It was at the outskirts of the world that the Old Things accumulated, like driftwood round the edges of the sea. ("The Troll")

Consciousness is the awareness that emerges out of the dialectical tension between possibilities and limitations.

The neurological condition of echopraxia is to autonomy as blindsight is to consciousness.

You realize that there is no free will in what we create with AI. Everything functions within rules andparameters

A conscious being without free will is simply a metaphysical absurdity.

In absence of consciousness, human beings would merely be animated material objects. Without the synergistic impact of consciousness, free will, and perception of a cohesive self, which act to direct human conduct, many of the qualities that we associate with our humanness would be moot or superfluous delusions including laughter and pain, memories and thoughts, love and anger, imagination and dreams. Without consciousness and free will, humankind would lack the ability to choose right from wrong and there could be no mental discipline directing each person__ lifestyle, attitudes, and belief systems.