Can neural networks help us explain the phenomena of consciousness ?

If we want to understand what is consciousness the first thing we should do is avoid using the word. The word “consciousness” is full of ambiguities, vagueness, pseudo-problems that can only be eliminated if we simply avoid using it. Another problem with the word “consciousness” is that this word suggests that there is a single, unified entity called “consciousness”, whereas the expression is used to refer to a variety of different phenomena that should be examined and understood separately. Consciousness is like the sun which if looked at directly dazzles us and prevents us from seeing anything. Consciousness should be studied by examining separately and in detail the different empirical phenomena we refer to by using the word “consciousness”. In the present work we will not use the word “consciousness” (except in the title and in the present section) although we will be concerned with phenomena that are frequently referred to by using the word.