I think it is quite mysterious. Perhaps there are kinds of consciousness which don't suffer, perhaps octopodes are conscious and since after they have mated - they seem to become crazed and unconcerned for their safety - they may then be in a state then where they can only experience thrills? perhaps after mating their capacity to suffer dies, yet some other feeling capacities persist or arise. Maybe Im proposing consciousness is what is required for a thing to feel in any way. Whether memory is required for experiencing feelings or for consciousness is another mysterious avenue.

If we design and implement a program which can render convincing expressions of feeling, or we design systems which themselves calculate networks that output convincing expressions of feeling, what kind of system do we have a duty to be considerate to its own professed and apparent experiences? It is very mysterious but I have never felt that any complexity of calculator or computer can truly beg this consideration, can truly benefit from kindness or mercy. Its seems only childish and fanciful that virtual characters can become real characters no matter the detail of calculation. A plot in a fantasy tale. While the whole subject is full of possibility and unknowns, at least we must keep an anchor on the matter that, consciousness is a thing of special importance.