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The Problem of Existence and Consciousness

Fool

ALL in all
Premium Member
is consciousness only an earthly phenomena?

is electrical impulses only an earthly phenomena?

once an earthly form collapses does it cease to exist in some other form or as energy?
 

Polymath257

Think & Care
Staff member
Premium Member
We only know of living things on Earth. It seems that to be conscious requires life.

Electricity is commonplace in the universe.

I have no idea what you mean by 'Earthly form'.
 

Fool

ALL in all
Premium Member
We only know of living things on Earth. It seems that to be conscious requires life.

Electricity is commonplace in the universe.

I have no idea what you mean by 'Earthly form'.


it seems is generally an ego centric view again as if the earth is the center of the universe.

some believe an earthly brain is necessary for consciousness, this would then mean consciousness can only exist on earth
 

Polymath257

Think & Care
Staff member
Premium Member
it seems is generally an ego centric view again as if the earth is the center of the universe.

some believe an earthly brain is necessary for consciousness, this would then mean consciousness can only exist on earth

I would *bet* there is life other places in the universe and there may even be conscious life other places. We simply don't know one way or the other at this point.

Also, I have no idea what information processing organ would be used if there is conscious life other places. It may or may not be similar to our brains. I see no reason why conscious life would be unique to the Earth.

But, like I said, we simply do not know one way or the other at this point.
 

Audie

Veteran Member
I would *bet* there is life other places in the universe and there may even be conscious life other places. We simply don't know one way or the other at this point.

Also, I have no idea what information processing organ would be used if there is conscious life other places. It may or may not be similar to our brains. I see no reason why conscious life would be unique to the Earth.

But, like I said, we simply do not know one way or the other at this point.

The octopus brain is diffused in a way very dissimilar to that of vertebrates.
 

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
I would *bet* there is life other places in the universe and there may even be conscious life other places. We simply don't know one way or the other at this point.

Also, I have no idea what information processing organ would be used if there is conscious life other places. It may or may not be similar to our brains. I see no reason why conscious life would be unique to the Earth.

But, like I said, we simply do not know one way or the other at this point.

I look at it this way, if there isn't (or hasn't been) life (any life) elsewhere in the universe then it's an awfully big waste of space
 

Onoma

Active Member
Are jellyfish conscious?

I'm betting not.

Reasonable, however what I think is more relevant is that they've never evolved brains despite being here 600+ million years compared to humans, @ ~ 6 million years if you count our ancestors
 

Polymath257

Think & Care
Staff member
Premium Member
Reasonable, however what I think is more relevant is that they've never evolved brains despite being here 600+ million years compared to humans, @ ~ 6 million years if you count our ancestors

They seem to exist in their niche. Human ancestors have had brains for hundreds of millions of years.
 

Onoma

Active Member
Op's first question:

is consciousness only an earthly phenomena?

I would *bet* there is life other places in the universe and there may even be conscious life other places. We simply don't know one way or the other at this point.

Jellyfish have existed for about 600+ million years without brains

I think when asking this first question, we have to address that " living " and " conscious " are not the same thing ( At least according to how we define them currently )

Something can exist, be living, but not be considered conscious ( Jellies as an example )

While consciousness is considered an emergent property of the brain, there are actually known cases of people being alive and conscious while missing large portions of their brains, due to injuries, surgeries, or birth defects

In this 2007 Lancet study, doctors described an incredible medical oddity – the 44-year-old civil servant who had lived a normal life despite having an incredibly tiny brain

Or another example is the Chinese woman woman of 24 found to have no cerebellum in her brain ( cerebellar agenesis )

Woman of 24 found to have no cerebellum in her brain

Irc, there's even a case, iirc, where a woman was found to have nothing but her brain stem yet she functioned almost completely normally

If " consciousness " is still an " emergent property " of a damaged / incomplete brain, then how can we define being " conscious " on the standard of having a normal undamaged brain or even brains in general ?
 
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