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If materialism is true, the United States is probably conscious

35 points · 103 comments · ashergill

omnicognate · 1789739615 · focus · HN ↗
> something it's like to be you
This phrase comes up a lot in discussions of consciousness and I've never understood it and never seen why it's supposed to encapsulate the idea.
It isn't "like" anything to be me. There isn't something else I can compare it to. All I know is that I exist and experience and that there is an aspect of that experience that is impossible to communicate, define or share.
1. d_theorist · 1789740386 · focus · HN ↗
  It comes from Nagel's famous paper "what is it like to be a bat?"
  He argues that something is conscious only if there is "something it is like" to be that thing. "Something it is like" meaning an answer to a question like "what was it like to speak on stage for the first time?", implying that there is some subjective character to the experience.
  1. omnicognate · 1789742227 · focus · HN ↗
    Right, it's just a rather unfortunate use of language. There is a sense in which "being like something" means that, but usually it means, well, being like something.

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