Interesting article didnt know where it fit best so I wanted to share it here.

  • agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    That sounds like a swell, materialist solution, but it just kicks the can down the metaphysical road and creates more questions than it answers. What parts of the brain interact to create it? What is the subjective experience “made” of? Some kind of energy? How much complexity is required for it to emerge? Are there levels of consciousness? Are babies born with a consciousness that grows more robust over time, or does it pop in at some discrete level? Does the galaxy have an emergent consciousness, it’s certainly more complex than the human brain. What about the universe?

    Even if “it’s an emergent property” is true, it’s not a very useful answer. It’s like saying babies come from the hospital, it skips over the part we’re asking the question about.

    Panpsychism is probably the most scientifically conservative explanation of consciousness. “Energy fields permeating the universe and interacting with each other” is the model scientists use to explain many, many phenomena, from electromagnetism to mass.