[ExI] consciousness

[William Flynn Wallace]

 consciousness is yet another module, and one that was added fairly
recently in the evolutionary process.​
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> ​How do we know this?  bill w​

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.

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.

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
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