[ExI] Trilemma of Consciousness

[Ben]

William Flynn Wallace <foozler83 at gmail.com>

 > Maybe I missed something.  'Achieve' consciousness?  What does that 
even mean?
 > In an AI, OK, got it.  In a person it makes utterly no sense.


Well, depending on whether you make a distinction between 'conscious' 
and 'self-conscious' or not, I think it does make sense for a person. At 
least it does for me. I distinctly remember becoming conscious of being 
a conscious being.

The thought "Oh! I'm me!!" suddenly occurred to me at the age of about 
10, and it was like a mental explosion, a real revelation. I don't know 
if I could be described as being non-conscious before that moment, but I 
was certainly different after it, and in my book I 'achieved 
consciousness' in that moment.

It made a sufficient impression that I still clearly remember it decades 
later.


Ben Zaiboc