Can you prove that you are conscious?

What is consciousness?

Is a rock conscious? The soil? A cell? A tree? What about an ant, or a dog? Are you?

Merriam-Webster's defines consciousness in several ways, such as "the quality or state of being aware..", and "the upper level of mental life of which the person is aware as contrasted with unconscious process" (this second definition seems to be more psychologically rooted in origin, as the Freudian distinction between the tiers of consciousness, namely the id, ego, and superego, comes to mind).

Searching for various definitions of consciousness would probably lead one to conclude that the unifying characteristic of consciousness is awareness.

So now we must reconsider if a rock is aware. Seems like a silly question; of course a rock can't be aware...right? How do you know? Can you prove that a rock is either aware or unaware?

In that sense, can you prove that anyone else is aware?

I am not trained in philosophy, so it is quite possible that I am mistaken, and if I am, then I would quickly accede to the fact; but the only conclusion, it seems, is that there is no way to prove that other people are aware, or conscious.

In fact, how then can I prove to others that I am conscious of myself. It is taken for granted and assumed that we are all conscious beings, but remember that this is not based on objective and irrefutable proof. Let me clarify. You can assume that I am conscious because the mere fact that I am even writing about it is tremendous evidence supporting that I am a conscious being. However, there is no external and objective means that I can use to prove that I am conscious.

You can prove through objective and physiological means that there is electrical activity in certain parts of the brain that are responsible for what we know as "consciousness", but in the end, this is only proof that the neurons are working; the elusive proof of consciousness as an entity in and of itself still evades us.

In essence, you cannot prove that others are conscious. You can however, show rather profound evidence supporting the fact that others are conscious, or that your level of consciousness is higher or more sophisticated than, say for instance, a dog's or an insect's.

So if there is no absolute objective and measurable proof of the existence of this elusive concept of consciousness in others, what about ourselves? Can I prove, for instance, to myself, through purely objective and measurable techniques, that I possess consciousness? Perhaps the closest any individual can come to proving their own consciousness is their own subjective experience of the fact that they are conscious, and yet this would not suffice as proof in the strictest scientific sense of the term.

So because we cannot prove consciousness in a purely scientific, objective, and measurable manner, does that mean that we should stop believing in consciousness? The question itself is absurd, and yet many would argue that because we cannot prove the existence of God in a purely scientific, objective, and measurable manner, that we should not believe in the existence of a Supreme Being.

Of course it is important to note that while you may be certain of your own consciousness because of your subjective psychological experience of it, you may argue that you have not had such an experience with a Supreme Being, or God.

Many, throughout history and in our present day, can testify to having had subjective experiences of proximity with a Divine Essence. Not all have claimed to have such an experience.

This is where the distinction lies.

Nevertheless, it doesn't change the fact that we take the existence of our own consciousness, and that of others, for granted, without the necessity of objective proof and purely based on our subjective experience of our own consciousness.

Try to convince someone who believes they are conscious because they can experience it that consciousness does not exist.

Likewise, for those who have had subjective experiences of a mystical, divine, or religious nature, the existence of a Divine Being seems obvious.

For those who have not had such an experience, in the same way that they experience their own consciousness, there are only three options: believe in a Divine Being based purely on faith*, believe that such a Being cannot exist absent any objective (or even subjective) evidence, or choose the path of agnosticism and merely claim, "I don't know."

*There are 2 types of faith.

One is merely a reasoned faith absent any subjective experience. For example, someone believes in God because they have been raised in a religious household, or perhaps they see that many people around them believe in God and therefore they believe in Him as well.

A second type of Faith is based on a subjective experience of the Divine Essence. This is what is commonly known as a mystical experience. There are many examples of such experiences, but one well-known example is Saul's vision on the road to Damascus, after which he became known as Paul.

Saul, it seems, possessed the first type of faith, while Paul possessed the second type of Faith.