| Puppyroach said: so then we might agree that using God as an explanation is more wishful thinking than something we actually think exist? I could claim that invisible, fuzzy bears are the force behind the concept of love, bit can we agree that it is more probable that another explanation is behind the concept of love? What I am getting at is that people should keep god out of these discussions and only use god as part of your faith, nothing else. and regarding consciousness, what you are describing is a behavior that is part of us as animals. We have just decided to call a very basic behavior as consciousness because, once again, it fits our world view. We can compare with some kinds of birds, that actually lies down and dies when their partner passes away. We also see animals that are depressed or are cannibals. Those are not logical behavior but it part of the animal kingdom, just as we are. |
Then by all means, propose this "much more probable" explanation.
To an extent this behavior is, but it's much different in humans than in any other species of animal. While animals do express sorrow, depression, and the likes, humans are the species that most prominently tie these feelings to their actions as opposed to what happens around them. For example, someone feels good for donating money to a charity. Someone feels bad for having sex with some random person they've never met. The actions that animals show emotion from are generally reactionary, whereas with humans it's a response to what they themselves did.
I'd also add, again, that consciousness seems odd not simply because it doesn't drive us to do things that would benefit us, but because it often drives us to do things that are against our best survival interests.
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