The Hard Problem of consciousness as a 'water is wet' meme, mapped to four camps
burny_tech · x · 2026-10-08
A viral tweet reframes the Hard Problem of consciousness as a wetness puzzle: atoms aren't wet, water is made of atoms, water is wet — so one of the three must be false.
- Panpsychists reject #1 (atoms have a hint of experience)
- Dualists reject #2
- Illusionists reject #3 (wetness/consciousness is an illusion)
- Materialists reject #4
Substituting 'wet' back to 'conscious', it doubles as a crisp primer on the stances behind debates over whether AI systems could ever be conscious.
Related event: Four-Step Syllogism Explains the Hard Problem of Consciousness(4 posts)→
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