Quote:
Originally Posted by Howard Beale
To be fair, such ability isn't required for the survival of living creatures. And it probably wouldn't be an evolutionary advantage if some were capable of it bec who needs to see the atoms to survive?
Right. If we've evolved to see the world in the way that best fits our operating environment, rather than as it actually is, it is dubious to suggest that our perception of the world is a fairly accurate representation of it. Accurate - from our perspective; to our purposes - may be closer to the truth.
The opposing view - that our perspective is not an accurate representation, agrees in one respect with the above view. They both agree that whatever the truth is, the human perspective in particular, must be special in some important way:
To say our perspective is inaccurate means that we are aware of this inaccuracy, unlike other creatures, and thus special. To say that our perspective is accurate means that it more closely represents the world, as compared to other creatures; and thus special.
However you slice it,
human conciousness is something highly different to that of other observable life.
And this is something.