I'm not sure about b_b, but I do think a venus flytrap is conscious to a degree, as a nervous system is one way to respond to and act upon the environment, but not the only way. Even a tree growing towards the sun is a type of consciouness, although an extremely simple and slow one.Venus Fly Trap is conscious?
What would you say to b_b's statement in the article: EDIT I"m just curious because I have just started to research consciousness over the past few months and I'm only starting to get a grasp on my own understanding of it.In fact, consciousness of the world is the entire point of a nervous system. One need only look at who possesses a nervous system to understand this. Almost without exception, animals that have nervous systems are those that move about their environment.
I'd agree that it seems nerves by-and-large function to enable a response to the environment, and that this is the foundation of what we call consciouness. IMHO it's so much easier to talk about complexity of consciouness rather than to try to draw a line at where it 'begins'. It's like life itself. Are viruses living? etc. A complete definition is impossible to construct, whereby the physical reality is completely comprehendable. From this point of view, artificial intelligence is less mystical. Artificial intelligence already exists. The real question we are asking is whether or not we will be able to construct an intelligence that is similar to ours, and thus, one that has a similar type of consciousness.