Why “Conscious” is being discussed
The most recent Hacker News stories and comments contributing to this topic's mentions.
Why? People have created machines that can, at their core, regurgitate human knowledge. They do not have long-term memory, self-direction, self-improvement, emotion, etc. At the…
by anon7000 · Sep 17, 2026
My issue is that I've seen some bad takes in rationalist circles that believe in functionalism, and consciousness as an emergent property of a sufficiently complex computation.…
by myaccountonhn · Sep 17, 2026
The issue is that the answer if LLMs are conscious or not have ramifications for society, even if we can't answer it. Similar to how god existing or not has huge ramifications f…
by myaccountonhn · Sep 17, 2026
I mean it all goes back to how we define consciousness In one definition, which contains quale, then yes, computation cannot bring about experience, and by extension consciousne…
by amdivia · Sep 17, 2026
The concept is based on at least 2 false premises. I am not aware of a social contract that says we must grant conscious beings rights. Not aware of a shared, concrete definitio…
by ozozozd · Sep 17, 2026
I don't think the debate is even resting on reasonable grounds. Few are categorically stating that machines are conscious in any sense comparable to a person. What we have is pe…
by Lerc · Sep 17, 2026
Interest
Proportion of Hacker News items mentioning "conscious" over time.
Mentions
Total number of Hacker News items mentioning "conscious" over time.
Consciousness is being aware of something internal to one's self, or of states or objects in one's external environment. It has been the topic of extensive explanations, analyses, and debate among philosophers, scientists, and theologians for millennia. There is no consensus on what exactly needs to be studied, or whether consciousness can be considered a scientific concept. In some explanations it is synonymous with mind, while in others it is considered an aspect of it. Read more on Wikipedia