Human Zombies ?

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While consciousness is a profound mystery, there are some reasonable speculations that can be made about it.

 

One of these speculations involves a model of consciousness in three dimensions.  The simplest form of consciousness is one-dimensional (linear).  This is the kind of consciousness possessed by nonhuman animals such as horses, tigers, mice and the like.  Such animals are aware of their surroundings, and to some extent, themselves (hunger, fear, pain, etc.).

 

The second dimension of consciousness is the awareness of being conscious.  This is a self-reflective dimension, which lower animals do not possess.  They are aware, but they are not aware that they are aware.

 

The third dimension of consciousness is the one in which a conscious person questions what consciousness is.  He examines and evaluates not only his own consciousness as he experiences it, but also, analyzes the general principles that apply to consciousness, his own and others’.

 

What arises from this speculation is the question of how many dimensions of consciousness the typical human being possesses (or exercises).  Having met and interacted with thousands of people in my seventy years, I was often struck by how many of them seem never to show even the mildest curiosity about their own inner life.  They seem to move from moment to moment, concerned only with their immediate needs and desires.  Their awareness is strictly limited to the most primitive aspects of their lives.

 

Indeed, in some persons, I have actually questioned whether they are conscious at all.  This may seem extreme, but out of curiosity, I have on occasion questioned some persons closely about whether they have a sense of self that goes beyond their physical bodies.  For example, don’t you feel that there is a “you” that is not just atoms and molecules?  Sometimes I got a blank stare.  After repeated questioning pushing the limits of civility, I concluded that the person had no concept that there was anything about himself to question, anything to wonder about, or to reflect upon.

 

Another way of saying this is to question whether it is possible for a human body to exist without a soul.  That raises the specter of an empty body, one that functions biologically, even socially, but in which (so to speak) the lights are on, but nobody is home.

 

That sounds a lot like a zombie, not the kind in the movies, but something very scary to contemplate.

 

One scary thought is that, if it could somehow be proved that there are human zombies, what would be their legal status?  What rules of morality would differentiate them from, say, a cleverly designed robot?  Would they have rights?

 

At the moment, these are just wild speculations.  But, as the study of consciousness advances, might the day come when it is necessary to distinguish humans from zombies?
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