. There is some evidence that consciousness is an illusion, and that people make decisions unconsciously
Freewill may be an illusion, but consciousness is NOT an illusion, at least to me. In fact it is the ONLY THING that I can be sure of! Everything else may be illusion (as philosophers of old have said). Maybe you or those mathematicians do not experience consciousness and that's why you all can even say what you say.
Merely behaving as if you are conscious is different from _experiencing_ consciousness. Anyone who thinks there is no difference or it's not an important difference misses the important part of consciousness.
Merely behaving as if you like chocolate is different from _subjectively_ experiencing and enjoying the taste of chocolate.
Mathematicians and programmers with our current knowledge and tech can write algorithms/programs to simulate the mere behaviour but how about the experience? Can we create an algorithm that truly experiences "self", "chocolate"?
Are there some special yet unknown laws in this universe that would cause this to happen? Would merely performing a suitable advanced algorithm with pencil and paper generate a new consciousness phenomena and create a new entity? If so where in time and space would that consciousness reside- the pencil, the paper? Or does it need some extra "nonnewtonian" stuff? Do we need something like a multi-worlds quantum simulator recursively trying to predict itself and the future?
Bullshit like what these mathematicians spout is more likely to take us further away than closer to understanding consciousness.