Can Science Explain Consciousness?

"Pollan begins by identifying the "hard problem" of consciousness: Why aren't we all mindless machines? Why can't the complicated neural processing in our brains guide our behavior without this accompanying halo of awareness? We want to believe science can unlock all mysteries of the universe, but consciousness challenges that belief."

"He also notes that, in trying to answer the question of consciousness, we may have to reject core assumptions about the nature of reality. For example, we might ultimately embrace idealism: the notion that reality is composed of ideas. After surveying leading theories, he chooses to explore four aspects of consciousness: sentience, feeling, thought, and selfhood."

"One of the most striking findings Pollan highlights is that when people are on psychedelic drugs, they are about twice as likely to attribute consciousness to plants. That prompts a question: Does this happen because psychedelics reduce us to a kind of magical thinking we're better off without? Or is it because psychedelics offer an insight into reality that we've learned to ignore?"

Michael Pollan's book A World Appears investigates consciousness and related mysteries including plant consciousness, AI sentience, brain function, and the nature of self. The work begins with the "hard problem" of consciousness: why humans possess awareness rather than functioning as mindless machines. Pollan argues that consciousness may represent a question science fundamentally cannot answer, similar to why anything exists rather than nothing. He suggests addressing consciousness may require rejecting core assumptions about reality, potentially embracing idealism. The book examines four consciousness aspects: sentience, feeling, thought, and selfhood. Notably, psychedelic drug users are twice as likely to attribute consciousness to plants, raising questions about whether psychedelics reveal hidden reality or encourage magical thinking.

Read at Psychology Today