All the evidence and all my experience scream loud and clear…
Consciousness is nothing more than the experience of what my eyes, ears, muscles, nerves, bones, heart, stomach, brain, and other organs are doing at the time.
That said, it’s quite phenomenal (dare we call it miraculous) that the seemingly lifeless building blocks known as Hydrogen, Oxygen, Carbon, Calcium, and Nitrogen, if connected with each other “just right”, have the power to produce pleasure and pain, laughter and tears, regrets and worries… hunger, thirst, nausea, lust, and fear… jealousy, resentment, heartbreak, shame, and boredom… gratitude, hope, empathy, affection, and courage… to name but a few.
And nobody has a clue how.
That’s all we know for sure, and perhaps all we can ever know.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. (Carl Sagan)
Thanks for keeping the spirit of Carl Sagan alive. A national and global treasure for sure.