<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans ms,sans-serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(11,83,148)"> consciousness is yet another module, and one that was added fairly recently in the evolutionary process.<br>
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> How do we know this? bill w
<p dir="ltr">Evolutionary record - fossils, etc. There is no
record of extensive tool use, writing, or other things that we suspect
are correlated with consciousness much before humans.</p>
<p dir="ltr">True, we can not prove this 100%, but we can never prove
anything 100%, so we must go with our best guess that fits with the
evidence. In this case as in others, "no consciousness before humans"
is the best fit to what historical record we have put together; while
alternate cases are possible, they seem sufficiently less likely that we
can ignore them unless and until they get their own, equally strong
evidence.</p><p>I would not define consciousness as you do. I think consciousness of a sort extends down to insects or even below. Defining it in such as way as to say that only humans have it seems to make the mistaken conclusion that the mind is a metaphysical thing which only humans have. I also think we will never know what consciousness is like in nonhuman creatures. bill w<br>
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