What Science Now Says About Consciousness - Annaka Harris

Here are the top 10 key takeaways from Annaka Harris's discussion on consciousness that will forever change how you think about your own experience of reality.

1. Consciousness as a fundamental mystery

Annaka Harris describes consciousness as an exciting and mysterious phenomenon that keeps her up at night. She's fascinated by how nonconscious matter in the universe can be configured in such a way that there's an experience of being that matter from the inside. This transition from no consciousness to consciousness remains completely unexplained despite decades of scientific research.

The mystery persists because consciousness is categorically different from anything else science has studied before. While science excels at studying behavior from the outside, consciousness is about experience from the inside - something that can only be felt directly. This fundamental challenge has made progress in understanding consciousness extremely difficult.

2. The spectrum of conscious experience

Harris discusses how there exists a range of conscious experiences that living beings can have. This spectrum ranges from potentially minimal experiences in simpler organisms like snails (perhaps pressure, heat/cold sensations, or rudimentary hunger) all the way up to the complex experiences of humans.

The transition point from no consciousness to consciousness remains the most perplexing question. Despite working with neuroscientists for over 20 years and studying consciousness science, Harris notes that we've made virtually no progress in understanding how consciousness emerges. This remains one of the most profound mysteries in science.

3. The binding problem in neuroscience

One of the most counterintuitive discoveries from neuroscience involves binding processes - how the brain consolidates different types of perceptions and information into a coherent present-moment experience. Harris uses the example of playing piano, where we experience pushing a key, seeing it move, and hearing the note as simultaneous events.

In reality, these sensory signals travel at different speeds, reach our brains at different times, and get processed at different rates. Yet our consciousness binds them together into a seamless experience. This demonstrates how consciousness creates a useful but somewhat illusory representation of reality, what neuroscientist Anil Seth calls "controlled hallucinations."

4. Consciousness may be binary rather than gradual

Harris proposes that while conscious content exists on a spectrum (varying in vividness, power, or complexity), consciousness itself might be binary - either present or absent. She disagrees with the notion that some experiences are "less conscious" than others, arguing instead that the content of experience varies while consciousness itself remains constant.

When asked about comparing human consciousness to that of other organisms like amoebas, bats, flowers, or dolphins, Harris maintains this position. She suggests that what varies across organisms is not the degree or amount of consciousness, but rather the content and complexity of what is being experienced.

5. The illusion of a solid self

Harris challenges the idea of a fixed, persistent self that moves through time. She argues that neuroscience increasingly shows that our sense of being a solid entity is an illusion. Instead, she suggests thinking of conscious experiences as simply taking place in the universe rather than happening to a concrete self.

She compares the human mind to an ocean wave - something we can point to and discuss, but which is actually a dynamic process rather than a static object moving through time. The brain is in constant flux, like an ever-evolving wave, never remaining the same from moment to moment. This challenges our intuition of being something unchanging at our core.

6. Consciousness may not be causally necessary

Despite our strong intuition that consciousness must serve an evolutionary purpose and affect behavior, Harris argues that neuroscience is revealing this may not be true. She points out that we have no evidence that consciousness is necessary for the functions we typically associate with it, like processing sensory data and responding to it.

Harris notes that cameras, computers, and even plants can process light waves and adjust behavior accordingly without needing conscious visual experiences. Many behaviors we consider necessarily conscious, like rapid responses to danger, are now understood to be driven by unconscious brain processing before conscious awareness even occurs.

7. Split brain studies reveal multiple consciousnesses

Harris discusses the fascinating research on split-brain patients (who had the connection between brain hemispheres surgically severed to treat severe epilepsy). Studies showed that when communicating with each hemisphere separately, patients could express different preferences and opinions, suggesting two separate streams of consciousness in one body.

This research profoundly challenges our notion of a unified self. It demonstrates that consciousness can be split, with different conscious experiences arising within the same body - some able to be reported on and others not. This opens the possibility that multiple conscious experiences could exist within any brain, including those without surgical intervention.

8. Plants show surprising capabilities

Harris highlights recent research on plant behavior that challenges assumptions about consciousness and complexity. She mentions plants have more photoreceptors than humans do and can perceive aspects of their environment in sophisticated ways - such as the dodder vine that can sense the shape and nutritional content of potential host plants through light wavelengths.

These discoveries aren't meant to prove plants are conscious, but rather to question our assumptions. If plants can perform complex adaptive behaviors without consciousness, why do we assume similar behaviors in humans require consciousness? This challenges our understanding of what consciousness is actually necessary for.

9. Consciousness could be fundamental

Rather than assuming consciousness emerges from complexity, Harris proposes considering whether consciousness might be fundamental to the universe - similar to gravity or other basic physical properties. She suggests starting with this alternative assumption could open new avenues of scientific exploration and progress.

Harris believes this perspective might help make sense of some perplexing aspects of quantum mechanics. If consciousness is fundamental, and what we perceive as physical might actually represent other conscious experiences arising in the universe, this could help us conceptualize phenomena that currently seem impossible to understand.

10. The future of consciousness research

Harris envisions future consciousness research employing technologies for "sensory addition" - giving humans the ability to perceive aspects of reality we currently cannot sense, such as magnetic fields. She describes a study where participants wore belts that translated Earth's magnetic field into tactile sensations, eventually developing an intuitive sense of magnetic north.

Another promising direction could involve sharing conscious experiences and memories between individuals. Just as our memories allow us to access past conscious content, future technology might enable sharing experiences directly between people. Harris suggests this could dramatically accelerate scientific progress, using the example of Einstein's intuition about spacetime - imagine if he could have shared that direct experience with other scientists immediately, rather than spending decades formalizing it in mathematical language.