I guess if you replace a neuron with pen&paper calculation you have to keep the timing right. As in:
A song played on a piano is just the various strings moving back and forth. So you could replace the strings with people walking forward and backward. But for it to be a melody:
1. the people have to move really fast
2. all movements must be synchronized sufficently
3. there must exist a point in space time at which all those vibrations come together, ie. all that movement must add up to the final frequency of the song.
So if all people in the world try to create consciousness by calculating on paper their would have to carefully watch their timing in each step.
What do you get if a lot of people synchronize their actions? Like in synchronized swimming? dancing? a concert? maybe some primitive form of consciousness?
/edit:
Try combine this synchronization with a feedback loop, ie. the swimmers or piano player not following previously determined steps of a sequence but determining the next step based on the input from other systems around them and their own output.
So if all people in the world try to create consciousness by calculating on paper their would have to carefully watch their timing in each step.
What do you get if a lot of people synchronize their actions? Like in synchronized swimming? dancing? a concert? maybe some primitive form of consciousness?
/edit: Try combine this synchronization with a feedback loop, ie. the swimmers or piano player not following previously determined steps of a sequence but determining the next step based on the input from other systems around them and their own output.