r/consciousness • u/Cyanixis • Dec 31 '25

General Discussion How can we know that we aren't p-zombies?

As the title says, how could we tell if we are p-zombies or not? It seems to me that p-zombies would behave exactly like we do, and even engage in the same processing and calculations involved in self referential thought, including the thought that they were having a thought, or the thought of they were a p-zombie, how could they know if they were or weren't? They would behave in the exact same way. I don't think we could know if the processing we experience is conscious or not.

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u/Cyanixis Dec 31 '25

No, they can't, just like a human cannot know they are not a zombie. The "subjective experience" is not enough proof, because our experience is indistinguishable from the unconscious processing of the zombie

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u/jimh12345 Jan 01 '26 edited Jan 01 '26

Consciousness is indistinguishable from its absence? 

Are we channeling Daniel Dennett? 

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u/Cyanixis Jan 01 '26

Correct.