PREVIEW: CHAPTER 9: Consciousness as Fundamental

At the heart of science, we face an utterly perplexing question: What is physics describing? What is it fundamentally about? What are the natural laws, laws of? Annaka explores these larger than life questions in Chapter 9 through conversations with astrobiologist Sara Imari Walker and cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman. Listen to the full audio documentary here: https://lightsondocumentary.com

From the perspective of physics, the fundamental stuff of the universe still eludes us, especially if we try to fit the findings of quantum mechanics into a traditional conception of matter and energy. From the perspective of neuroscience, we’ve learned that the world “out there” is not a direct perception, and our perceptions may have even evolved to hide the truth from us, as Donald Hoffman argues. And then from the perspective of the philosophy of mind, Annaka’s own research, reading, and further thinking leads her to believe that consciousness is more likely a fundamental property than an emergent one. But how might the sciences attempt to move forward with the hypothesis that consciousness is fundamental? Can we ever conceivably acquire evidence or validate it experimentally?