An holism solution to reconcile the hard problem of consciousness

The authors argue that materialism, which treats inner experience and outer physical entities as independent, is a useful but limited cognitive paradigm. They propose holism as a solution to the explanatory gap: inner experience can be objectively described and has objective causal efficacy. From a third-person perspective, physical properties and spacetime-bound causality are described, excelling for simple systems but creating the explanatory gap. From a first-person perspective, holistic attributes are objectively described, and things interact without a physical medium, forming causality unrestricted by spacetime. These perspectives are complementary.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Natural science is founded on materialism. We treat the independent relationship between inner experience and outer physical entities as an axiom. This cognitive paradigm has successfully explained many natural phenomena; however, certain phenomena, such as those in quantum mechanics and psychological experiments, challenge this view, suggesting the inseparability of the inner and outer. Yet, the inner and outer appear to be distinct categories of existence, and experimental models demonstrating their transformative relationship remain lacking. This has led to issues like the explanatory gap. We propose that adopting holism is a potential solution to reconcile this dilemma: the inner experience can be objectively described and possesses objective causal efficacy. According to holism, objective reality and a causal relationship are not absolute but inseparable from the cognitive perspective. Materialism's view that the inner and outer exist as independent relations is an underlying assumption based on the third-person perspective rather than an axiom. From the third-person perspective, the physical properties of things are described, and we establish a causal relationship confined to spacetime, where things interact through physical medium. This cognitive perspective excels at describing the laws of motion governing simple systems but simultaneously introduces limitations, such as the explanatory gap. From the first-person perspective, the holistic attributes of things can also be objectively described. "Inner" and "outer" can be seen as two different states of experience, and things here interact holistically without a physical medium, forming causality unrestricted by spacetime. This perspective excels at revealing the laws governing complex systems/phenomena and can reconcile the explanatory gap. These two cognitive perspectives, although superficially opposed, are functionally complementary. Therefore, the generalized complementarity principle based on holism provides a falsifiable research approach for the "subjective" interpretation of quantum theory, potentially reconciling the contradictions between quantum theory and relativity. Holism also offers a solution for reconciling divergent viewpoints among consciousness theories, enabling phenomena related to consciousness across multiple disciplines to be explained within a unified theoretical framework. To test these hypotheses, we propose an experimental model to demonstrate that, similar to the role of force that we revealed in the third-person perspective, holistic interaction without a physical medium from the first-person perspective is also an objective way of interaction between things. Under holistic interaction, the inner experience, as a holistic attributes of things, can also produce observable and objective causal efficacy.