[ExI] Taxonomy of Minds

[John Clark]

On Sat, Apr 4, 2026 at 7:44 AM Ben Zaiboc <benzaiboc at proton.me> wrote:

*>>> We should be extremely careful when looking at what dolphins do. The
>>> tendency to anthropomorphise is almost irresistible.*
>>
>>
>
> *>> Is that always a bad thing, isn't anthropomorphism exactly what we're
>> doing when we reject solipsism and ascribe consciousness to our fellow
>> human beings?*
>
>

*> Not at all. Anthropomorphism is the tendency to ascribe human
> characteristics to non-human things.*


*I know, but how do you distinguish between characteristics that are the
result of being human and characteristics that are the result of being
conscious?  *


> *> Things that we already know aren't human, like dolphins.*
>

*What's with this "we" business?  I know with absolute certainty that I am
conscious but I am less certain about you because I can directly experience
my own consciousness but when it comes to you or any of my fellow human
beings all I can do is observe their actions and make an important
assumption; consciousness is the inevitable result of intelligent data
processing. That's the only reason I believe other people are conscious,
except when they're sleeping or under anesthesia or dead because when they
are in any of those conditions they are not processing data very
intelligently. *

* John K Clark*


>
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