Conversation

Hard problem of consciousness:

Real
50.5%
Not real
19.6%
Idk/results
30%

4,098 votesFinal results

Apr 20, 2022

to me the hard problem of consciousness feels like newcomb's box problem; it seems really obvious/simple to me and the other people are doing some bizarre overthinking mental moves

Replying to

Are you saying that the existence of the hard problem of consciousness seems obvious to you, or that a solution to the problem seems obvious to you?

Replying to

sorry; the existence of it seems obvious

Replying to

and

I actually published a paper on this last month, which I think helps by disentangling consciousness-as-self-reference and consciousness-as-property. The former is obvious and undeniable, but we eliminativists deny the latter. Happy to discuss on a call. jacyanthis.com/Consciousness_

Replying to

and

I skimmed your paper; these things are easy to miss each other on but i suspect i wrote something similar in a much more retarded paper knowingless.com/2017/02/21/bon

Replying to

and

Wow! Spot on! Mary's Room is exactly the thought experiment that—with a little tuning from knowledge to consciousness—divides bonsciousness and consciousness. This reads to me like you're denying the hard problem: If bonsc is "mere contentless self-reference," there's no problem.

Replying to

and

I perceived the steelman of the hard problem to be about bonsciousness, not consciousness? As in yea sure conscoiusness makes no sense, but bonsciousness is undeniable and not really integrated with modern theories. (Im not familiar with the normal terms ppl use for this stuff)

4:55 PM · Apr 20, 2022

Replying to

and

Yep! The current literature doesn't distinguish these two things, but it often implies the hard problem is about consciousness (e.g., that we can't use science to know if jellyfish are conscious). I deny that hard problem. The bonsciousness hard problem hinges on what a 1/2

Replying to

and

hard problem entails. Does it require there to be anything on the other side of the problem? Any content in the solution? I like that definition, so I don't think there's a hard problem. However, if there can be ~nothing in the solution, just self-reference, sure, it exists. 2/2