3. The Philosophy and Science of Consciousness

Consciousness research faces three hard problems: the impossibility of imagining the link between consciousness and the physical world, the difficulty of connecting conscious experiences of brain activity with other conscious experiences, and brute regularities between consciousness and the physical world that cannot be further explained. These problems are not unique to consciousness research; they also appear in physics and do not hinder scientific study. Consciousness can be measured, the physical world can be measured, and mathematical relationships between these measurements can be sought.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Chapter 3 tackles some of the ‘hard’ problems with consciousness. First, it is impossible to imagine the relationship between consciousness and the invisible physical world. Second, we find it difficult to imagine the connection between conscious experiences of brain activity and other conscious experiences. Third, there are brute regularities between consciousness and the physical world that cannot be broken down or further explained. None of these problems are unique to consciousness research. They can also be found in physics, and they do not affect our ability to study consciousness scientifically. We can measure consciousness, measure the physical world and look for mathematical relationships between these measurements.