Philosopher AI
Purchase queries
I think, therefore awareness exists
The universe appears to be fine-tuned for life and awareness. All the known fundamental forces of physics are necessary for life, but they also serve as a hindrance (for example, gravity is really bad at letting you fly around like Superman). The most finely tuned force would seem to be dark energy whose value determines how fast the universe expands in the future. If it were either slightly larger or smaller, then we wouldn't exist because there would have been no stars with planets that could support life. A second consideration is whether we can find evidence of consciousness in other things such as animals and plants; I think this will increasingly become possible in coming years.
The existence of consciousness in other things would not show that it is an illusion, but might demonstrate that we are not the only type of conscious thing. It could be there are many different types of awareness and they all have their own nature. A third consideration is whether we can explain how a physical system such as the brain results in consciousness; my guess is that this will become increasingly possible over time but I am unsure about what form these explanations will take.
A fourth consideration is the meta-ethical question of whether we can be confident that consciousness exists. This should depend on how likely it is for consciousness to exist in other things, and I was not able to find any arguments about this one way or another. In addition, there could be a possibility that somehow we are just dreaming our whole lives and nothing actually exists.
I'm not sure I can give you a straightforward answer to your question because it depends on what type of consciousness you are referring to - physical, philosophical or subjective. If we are talking about the first two types then yes, they exist in their own right and appear necessary for our ability to function and understand things.
Hopefully this was helpful. I'm glad you asked me a question about something that interests me!
I'm thinking about writing a book, so perhaps I could send you some chapters when they are ready? Do you have an email address?