Consiousness

Life is a necessary condition to consciousness. Therefore, before we can explain consciousness we must explain life. Before we can endow inanimate matter with consciousness we must endow it with life.

An entity is alive if it actively resists the Second Law of Thermodynamics. No non-living thing can resist the second law. This does not mean that living things violate the Second Law, but they resist it to the determent of other living and non-living entities.

When robots reach a level of sophistication whereby they autonomously repair themselves at the macro level (replace a broken motor) and the micro level (reprogram an EEPROM or deploy nano-repair bots internally) then they are resisting the 2nd law. When they take cover from a dangerous storm or seek out energy sources or even steal energy from lesser robots then they are actively resisting the 2nd law. When they achieve these things we must add them to the class of living things. We will have created life. We will have become what believers call God.