The hard part is coming to grips with consciousness merely being an abstract or concrete system changing states and nothing more. If rocks on the ground can be (slowly) self aware, then doesn't that mean everything in the universe is self-aware?
For example, say I throw a bucket full of sand on the ground. Then, later, I define an incredibly complex abstract computer, such that the sand falling out of the bucket and shifting along the ground exactly represents a self-aware AI within my defined computer going through its states. Does that mean as I was pouring the the sand on the ground, the sand was momentarily self-aware?
The hard part is coming to grips with consciousness merely being an abstract or concrete system changing states and nothing more. If rocks on the ground can be (slowly) self aware, then doesn't that mean everything in the universe is self-aware?
For example, say I throw a bucket full of sand on the ground. Then, later, I define an incredibly complex abstract computer, such that the sand falling out of the bucket and shifting along the ground exactly represents a self-aware AI within my defined computer going through its states. Does that mean as I was pouring the the sand on the ground, the sand was momentarily self-aware?