@WiringtheBrain @PessoaBrain @kendmiller @jaanaru @jiahongbo @NicoleCRust @Neurograce @wandell @anilkseth @DrYohanJohn @ShahabBakht @jerlich @LeslieKay

It's an interesting idea that "consciousness" may be required for humans as a "system" to "operate". The trouble is each of the quoted terms are very open to different definitions. It's even hard to define "life". I certainly don't think life and consciousness are synonymous (i.e. bacteria are usually considered "alive" but seldom considered "conscious" but pretty much any definition).

Despite this ambiguity, I really like the idea you imply that we should move towards more functional conceptualisations of these terms. One neat advantage of this is it may aid in better interrogation of the phenomena.