If by consciousness you mean what everybody means by consciousness there are no well-founded claims about it because it's not observable. If you want to redefine consciousness to mean desk lamps, then I strongly disagree with the conclusion that consciousness doesn't exist because I have a desk lamp right here.
> If by consciousness you mean what everybody means by consciousness there are no well-founded claims about it because it's not observable.
It is observable, but not externally verifiable; it literally encompasses the entirety of the category of things for which that is true.
The author admits that what he's really doing is playing games with definitions, and more interestingly, exploring the question of what conciousness is. To try and exploit shock value via tabloid-style meaning twisting is unworthy of the subject matter.
I'll write a blog post on it later, it'll take more than a few sentences.