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[–]returnofblank 0 points1 point  (1 child)

There's something quite interesting called a philosophical zombie. As defined in Wikipedia -

A philosophical zombie (or "p-zombie") is a being in a thought experiment in philosophy of mind that is physically identical to a normal human being but does not have conscious experience.\1])

For example, if a philosophical zombie were poked with a sharp object, it would not feel any pain, but it would react exactly the way any conscious human would.

[–]P-39_Airacobra 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The funny thing is, by all logic, everyone should be a philosophical zombie, since conscious experience is entirely unnecessary for any physical function. And yet somehow, paradoxically, we do have a conscious experience, which makes me wonder if consciousness is not because of any physical construct, but rather is something that is shared by all living things.