[ExI] The alleged existence of consciousness

[Will Steinberg]

I don't really understand what some of you think with regards to
consciousness.  "Is consciousness real?" is a bunk question.  Some people
take physicality and extend it into the notion of consciousness not being
real, which I don't understand.  If consciousness is not real, what would it
be like if it were real?  If real is being aware of something, I am surely
aware of my own awareness.  Even in the event of the mind's total
epiphenominalism, our being able to differentiate between consciousness and
unconsciousness means that some physical factor is changing, GIVEN
PHYSICALISM.  Consciousness, whether of discrete or indiscrete locus,
whether of a quantum or classical nature, is an observation based on
physical or mathematical factors.

The axiom of consciousness can be seen as on par with the anthropic
principle or the fact that we can know G is true without proving it; it is
unprovable because the means of proof lie outside the system.  Proof is
based on awareness of observation, and consciousness IS awareness.  It is
our G, as has been supposed by a few forward-minded folk.

When you ask for a proof of consciousness, you validate the existence of it
in your question.  I suggest rephrasing it in the manner you mean, which
seems to boil down to "is any sort of dualism real?", an important question
but not the same one.
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