The Goldilocks Dilemma: Commentary on Josh Weisberg’s Explanatory Optimism about the Hard Problem of Consciousness
Journal of Consciousness Studies August 1, 2025 Amy Kind
A commentary challenges Josh Weisberg's attempt to debunk the hard problem of consciousness through his automated compression theory (ACT). Weisberg argues that consciousness appears to have exceptional properties inexplicable by science, but ACT provides an easy explanation showing these properties are illusory. The commentary presents the Goldilocks dilemma: either Weisberg's account fails to capture what makes consciousness seem exceptional, or if it does capture it, then ACT cannot adequately explain why consciousness would appear exceptional if it were not. The dilemma suggests it is difficult for explanatory optimists to find a specification of consciousness's exceptional properties that is neither too small to capture exceptionalness nor too big to be debunked.