Neuroscientists have long sought to understand how inert matter can give rise to consciousness. While they have identified correlations between specific brain states and subjective experiences, a comprehensive theory explaining how or why consciousness emerges remains elusive.
This is where panpsychism excels. Its primary explanatory strength is that it circumvents the hard problem of consciousness entirely. By positing that consciousness, even in its most minimal form, is a fundamental attribute of matter's smallest components—atoms, electrons, quarks—it becomes easier to account for the emergence of more complex forms of consciousness in beings like humans. Essentially, it's a matter of scaling: as matter organizes into more complex structures, the degree of consciousness increases correspondingly.
This perspective aligns well with the theory of evolution, which suggests that organisms gradually became more complex over time, rather than experiencing a sudden, magical emergence of consciousness. Following Darwin’s publication of "The Origin of Species," philosophers increasingly accepted the principle that something does not arise from nothing. This principle influenced prominent British logicians such as Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell, who eventually endorsed panpsychism. As Whitehead famously noted, there are “no arbitrary breaks” in nature. (see the following article by Sigal Samual in VOX July 5’2024
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/353430/what-if-absolutely-everything-is-conscious?utm_medium=email&utm_source=pocket_hits&utm_campaign=POCKET_HITS-EN-DAILY-SPONSORED&FINANCEBUZZ-2024_07_11=&sponsored=0&position=5&category=fascinating_stories&scheduled_corpus_item_id=6180052f-bee7-4a28-b886-eccb86f35e98&url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/353430/what-if-absolutely-everything-is-conscious
This is where panpsychism excels. Its primary explanatory strength is that it circumvents the hard problem of consciousness entirely. By positing that consciousness, even in its most minimal form, is a fundamental attribute of matter's smallest components—atoms, electrons, quarks—it becomes easier to account for the emergence of more complex forms of consciousness in beings like humans. Essentially, it's a matter of scaling: as matter organizes into more complex structures, the degree of consciousness increases correspondingly.
This perspective aligns well with the theory of evolution, which suggests that organisms gradually became more complex over time, rather than experiencing a sudden, magical emergence of consciousness. Following Darwin’s publication of "The Origin of Species," philosophers increasingly accepted the principle that something does not arise from nothing. This principle influenced prominent British logicians such as Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell, who eventually endorsed panpsychism. As Whitehead famously noted, there are “no arbitrary breaks” in nature. (see the following article by Sigal Samual in VOX July 5’2024
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/353430/what-if-absolutely-everything-is-conscious?utm_medium=email&utm_source=pocket_hits&utm_campaign=POCKET_HITS-EN-DAILY-SPONSORED&FINANCEBUZZ-2024_07_11=&sponsored=0&position=5&category=fascinating_stories&scheduled_corpus_item_id=6180052f-bee7-4a28-b886-eccb86f35e98&url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/353430/what-if-absolutely-everything-is-conscious
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