The Feeling of Life Itself

While I align with most of the book and admire Koch's thoughtful exploration of consciousness and his analogy comparing its simulation to simulated gravity, I think the comparison is flawed. If gravity is simulated in a computer, then the world it acts upon should also be simulated, unlike our reality. Similarly, while our consciousness doesn't directly act on the world, it operates through multiple layers of abstraction. Our senses create one layer, while the preprocessed data reaching consciousness adds another, as mentioned in Life 3.0.

However, I deeply appreciate Koch's argument that we should respect the varying levels of consciousness found in animals, acknowledging that they perceive and experience the world differently than we do. This recognition should guide us to treat other creatures with the consideration and care that align with their level of consciousness.