Consciousness

I can't imagine what it would be like to be my cat.

I think I can imagine what it would be like for me to be my cat - what it might be like to be a human person in a cat's body, perhaps with some specific and recognisable cat-like desires and capacities. Would my eyesight be the same but more acute? What about hearing and smell?

Would I only have a cat brain, unable to think very clearly about what I am imagining? (!)

When I imagine being you, I really only imagine what it would be like for me to be you. For me to be standing where you are standing, to have some of your physical characteristics. Perhaps also some of your capacities.

Suppose you have no idea what I'm talking about: would I have to imagine that as well? How would I do that?

The 'mystery' of consciousness arises from thinking that things are not like this; from thinking that I can 'really' imagine being you. This is what makes us think there is something 'commensurate' or 'similar' going on here - that your consciousness is 'like' mine.

But if I imagine being you, in some complete way, I would also be imagining not being me - I would be imagining having no idea that I had ever been me; perhaps that this problem had never occurred to me.

'Consciouness' is a mystery if I think that by attributing it to you I am attributing what I think of as being me to you - if I think you are 'just like me' but with some different interests, capacities, understanding, and senory inputs.

I can imagine being me, with these differences, but I can't literaly imagine being you.