Consciousness Always Exists

Part I:

A. No situation exists.
B. Statement A is true.
C. A situation exists in which statement B is true.
D. A situation exists.(1)
E. Consciousness exists.
F. Statement A can never be true.

***

I claim that statement F is true.

***

Proof:

If A is true, B is true. If B is true, C is true.(2) If C is true, D is true. If D is true, A is false. Therefore, if A is true, A is false! (Contradiction!)

Clearly, A can never be true.(3)

Since A can never be true, it follows that F is true.

***

If A is never true, A is always false. A is never true. Therefore, A is always false.

If A is always false, D is always true. A is always false. Therefore, D is always true.

We conclude the following: A situation always exists.(4)

Part II:

Suppose a situation exists. Then the situation must persist for a duration greater than zero seconds. If a situation persists for a duration greater than zero seconds, a phenomenon of temporal passage must occur.(6) If a phenomenon of temporal passage occurs, consciousness must exist.(7) Therefore, if a situation exists, consciousness must exist.

***

If statement D is true, E is true. D is true. Therefore, E is true.

***

If statement D is always true, E is always true. D is always true. Therefore, E is always true.(8)

***

We conclude the following: Consciousness always exists.(9)

Notes:

1. The terms "situation," "scenario," and "state of affairs" are synonymous. (See the following article: Are All Minds Finite?)
2. Suppose statement B is true. Then a situation exists. (The situation that exists is that statement B is true.)
3. It can never be the case that statement A is true.
4. A situation must always exist. (It can never be the case that "no situation exists.")
5. Zero seconds is "no length of time."
6. The word "persist" implies a passage of time. (Persistence is a dynamic process.)
7. The phenomenon of temporal passage (i.e., the phenomenon of time flow) is consciousness-dependent. (I discuss the relationship between time flow and consciousness in my paper "Temporal Passage.")
8. If a situation exists, consciousness exists.
9. Consciousness must always exist. (It can never be the case that "consciousness does not exist.")

Clarification:

The premise "D is true" does not lead to a contradiction. (It does not lead to the conclusion that "D is false.")

***

Let us consider the following statement:

S1: If B is true, C is true.(1)

***

The premise in statement S1 is "B is true." (Please note that "A is false" is not a premise in S1.)

1. Suppose statement B is true. Then a situation exists. (The situation that exists is that statement B is true.)

Dialogue at Scienceforums.net

[Mc2509]
If consciousness always exists, where is it while a patient is in coma? The patient can't experience things around him or her. He or she loses his or her consciousness. Where does consciousness go? Can you explain that? :)

[Andemicael]
Let us suppose the following:

- O_A is a conscious observer that exists in spacetime.
- O_A is the only conscious observer that exists in spacetime.
- m1 is the moment "1:00 pm, Jan. 1, 2000."
- m2 is the moment "2:00 pm, Jan. 1, 2000."
- O_A ceases to be conscious at the moment m1.
- O_A does not regain consciousness until the moment m2.
- The time dimension of spacetime does not pass.
- When O_A is unconscious, O_A's subjective time does not pass.

***

Now let us consider the following statement:

S1: Between m1 and m2, O_A is unconscious for zero seconds.

***

I claim that this statement is true.^1,2,3

Notes:

1. No objective time (OT) passes between the moments m1 and m2. (The total amount of OT that passes between these moments is zero seconds.)
2. O_A's subjective time (STA) does not pass between the moments m1 and m2. (The total amount of STA that passes between these moments is zero seconds.)
3. I discuss unconsciousness in considerable detail in the thread "Time, Consciousness, and Unconsciousness."

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