[andai]

>If it is the case that consciousness can emerge from inert matter, I do wonder if the way it pays for itself evolutionarily, is by creating viral social signals.

The idea of what selection pressure produces consciousness is very interesting.

Their behavior being equivalent, what's the difference between a human and a p-zombie? By definition, they get the same inputs, they produce the same outputs (in terms of behavior, survival, offspring). Evolution wouldn't care, right?

Or maybe consciousness is required for some types of (more efficient) computation? Maybe the p-zombie has to burn more calories to get the same result?

Maybe consciousness is one of those weird energy-saving exploits you only find after billions of years in a genetic algorithm.