# Exploring consciousness **URL:** https://forum.secondrenaissance.net/t/exploring-consciousness/753 **Category:** Research and Sense-Making **Created:** [June 10, 2026, 7:38pm UTC](https://forum.secondrenaissance.net/t/exploring-consciousness/753 "2026-06-10T19:38:29Z") **Posts on this page:** 1 **Showing post:** 100
### Author: ![GeoffDann](https://forum.secondrenaissance.net/user_avatar/forum.secondrenaissance.net/geoffdann/32/860_2.png) [@GeoffDann](https://forum.secondrenaissance.net/u/GeoffDann) #### Post date: [June 26, 2026, 12:01pm UTC](https://forum.secondrenaissance.net/t/exploring-consciousness/753/100 "2026-06-26T12:01:03Z")
> [@Justin](#): > > Geoff, would you talk to someone face to face in a debate like this? Have you ever done it? Yes, I have studied philosophy academically, and this is how it works. The problem is that you appear to be taking it personally when in fact I am attacking your argument, not you. Specifically, you are making metaphysical claims about consciousness, but you need to define that word to mean two different things for your argument to work. This is exactly what physicalists also do, when they try to define it as _both_ brain processes _and_ subjective experience. Pointing this out is not a social faux pas. It’s just philosophy, doing it what it does. > [@](#): > > Learning basic civility is something most people pick up before their pre-teen years. But _learning how to lose a philosophical argument gracefully_ is something that requires academic study. I am refuting your argument, not personally attacking you. When you study philosophy you learn to watch your own argument, and at the point where you stop making any sense, you DON’T KEEP GOING. You don’t let your ego start controlling your reactions. You say “OK, maybe I need to rethink this.” People who have not studied philosophy find this very difficult, because when they lose an argument in public, it feels like they are losing status. In fact, it is keeping on going when you’ve lost that loses you status, not admitting that you might be wrong. --- _[View the full topic](https://forum.secondrenaissance.net/t/exploring-consciousness/753)._