
configuration, any atoms would be just as good, as long as the pattern is the same.
If you agree with this premise, then let's move on to what you actually seem to believe.
You said if I remember correctly that: "consciousness is the configuration of atoms
plus the interactions it had with the environment".
Let's simplify "interactions with the environment" to
the whole universe the consciousness has lived in.
So we agree that consciousness is (at least partially) a configuration of atoms in the brain, and
we agree that it doesn't matter what atoms make that configuration, only the structure - pattern
(The body changes most of its atoms every 10 year, and you probably believe
you are not an imposter in a body that's not yours).
We agree, for the sake of the argument, that consciousness is also the "interactions it had with the environment",
if there are infinite universes or if two identical brains can coexist in the same universe, and
the identical brains have different "I am" feelings, different sets of qualias.
We agree that interactions with the environment = the whole universe, for simplification.
And let's say we also agree that it doesn't matter which atoms make up that universe,
it only matters that the configuration of that universe is the same every time.
The conclusion is that if after your death this universe with this exact
configuration will spawn again out of quantum fluctuation, or
some other force that we aren't aware of, then you must wake up in it.
If "you" is recreated, then you have to be you.
So if the odds of this whole universe being recreated after your death are
higher than 0%, then the afterlife could be a real possibility.
Anyways let's swtich to what consciousness is when it comes to qualia.
You seem to believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that you can't separate
consciousness from its memories, or that acquiring new memories/qualities
will change the identity of the consciousness. And also that we're all the same
consciousness? Can you elaborate on that? I'm clearly not you. And
there is a reason/cause that makes that "separation of identities" happen in the universe.
So, you think
that when you were 10 you were a different consciousness, is that true?
If you really believe that, then I'm not even sure that we agree on what the word "
consciousness " means.
Do you believe that when you were 10 you had a different mind (mind=memories+qualities, personality)
that's different from the mind that you have now, or do you actually
believe that you're an imposter in a body that's not yours? That you killed the 10y
and replaced him?
In my hypothesis consciousness is
a basic "being aware" state, as opposed to the "not aware" state.
That state is defined as a set of thoughts/qualias that emerge out of
a set of causes in the universe, and the causes and effects
are irreducible, that means that changing them in any way
will lead to a state of "unconsciousness".
If your brain was deprived of oxygen, after some time spent in that state
enough areas of your brain would die, and even if that "state" of oxygen
depravation was interrupted, and people tried to resuscite you,
you would still be unable to wake up from your unconsciousness(death), as opposed
to let's say me in my hanging attempt that only lasted 4 minutes, or maybe less.
You can only lose so many brain cells/brain function and still have a brain capable of
generating consciousness. That limited amount of brain cells + the other cause (if there is another cause)
that are responsible for "awareness" as opposed to "unconscious" is the irreducible "you".
Getting back to your question, and I hope we now both agree on what the word
consciousness means: the "awareness state" which emerges from a few thoughts, which
emerge from the "physical cause or causes".
If I have alzheimer's disease and I don't remember my name anymore
or who my mother is, when I die and I wake up do I still have Alzheimer's disease?
I don't know. Maybe? It depends in what state you've been recreated. You're not
your "Alzheimer's disease".
You could be recreated as the minimum set of qualias, which is actually who you are, the you-ness.
Or you could be recreated in "Alzheimer" form.
I really don't think Alzheimer's disease is an intrinsic part of your consciousness,
I don't think your consciousness could only "reemerge" if it was "attached" to Alzheimer.
If you had alzheimer, then you also had a time when you didn't have alzheimer. You
existed in both forms.
Just like I have a stammer today years after my hanging attempt, and I was me before the stammer
and I'm still me after the stammer. Those lost brain cells didn't matter to my continuous identity.
Consciousness is just a thought that's aware of itself.
That thought can be attached to other thoughts, but those "other thoughts" aren't an intrinsic
part of your identity, they don't make your consciousness function.
You can be recreated after your death with them, or without them. But that's not of any importance for the thought experiment of this thread. And I really have no idea what "governs" what comes out
of quantum fluctuations. Or any other possible alternative that could lead to the reemergence
of the basic brain function + other factor/s. And there could be alternatives for all we know
(maybe we live in the Matrix and the administrators decide to recreate you after your death).
We don't care what the afterlife is, we just want to know if it's rational to believe
in the possibility of one.
Your consciousness isn't your name, or the memory of who your mother is, your horniness, other qualities etc.
Your consciousness is your "awareness", it's a thought that's aware of the previous thought.
There are at least 7 and a half billion human "thoughts that are aware of themselves",
and all of them are separated from each other. Nobody is thinking thoughts that aren't theirs.
You can't think my "I-ness". You can't "put it" in your consciousness.
Even if we could communicate telepathically, we would still be separate consciousnesses in doing so.
I might be able through telepathy to taste the icecream that you're eating, but I can't
actually have the exact taste that you're experiencing, I can only have a copy of that feeling.
I couldn't be able to feel your "I-ness" either.
How can you say that we all have the same consciousness. There's clearly a separation, and
the separation must have a cause. All consciousness maybe are very similar in how
they function, but they're clearly exclusive to themselves. Only you can be you, and no one else.
These thoughts that think about thinking and are exclusive for each individual that's having them are the reason why a Nolifenopain1 from universe1 has a "sense of individuality" that differs from
the "sense of individuality" of Nolifenopain2 also from universe 1. Even though they
both have the same brains, some extra cause-factor lead to that "difference" in identity
between these brains. And if you do agree that the difference exists, then you also
agree that it must have a cause as we've said. If you also agree that the cause can be
recreated, then that must result in the same effect each time the cause is recreated.
That effect is You. Being Aware of being you. If you're not aware of your awareness, you dissappear.
If you remove anything from that basic set of qualias, you just get unconsciousness.
That set is irreducible.
When I hanged myself
I permanently lost the capacity to express myself properly. I think the hanging affected the speech areas
of my brain (that means I've lost parts of my brain. Hanging/ox. depr. kills brain cells) and now I have
a stammer that makes me "pause" sometimes when I try to speak, or makes me repeat sounds.
Even though some cells from my brain are dead, I'm still conscious, am I not?
I was clearly not dependent on these cells to be able to function and exist as an "awareness".
This proves my point that most of the brain has nothing to do with that "being aware"
state, it's only extra function that can be attached to that "aware" state.
The basic or minimum brain function is "YOU", and that's the only thing that needs to be recreated,
in order for "YOU" to exist again.
Your Alzheimer or the memories of your mother aren't part of YOU. They're just toys
YOU (your consciousness) can play with.
But obviously if enough cells of my brain had died, let's say even the minimum amount
of cells the brain needs to create a basic "I am - awareness" thought/qualia
(the basic brain function) then I wouldn't be writing this post anymore.
Do you believe that someone that has Alzheimer's disease doesn't have
a consciousness anymore? That your brain must be 100% intact for you to have
a consciousness, and if it changes even slightly that will make the brain
acquire a different consciousness, so the same brain has every second of his
life a different NoLifeNoPain. Is that what you believe? So the
person that asked me these questions was someone else, and now I'm talking to some other
guy that inhabits that same body. Even if that was the case, would it even matter
if we can't tell the difference? My argument still stands. New consciousness every second?
If the causes that lead to that system of consciousnesses spawning every second
is recreated after your death, then you still must wake up.