He's not DED!

Deepak Chopra's book Life After Death: The Burden of Proof is an interesting read focused mainly on this topic.

^ Do you slip into a bubble bath and put on some kenny G while reading Deepak Chopra ?

Deepduck Chubsauce is a fucking loon.

This topic has been one of my passions off and on over the years. Pinker does a decent job of explaining the quandry (although it should be noted that his views are just as highly questionable as everyone else's).

The bottom line I think is whether consciousness arises as an emergent property of complexity (matter), or whether there resides some other force as yet undiscovered.

In other words. Can it be said that any sufficiently complex assemblage of matter is or could be conscious?

This is not an idle question. How complex is the the planet? The solar system?

For me, the difference between us and dogs, is the ability we have evolved to hold and propagate complex memes.

You may be the Walrus, but I am the Mean Green Meme Machine.

Also, anyone who still believes in the Cartesian Theater approach to the subject is a fucking nutjob and should be flogged immediately.

Carry on.

oops /u

Eastern religions don't see things as discreet static chunks to be measured and described. They see things as a dynamic whole. To understand the universe or anything has to take everything else into account. Quantum physics has brought Western civilization to that realization. So, to understand conciousness, or human conciousness, how can we quantify it while it is in context of the body and all the rest?

anyone after 3 tequila shots and a six pack should be considered a vegetable

Anyone who would consider 3 shots of tequila after a six pack wasn't far from the finish line to begin with.

No kidding! The three shots are just to get me out the door to the pub.