Quote:
Originally Posted by Aerkuld
Doesn't this come back to "Cogito, ergo sum", or "I think, therefore I am"?
Does the argument of René Descartes work along these same lines?
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Yes.
Descartes made a very interesting observation, albeit simple. For this, he is justifiably recognized to this day. His first observation is simply that he thinks. It has nothing to do with WHAT he thinks about or whether his perceptions are reliable. He deals with that later. His first and most important observation is that he HAS perception. He HAS experience. He is more than a processor of data. Or, more accurately, he is something else besides a processor.
The argument that consciousness is a matter of computing power is thin, in my humble opinion.