Stephen Downes

I'm linking to this item mostly for the useful definition of consciousness. According to Topun Austin, "Consciousness is a process of being receptive to the outside world and mixing that with our own internal world, to create the feeling of who we are and where we are." The article asks, are babies consciousness, and proposes a test using a characteristic 'consciousness indicator' - a reaction in the brain following a distinct set of tones. Does the 'blip' happen in infants? You have to read through to find the answer, but it's "yes", at least for this one. But there are potentially many consciousness indicators. I was able to read the whole article, but it may be paywalled for you, so here's the archive link.