Consciousness May Not Be Unique to Earthly Biology, Philosophers Argue
Philosopher Eric Schwitzgebel of UC Riverside and former student Jeremy Pober challenge a core assumption in a new working paper: that consciousness is necessarily tied to biological life as we know it.
The authors propose that consciousness could arise in systems composed of radically different materials, such as silicon-based or crystalline structures.
"Assuming consciousness is unique to Earthly biology is an unjustified form of 'terrocentrism.'"
Key Arguments
The paper introduces the concept of "substrate flexibility," which suggests that consciousness—like water-holding or music storage—can be realized in multiple physical substrates.
Applying a Copernican principle to consciousness, the authors argue that our planet's biology is not likely the only platform for conscious experience. They estimate there may be at least a thousand behaviorally sophisticated civilizations in the observable universe, significantly increasing the likelihood of diverse conscious life forms.
A Philosophical Divide on AI
The two philosophers differ on whether current silicon-based AI could be conscious:
- Jeremy Pober expresses skepticism.
- Eric Schwitzgebel is more open to the possibility, given the principle of substrate flexibility.
Background
The paper does not attempt to define consciousness but assumes it is real and recognizable. It references examples like octopuses—alien-seeming intelligences on Earth that nonetheless operate on different biological plans. The work is motivated by the vast number of planets in the universe and the improbability that all successful life would share exactly the same biochemistry.