The thermostat acts in exactly the same way as you do. I is possibly even already conscious (I had completely forgotten this was an established debate and its absolutely not a crux for me). You are much more complex that a thermostat.
I don’t think there is any possibility of a thermostat being conscious. The linked article makes the common error of arguing that wherever there is consciousness we see some phenomenon X, therefore wherever there is X there is consciousness, and if there doesn’t seem to be any, htere muste be consciousness “in a sense”.
The fact that you can consciously implement the control algorithm does not tell us anything about your cognition
Of course. The thermostat controls temperature without being conscious; I can by my own conscious actions also choose to perform the thermostat’s role.
Anyway, all this began with my objecting to “agents” performing time travel, and arguing that whether an unconscious thermostat or a conscious entity such as myself controls the temperature, no time travel is involved. Neither do I achieve a goal merely by predicting that it will be achieved, but by acting to achieve it. Are we disagreeing about anything at this point?
I don’t think there is any possibility of a thermostat being conscious. The linked article makes the common error of arguing that wherever there is consciousness we see some phenomenon X, therefore wherever there is X there is consciousness, and if there doesn’t seem to be any, htere muste be consciousness “in a sense”.
Of course. The thermostat controls temperature without being conscious; I can by my own conscious actions also choose to perform the thermostat’s role.
Anyway, all this began with my objecting to “agents” performing time travel, and arguing that whether an unconscious thermostat or a conscious entity such as myself controls the temperature, no time travel is involved. Neither do I achieve a goal merely by predicting that it will be achieved, but by acting to achieve it. Are we disagreeing about anything at this point?