Are you conscious?

Consciousness has been a difficult concept to define, understand and analyze. Bottoms up, one could ask what makes a biological entity conscious. Is consciousness intricately connected with time in that the property emerges with the predictability of the future, or perhaps a complete understanding of the past. Is consciousness driven by data or a lack of the same? Is consciousness inevitable for a system that accumulates data? If so, we are at the brink of exploding consciousness in mechanical systems that appear superior, more efficient and extensible than their biological equivalent.

Consciousness has been a nebulous concept. Is it a property of an individual or a system? If the latter, the question of whether an individual can be conscious is relevant. More importantly, can an individual’s apparent perception of consciousness be simply a feeling and not real? The consciousness of a system is likely more testable. An advanced society, for instance, may achieve systemic consciousness that allows portfolio maximization of capabilities of diverse individuals. A conscious system, thus, will be many orders of magnitude more powerful than an apparently conscious individual.

Are you conscious?