"I tend to think that consciousness is no more than an illusion made necessary by our survival instinct reacting to the sea of cognitive dissonance that we continually try to rationalise."

Nice.

Its almost a pity to take issue with it.

However, I must!

The problem is, if its an illusion, who is experienceing that illusion?

I [verb]


Paul says:

"And if consciousness isn't a thing, we have to find out how not- things can interact with things."

And so saying, I think he has hit the ... erm ... enigma ... right on the ... erm ... you know ...

what I'm trying to say is ... good point sir!


The question is, am I a ghost in a machine or am I part of the machine ... and if I am part of the machine, why can't I be measured and quantified in the same way as the rest of the machine ...

This is the root - does "I" depend on the body for its existence, or is it merely inhabiting it.


"... These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
...Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind..."

from which shakespeare concludes ...

"... We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep ..."