So what you're saying is that one of the requirements for something to become sentient is not only defined by the ability to react to stimuli in a logical way, but is also defined by the ability of something to be able exist in a way that could be considered self-sustained and also have the possibility to replicate? Consciousness aside, the being would also need to be able to manage itself without the necessity of anything outside the thing to function? And also be able to create more versions of itself?
What if we reached a point in time where we could replicate such a thing, without having the consciousness aspect of it present, would it be a reasonable thing to assume that creating artificial consciousness is further away from being able to manage something similar to this?
That makes me think, if one of the things that are responsible for how we live our lives is part of the concept that our bodies are essentially separate from certain necessities and requirements in order for it to exist, something like an independent form of existing, we could in theory neglect our bodies of some of the things that are required for it to exist, and we would suffer and maybe eventually succumb to the lack of these things, but the mere fact that we can neglect these aspects, is part of what defines a person as an individual. Not only just freedom to think differently under different ways, but even the ability to neglect things that would have been essential for something living to need in order to exist. The word individual comes to mind, but not only in a way that is related to how a person lives, but also around the idea that our bodies themselves are more or less separate from some of the things that would otherwise have been an immediate necessity in any other way.