The mind/body problem—how subjective experience (qualia) relates to physical processes—remains unresolved despite scientific progress. This paper proposes elements for a rigorous science of mind: scientific realism about mental phenomena, agnostic mysterianism (acknowledging the problem may be beyond human comprehension), careful use of language, and concentration on concrete, touchstone questions. The central recommendation is to focus research on the still-mysterious mapping from neural activity to subjective experience.
Science, despite its achievements, faces fundamental limitations, including the intractable mind-body problem and other deep puzzles like quantum phenomena. These unsolved problems are either remote from everyday experience or difficult to define sharply.