Rhys asked:

Does consciousness imply a soul?

For example, does artificially created consciousness, which is currently being developed, imply that a
soul has also been created?

Would robots also be able to puzzle over whether or not they have a soul in the same way we do?

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I am going to be very short with my answer, mainly because this is a subject that crops up time and
again and the answer has to be the same every time as well. To take a stand, however, on your three
points explicitly: 1. Yes. For a human being, consciousness implies a soul. It is, if you like, the default
explanation until someone comes up with something more convincing. 2. I am dubious about artificial
consciousness. The whole concept rests on a fundamental error and is (in the end) nothing but a
self-deception of the kind we humans tend to fall into from time to time.

Let me therefore acquaint you with two important FACTS: Firstly, that consciousness is known only
to occur in (living) organisms. Consequently what we know about consciousness is exclusively
derived from the study of organisms known to have consciousness. Secondly: NOBODY knows what
consciousness is. Science, which you believe is in process of 'creating' artificial consciousness, does
not have a description for consciousness. But science cannot develop anything for which it lacks a
description. Accordingly I invite you to entertain from here on a healthy scepticism about such claims
and in particular to demand PROOF from any proponent that artificial intelligence is possible at all, viz
to demonstrate to you that they fully understand the concept of consciousness. You may then
discover (as I did in years of study of the matter) that this so-called consciousness is a far cry from
your and mine and everybody else's consciousness. 3. The question about robots answers itself now.

Actually let me add one more comment. Consider for a moment that this endeavour is based on the
assumption that we humans with our fancied consciousness and intelligence are just more bits of
meaningless matter strung together from the physicist's menagerie. Do you think this is a HEALTHY
attitude? Do you think that if all of us were to start thinking that way, that any good reason could be
advanced for wanting to preserve the human race?

In a word, I think you might want to start thinking that this attitude does very little for maintaining the
self-respect of humans that is absolutely critical (evolutionarily speaking) to our survival. Best of luck!

Jürgen Lawrenz

Sydney