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by jmole 2359 days ago
you had me until the last one.

meaning is subjective and immeasurable; words are just keys into maps of meaning that our brains create. meaning leaves the words when there no longer exists a being suited to interpret the word.

1 comments

The point is that it's a meaningless question. Consciousness is an activity your brain engages in, sometimes.

If you could make something else to engage in such activity, it could be conscious, sometimes, too. (We grow those all the time. See "children".) If you made something that engaged in activity indistinguishable, at some level, from what your brain sometimes does, would it be you? Obviously not.

But people might treat it as if it were, and be satisfied with it as a substitute. E.g., if it changed your passwords, it might get away with stealing your money. But there are easier ways to make that happen. People have done those already.