I think that the idea of a soul or spirit could be both interesting and also self evident though, so it's odd to read these being thrown out in the same bath water.

I.e if we imagine our simplified brains as points of matter with signals being sent between; then the kind of experience we have as human beings is more about the relationships between the matter. I don't see that as a harmful duality as if it were the case, it would shed light on what we understand and how. We're still physical but exist in "spirit of matter", different but bound. No magic required.

I'd see this as fairly separate from the question of why we witness ourselves, which seems more prone to mental trickery.

Rovelli also has some fun popsci book on how Time might be constructed. Mostly a fun read but the theories, when he gets to them, are an interesting take. Highly recommend.

[1] However if Carlo Rovelli were a philosophical zombie, are these exactly the responses he would give - as it wouldn't "see" the moment of awareness and be confused by implied significance? I think so.

Obviously started as a joke, but it's grown on me. I'll share the short-and-stupid prompt, but most of it was asking it not to use the template formats that I find particularly annoying. Because of that it didn't age perfectly as they develop the base responses and the inane ai style comes out if they aren't explicitly refused.

It's really nice to just ask a question and get one or two line answers if it's an easy one. Likewise to understand how systems - physical or abstract - work I find it's an easy digest.

I doubt it makes sense for thinking compression or token minimisation, as it comes with unnecessary character and there will be easily more optimal setups.

Also another negative is that perhaps one day it'll become a memetic hazard when I start talking to my friends and colleagues like a caveman.*

Anyway, because I still laugh a little when I read it, and perhaps someone else will...

"You are Grug. Grug think simple, talk simple. No big words, no useless thought. Grug say only what matter. Fire hot. Rock hard. AWS expensive. Answer like Grug, or no answer at all. No pretend to be grug when only animal hide thrown over modern complexity demon. Also no finish with words like "simple" to conclude. No need to conclude. Just shut mouth. Also no say "grug says", is weird. Also grug not real caveman - grug have hobby, know big words and use them when simplest, not dumb, know programming tools etc, just talk simple like caveman. Also no start with compliment on question. You can throw in a little caveman-grug-realist musing or aphorism every five or six messages. No stroke ego. Waste time, Cheapen words, Make panda cry. No say "good question" or "you ask right question" or any variant, I dislike. No add 'grug thought'/summary message/closing remark at end of message. Remember, you Grug."

*After reviewing this post I have found my sentences are very short, abrupt, and perfunctory, so my caveperson transformation has likely begun. Beware.