You suggested that consciousness is no more than a useful social abstraction.
You can examine consciousness without the need for words. This is the issue with this topic, people stay in the structure of language to try to define that which language is born out of, not realizing that you can take a step back and inhabit that very thing itself and observe it directly. It just takes practice.
> You suggested that consciousness is no more than a useful social abstraction
And why not? I'm still unclear why this couldn't be the case. Maybe what we describe as consciousness developed as an evolutionary adaptation for group coordination and survival? To your earlier point about identity, it seems like you're suggesting identity and consciousness are the same, no?
> You can examine consciousness without the need for words.
I'm not sure what you mean by this. Can you elaborate?
Consciousness is the aggregate of emotional, sensory, and thought formations. With these forming a thread into a narrative through memory, we forge identities. All of this happens in the substrate that is consciousness.
If it is unclear why consciousness is not a social construct, you can experiment with isolation and introspection. Retreats, meditation, psychedelics, anything that involves observing the movements of your mind without getting tangled up into words and semantics.
> Consciousness is the aggregate of emotional, sensory, and thought formations...
That's one theory among many. Are these identities static or dynamic in nature?
> If it is unclear why consciousness is not a social construct, you can experiment with isolation and introspection. Retreats, meditation, psychedelics, anything that involves observing the movements of your mind without getting tangled up into words and semantics.
I don't find this compelling because it's really difficult to find a person who wasn't born to another person and lived amongst other people in order to run this experiment.
"Observing" myself thinking of a movie while I meditate seems circular and I don't think you can be an observer and be the observed at the same time.
It's as much a theory as saying that a body is formed of limbs, torso, head, etc. I have a body, I inhabit it and can observe it directly.
You're trying to word your way out of words.
It's like you're asking me what's atop a mountain and you keep making conjectures and assumptions about what is or isn't up there. The answer is to just go climb it instead of taking your assumptions for reality.
> I don't think you can be an observer and be the observed at the same time.
You can examine consciousness without the need for words. This is the issue with this topic, people stay in the structure of language to try to define that which language is born out of, not realizing that you can take a step back and inhabit that very thing itself and observe it directly. It just takes practice.