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11: The mystery of consciousness

Consciousness is mysterious and occasions a lot of debate among scientists and philosophers, since on the one hand the prevailing scientific consensus is largely materialistic, and on the other there is no consensus as to how the flow of information in the brain can give rise to the sensation you have of being you.

We can understand how to explain atoms in terms of hypothesised quarks, and chemistry in terms of atoms and quantum mechanics. Then we can begin to understand biochemistry in terms of chemistry and, on the next level up, the mechanisms of living cells in terms of biochemistry. But to try to explain cell biology in terms of quarks would be absurd. To explain the life of a complex animal in terms of atoms would also be absurd, since a whole new explanatory language is required at each level. Even so we accept that in principle there is a chain of relationships from life all the way down to the subatomic level. Whether we could in principle extend this chain of explanations upwards to consciousness is unresolved—or perhaps in trying to explain consciousness we are asking a question that is not properly put.


The purpose of this side discussion is to avoid making the assumption that because there are (or might be) ‘higher’ states of consciousness, it necessarily follows that, for example, panpsychism is true (the doctrine that everything is to some degree conscious, or alternatively that everything is ultimately made out of consciousness). 

This is important because if ‘higher’ states of consciousness can be demonstrated it does not automatically give licence to all kinds of hand-waving woo, and on the other hand if we reject hand-waving woo it does not follow that we must reject the possibility of ‘higher’ states of consciousness. 


As I see it, the existence of a higher state of consciousness would probably not make a lot of difference to the arguments between materialists and those who believe that ordinary consciousness is something special and non-material.

The fourth way to nowhere

Publication date 7 September 2021
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or search on Martin Braybrooke

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