Does consciousness exist?
Consciousness to my knowledge is awareness and understanding of our environment, and even of ourselves to some degree. But does it really exist? A friend asked me this question on proving its existence even though it seems obvious that it must exist. What angles are there to this concept?
Comments (6)
1. x is real [oasis]
2. x is an illusion [mirage]
So is
3. Consciousness real
OR
is
4. Consciousness an illusion
?
This is an interesting state of affairs because if 4 is true, an illusion would have to recognize itself as an illusion? Can something not real become aware that it is not real? A nonexistent thing comes to know of its own nonexistence? How can that be done?
P.S. The Buddha did it. See :point: Anatt?. It must be mentioned though that what the Buddha was referring to was a self and is consciousness that, the self?
Because it is.
Just one note, there are no final proofs in nature. We can't prove almost anything. We constantly revise what we know and we can't do much more than this.
Quoting TiredThinker
There is only evidence that brains experience reality.
It's not the part that you/most think it is. It is not the pineal gland - the spirit.
Think of 'alertness of simulation' as, metaphorically, a resounding yes in response to a encircling no; or an answer, in response to a query from an external mind.
Consciousness isn't awareness because we must put in effort to become aware. We must open our eyes, per se.
Yes consciousness exists.
If you are hit with enough pressure you become unconscious, the simulation cannot alert you in this state. People have claimed to hear ringing sounds when regaining consciousness(parses with 'resounding yes to a encircling no').