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[Clydey]

Oh, we have changed our tune now then since I pointed out that the information didn't come from Deepak Chopra but renown physicists like Dr. Gowsami and Dr. Wolf. Very nice.

Changed my tune? No idea how you got that from my response.

[DaveH]

Because once he woke up, that's was the only thing he remembered. He couldn't recognize anyone (his family or relatives) for a few hours/days etc. He also couldn't remember anything from his life before the coma. It's so clear to me that you didn't even bother to listen to what he had to say about his own experience. lol

So he remembered only his experiences. And? What about him remembering his experiences guarantees that he had those experiences while he was brain dead? Do you maintain he was brain dead when he remembered those experiences?

[DaveH]

Conciousness does not imply the ability to make choices, even you might concede that.

That bananas are yellow does not imply that they are square. Nonetheless, I can use the empirical evidence to distinguish between the two propositions. I have a way of telling that one is true and the other is daft.

What way do you have of distinguishing these two propositions?

1)Ice is conscious
2)Ice can make choices

You seem to think (2) is daft but (1) is true. How do you know the difference?

[DaveH]

Sorry, I haven't a clue what you're on about

I am asking how you can tell that "ice makes choices"  is a daft statement.
I am asking how you can tell that "ice is conscious" is a true statement.

[scotnadian]

I mean consequences for the mind. In other words, you are your brain. The body is basically a vehicle.

If the brain is a driver, does it have a destination?

Do you think we are progressing or regressing in our evolutionary process?

[Fiverings]

I am asking how you can tell that "ice makes choices"  is a daft statement.
I am asking how you can tell that "ice is conscious" is a true statement.

OK - here goes. Ice ( water, actually) is conscious because it responds in subtle ways to changes in its environment both on a molecular and massive level. Water does not make choices because the way it responds to its environment  appears to be entirely predictable in general terms. 

[Mark]

There is no goal. It just looks that way in hindsight.

[DaveH]

a corollary of the evolutionary process is that progress of sorts must inevitably occur as organisms develop in response to the increased complexity of the environment

Not true. For example, there are fishes who have evolved to live in dark caves who have lost the use of their eyes.

The environment does not necessarily get more complex.