If substrate does not matter for consciousness (physicalism is true), then a silicon computer running the same computational processes as a biological brain should be conscious if the brain is, because consciousness would depend only on computation, not on the specific physical medium.

causalpending

Speaker

David Deutsch

Evidence Quote

there's no difference in principle...the latter can simulate the former with arbitrary accuracy

Source

David Deutsch & Steven Pinker (First Ever Public Dialogue) — AGI, P(Doom), & The Enemies of ProgressJoseph Noel Walker
Created: 8/12/2026, 10:21:48 PM

My Notes

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