The Great Consciousness Clash: Shifting Perspectives on the Mind
You are standing on a street corner when a sub-zero wind gusts against your face. You feel the sharp, biting sting − a raw, undeniable presence. Yet, from the perspective of neurobiology, there is only the dry arithmetic of sodium ions and neurotransmitters. This chasm between the objective "firing" and the subjective "feeling" is what philosophers call the "Hard Problem," and for decades, it has remained the ultimate stalemate of science. In an effort to break this deadlock, the world's leading theorists gathered in 2022 at the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC) for what was essentially a debate on the nature of experience. The exchange revealed a field in crisis: experts no longer disagree merely on data, but on what phenomena require explanation. Are we looking for a broadcast, a mathematical structure, or a sophisticated 'best guess' − and can any single theory capture it? What emerged were the following provoc...