Is the universe conscious? Panpsychism, religion, and the modern search for meaning

"Many of these so-called "nones" look to science alone to tell them what is real. They're four times more likely than believers to say "the natural world is all there is," and far less likely to think science has limits. But lately, something seems to be shifting. Across the U.S., more people describe themselves as "spiritual but not religious." In the U.K., Gen Z church attendance is ticking up. Meditation retreats sell out, ayahuasca is a household name, and "energy work" has its own subreddit."

"Scientists have tried to solve the "hard problem" of consciousness by giving a complete explanation of conscious experiences in terms of physical processes in the brain. But despite decades of trying, nobody has the first clue as to how to solve the hard problem. So then some people said, what if we reverse it - start with simple forms of consciousness and build upward to understand the physical world. Hence a resurgence of panpsychism, which views consciousness as fundamental to the universe."

Between 2010 and 2020 the number of people with no religious affiliation grew by more than 270 million, and many of those "nones" rely on science as the sole arbiter of reality. Recent cultural shifts show increased interest in spirituality: more Americans identify as "spiritual but not religious," Gen Z church attendance in the U.K. is rising, and practices like meditation, ayahuasca, and energy work have surged. Scientists have struggled to explain how subjective experience arises from brain processes, leading some to adopt panpsychism. Panpsychism treats consciousness as fundamental and proposes building explanations of the physical world from simple conscious elements upward.

Read at Big Think