Re: virus: FAQ: new questions

Eric Boyd (6ceb3@qlink.queensu.ca)
Wed, 30 Jun 1999 13:33:19 -0400

KMO <kmo@c-realm.com> writes:
<<
I'm interested. As you pointed out a while back, the Consciousness essay on C-Realm is really just a promissory note, and I'm anxious to deliver the actual payment.

As previous discussions have demonstrated, a treatment of consciousness that is suitable for a CoV FAQ would need to answer to a variety of interests.

Where do we start?
>>

Probably a good first step is to define some structure into our discussion. What exactly are we looking for in the treatment? One sentence? One paragraph? An exposition of all view-points? A brief description with pointers to more detail on others' web pages?

We also need to be clear on whether we mean consciousness (i.e. our ability to think, the nature of 'mind') or 'self-consciousness' (our awareness of our thinking, or our concept of self: the self-plex), which is what I usually mean by consciousness. Perhaps we should treat both?

Finally, we should also have a section on why consciousness (now that we've defined it) is useful or valuable -- and we should probably say something with more content than your 'it's who I am'.

Just out of curiosity, did you like my magic-mirror description? Can we work from it to something better?

ERiC