In our earlier posts (Half 2 and Half 1), we launched two peculiar characters from the consciousness debates: your phenomenal twin and your zombie twin. As a reminder, your phenomenal twin’s existence goes fully in opposition to neuroanatomical necessities for consciousness as a result of it lives in a dream-world during which your twin feels in the identical means as you do however lacks a physique or surrounding surroundings. Your zombie twin additionally challenges modern neuroscience as a result of this thought experiment assumes that an an identical copy of your physique and its capabilities just isn’t essential to clarify “what it’s prefer to be you.” Zombie-you is an identical to you “minus” consciousness—similar conduct and look; it’s simply that the “lights are off.”

May there be a dialogue between your zombie twin (Z-you) and your phenomenal twin (P-you)? In a means, their mixture is strictly who you might be, so it must be the case that it’s at the least attainable that they might enter into dialogue—a dialogue between “what it feels prefer to be you” and “you in all of your bodily glory.”

“Inside” Dialogue

Supply: Illustration by Stefan Mosebach, used with permission.

Right here’s what it may sound like…

Z-you: Hello!

P-you: Effectively, whats up, beautiful. How are you?

Z-you: I’m high quality. Wholesome and coronary heart beating at a sluggish tempo right this moment. How are you feeling?

P-you: I’m high quality too. Feeling good and completely relaxed.

Z-you: Lets sit over right here and watch the sundown?

P-you: Positive, it’s significantly hanging tonight, isn’t it? Brings again reminiscences of these desert sunsets from that street journey we took in school… Oh, by the best way, as you understand, I can not actually sit down anyplace; it’s you who ought to sit down. However I might be right here proper subsequent to you, in your ideas. Truly, I’m fairly actually “in your ideas.”

Z-you: Effectively, you’re at all times happier after we sit; that’s why I advised it. Anyway, I do keep in mind that journey. The colours are very comparable, a number of darkish oranges and reds and the distinction with the night time sky that approaches—these are certainly frequent throughout these desert nights. The truth is, the colours made us take a number of photographs.

P-you: However sadly, the photographs couldn’t replicate the true depth of the colours. Can you actually really feel what it’s prefer to expertise the colours, although?

Z-you: Hmm. I’m unsure about that, however I can inform you a large number in regards to the colours; I really suppose now we have the identical details about them that’s communicable in a dialog. I imply, we each took the identical visible notion lessons at College. And we each bear in mind the colours current throughout that lengthy journey by the desert.

P-you: I’m getting reasonably nostalgic for that journey. And people youthful days 20 years in the past when life felt less complicated.

Z-you: Effectively, don’t get too romantic for these days. Positive we’ve been experiencing some traumatic instances just lately, with loopy world leaders and an unpredictable pandemic, however the era earlier than us had comparable tales to inform and sure felt like we do now. I imply, I perceive what you’re saying: There’s something about being younger that may be longed for. However you’ve been having fun with center age as nicely.

P-you: How dare you name me middle-aged!

Z-you: We each are. We appear to have the identical inferences and beliefs and cognitive perform, so even in case you are ethereal, you might be nonetheless middle-aged.

P-you: I do know, I do know. I simply miss that feeling of newness after we have been younger, experiencing issues for the primary time, discovering new cities, making mates, discovering new romances.

Z-you: After all I bear in mind all these issues too. The novelty does appear to convey a bit of knowledge that we didn’t take into consideration earlier than. Even after seeing all these photographs of Amsterdam, the primary time we went there, there appeared to be surprises, at the least based mostly in your reactions.

P-you: I by no means thought I may fall in love with a metropolis. Seeing the quirky outdated buildings virtually falling on one another among the many canals. The lengthy summer season days with mild breezes, after which how the town gently lights when the night time approaches. I didn’t suppose being there would have that robust of an impact on me.

Z-you: Sure, that first journey is encoded in our reminiscence very strongly. And triggers sure emotional responses virtually each time we give it some thought once more. I need to say, although, you actually are a bit sentimental right this moment.

P-you: Yeah… nicely… the solar is gone, and I’m feeling chilly. Ought to we go discover a café and get a glass of wine?

Z-you: Wine positively warms us up when our physique temperature drops. Let’s try this… As typical, I shall drink it, and also you shall take pleasure in it.

P-you: So glad we’re normally in sync.

Z-you: After all. We’re practically an identical. I do know you nicely.

P-you: And I really feel you nicely.

Scientifically talking, some type of useful connection should exist between what it’s prefer to be you (your phenomenal expertise) and what you say and do (your behaviors). In that case, then it shouldn’t simply be attainable however essential, in response to the legal guidelines of science, that there could possibly be an informational alternate between your purely phenomenal self (your phenomenal duplicate) and your zombie (your physique). However that is precisely what the “onerous drawback of consciousness” challenges: particularly, that nothing about what it’s prefer to be you is necessitated by any bodily data, irrespective of how refined this data may be.

Happily, and independently of the intricacies surrounding the onerous drawback, the informational alternate between your phenomenal and bodily self might be understood when it comes to what Z-you and P-you take note of. Suppose P-you has a qualitative expertise of a crimson apple over a blue desk. Z-you has no such expertise, however they will nonetheless level on the apple and say issues about it, together with what color-concepts apply to the apple and to the desk.

Z-you and P-you each can have a dialog in regards to the apple. The experiences of P-you will surprisingly match the expressions and conduct of Z-you. It’s as if the correlation of knowledge could be very removed from unintended. The truth is, it appears to be necessitated in some way.

Extra exactly, details about the apple could be extremely coordinated. However how precisely ought to this correlation about that means be understood? Though we can not clear up this thriller right here, we need to emphasize one thing very non-mysterious about this dialogue, particularly that the data contained in what it’s prefer to be you (and by implication P-you) matches very exactly the data Z-you makes use of to reply questions in regards to the apple.

Thus, joint consideration permits for some type of communication between these two characters. We will begin with what Z-you is disposed to do, then match their conduct with what P-you experiences or represents perceptually. The data correlation could possibly be understood when it comes to joint consideration, and as we defined in earlier posts (right here and right here), joint consideration is the premise of profitable communication. Because of this whereas we can not use neuroscience and psychology on to reply all of the conundrums raised by these characters, we will enchantment to the data contained in joint consideration to sketch out the beginnings of a attainable reply.