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Panpsychism hits popular science mags

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Some of us never thought we’d see this happen:

Why is science growing comfortable with panpsychism (“everything is conscious” )?

At one time, the idea that “everything is conscious” was the stuff of jokes. Not any more, it seems

A recent article at New Scientist treats panpsychism as a serious idea in science. That’s thanks to the growing popularity of neuroscientist Giulio Tonioni’s Integrated Information Theory (IIT), which offers the opportunity for mathematical modeling, along with the implication that inanimate matter and/or the universe may be conscious. If IIT continues to gain a sympathetic hearing, panpsychism could become, over time, a part of normal science. – Mind Matters News

Panpsychists are not likely to be sincerely partial to Darwinism because Darwinism sees consciousness as an accident of human (and some other) evolution, whereas panpsychists see it as intrinsic to the nature of the universe.

If so, to say that consciousness evolved would be like saying that photons evolved: “The photon has the characteristics it does in order to maximize its chances of survival and passing on its genes.” Um, let’s go back to the top of the page, shall we? …


Further reading on panpsychism:

Why some scientists believe the universe is conscious. They’re not mystics. But materialism is not giving good answers so they are looking around

No materialist theory of consciousness is plausible. All such theories either deny the very thing they are trying to explain, result in absurd scenarios, or end up requiring an immaterial intervention. (Eric Holloway)

Panpsychism: You are conscious but so is your coffee mug Materialists have a solution to the problem of consciousness, and it may startle you

How can consciousness be a material thing? Maybe it can’t. But materialist philosophers face starkly limited choices in how to view consciousness.

and

Can machines be given consciousness? A prominent researcher in consciousness studies offers reasons for doubt.

Comments
Well if you have a choice between everything’s conscious or it’s all an illusion, I’ll take everything is consciousAaronS1978
May 3, 2020
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