[ExI] Answering the Hard Problem, with applications to AI Consciousness

[John Clark]

On Fri, Sep 11, 2026 at 9:51 AM Jason Resch via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

*>> I think it would be better to just say consciousness is the way data
>> feels when it is being processed intelligently.*
>
>
> *> I think this would require a lot more specification. Intelligence is
> always indexed to some goal, which the process itself need not be aware of.*


*Darwinian Evolution, that is to say random mutation and natural selection,
produced us and if it can be said to have a "goal" (and that may not be the
right word to use) it would be to find a way to get as many genes of an
individual as possible into the next generation, although of course the
individual need not be aware of that fact or even that there was such a
thing as a "gene". One thing is certain, there must be a link between
intelligent behavior and consciousness because natural selection can detect
intelligent behavior but it can't directly detect consciousness any better
than we can except in ourselves, and natural selection can't select for
something that it can't see.*

*I think consciousness must be an inevitable byproduct of intelligence. We
all assume that as an axiom in everyday life, that's why we think our
fellow human beings are conscious most of the time, but not when they're
sleeping or under anesthesia or dead, because when they are under those
conditions they are no longer behaving intelligently.   *


> *> Also there is arguably no intelligence when there is no behavior*


*If there is no behavior there's no way to tell if something is intelligent
or not. A rock might be smarter than Einstein but it's so shy it keeps a
low profile and never speaks up. I doubt that's true but I can't prove it's
false. The Turing Test is not an infallible test for intelligence, passing
it means it's intelligent but failing it doesn't necessarily mean
it's unintelligent. And it's an even more faulty test for consciousness,
but it's all we've got and all we'll ever have, so we've just got to make
the best of it.*

*John K Clark*
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