There is no such thing as an abstract machine, nor an abstract computation. If you imagine a machine adding two and two, the computation is implemented in your brain, which holds a representation of the operations. Physics is information; information is also physics. There is no information without a physical embodiment; there is no computation without physical operations.
Humans don't have infinite memory, and thus are less-powerful than Turing machines.
"Computing red": Please put more words into that phrase. It's too ambiguous to deal with.
Functions vs. algorithms: This is a good question. Can a lookup table be conscious? I said no. Therefore I must choose 'algorithm'.
A theory that explains consciousness should be statable in abstract terms using mathematical operations.
Yes, a theory that explains consciousness must explain qualia.
Answering that question would mislead people more than it would inform.
This post is a followup to "We are not living in a simulation" and intended to help me (and you) better understand the claims of those who took a computationalist position in that thread. The questions below are aimed at you if you think the following statement both a) makes sense, and b) is true:
"Consciousness is really just computation"
I've made it no secret that I think this statement is hogwash, but I've done my best to make these questions as non-leading as possible: you should be able to answer them without having to dismantle them first. Of course, I could be wrong, and "the question is confused" is always a valid answer. So is "I don't know".
a) Something that an abstract machine does, as in "No oracle Turing machine can compute a decision to its own halting problem"?
b) Something that a concrete machine does, as in "My calculator computed 2+2"?
c) Or, is this distinction nonsensical or irrelevant?
ETA: By the way, I probably won't engage right away with individual commenters on this thread except to answer requests for clarification. In a few days I'll write another post analyzing the points that are brought up.