consciousness isn't a property of minds, but rather of how minds relate to the passage of external time.
I don't think I understand what you're saying here.
I would certainly agree that consciousness occurs over time, and that therefore to say that a system "is conscious" at a particular instant is true enough for normal conversation, but is technically speaking problematic, just like to say that the system "is falling" or "is burning" at a particular instant is technically speaking problematic.
Is there any particular harm in drawing a definition of "consciousness" that excludes disembodied uploads and AIs?
No more so than drawing a definition of "falling" that excludes what skydivers do when they jump from airplanes. These are English words, we can define them however we choose.
Are you suggesting we adopt such a definition?
Why?
I would certainly agree that consciousness occurs over time, and that therefore to say that a system "is conscious" at a particular instant is true enough for normal conversation, but is technically speaking problematic, just like to say that the system "is falling" or "is burning" at a particular instant is technically speaking problematic.
Hrm? In the ordinary physical world, we can talk perfectly well about the interval in which an object is falling -- it's the period in which it's moving downward as a result of gravity....
In Zombies! Zombies? Eliezer mentions that one aspect of consciousness is that it can causally affect the real world, e.g. cause you to say "I feel conscious right now", or result in me typing out these words.
Even if a generally accepted mechanism of consciousness has not been found yet are there any tentative explanations for this "can change world" property? Googling around I was unable to find anything (although Zombies are certainly popular).
I had an idea of how this might work, but just wanted to see if it was worth the effort of writing.