Exploring Consciousness and Non-Ordinary Religion, Panpsychism, and Heretical Ideas — Philip Goff
Here are the top 10 key takeaways from Tim Ferriss's conversation with philosopher Philip Goff on consciousness, panpsychism, and the intersection of science and spirituality.
1. Panpsychism as a view of consciousness
Panpsychism is the philosophical view that consciousness exists all the way down to the fundamental building blocks of reality. Philip Goff explains that while human consciousness is complex, consciousness comes in simpler forms in less complex organisms. According to panpsychists, this pattern continues down to the most fundamental particles, which may have incredibly simple forms of conscious experience reflecting their simple nature.
This view doesn't claim that electrons feel existential angst or that rocks contemplate their existence. It's a common misunderstanding that panpsychists believe everything is conscious. The basic commitment is that fundamental building blocks are conscious in some very simple way, while more complex consciousness emerges through organization and integration of these simpler forms.
2. The integration information theory of consciousness
Integrated Information Theory (IIT) is one of the major scientific theories of consciousness that aligns with panpsychist thinking. Developed by neuroscientists Giulio Tononi and Christoph Koch, IIT proposes that consciousness corresponds to integration of information within a system. When a system has more integrated information in the whole than in its parts, consciousness emerges.
The theory suggests that the parts of the brain associated with consciousness are those with deep integration, where each neuron connects to thousands of others. IIT potentially extends the presence of consciousness beyond humans and animals to any system with sufficient information integration. This theory represents a significant scientific approach that supports the philosophical position of panpsychism.
3. The philosophical foundations of science and consciousness
Goff argues that our current scientific difficulties in explaining consciousness stem from how science was founded. Galileo deliberately set up physical science to exclude qualities like colors, sounds, and smells from its domain, placing them instead in the realm of subjective experience. This separation allowed science to develop a purely mathematical and quantitative approach to physical reality.
This methodological decision has been extraordinarily successful for developing our understanding of physical reality. However, it creates an inherent limitation when trying to explain consciousness itself. Goff suggests that instead of trying to explain consciousness in terms of non-conscious physical processes (which has made little progress), we might have more success by reversing the explanatory project — starting with consciousness and trying to understand how physical reality emerges from it.
4. Bertrand Russell's approach to consciousness and matter
Goff identifies Bertrand Russell as "the Darwin of consciousness" for his groundbreaking work in the 1920s. Russell, along with physicist Arthur Eddington, argued that physical science doesn't tell us what matter intrinsically is — it only describes its mathematical structure and relationships. While we typically assume we know what matter is but don't know what consciousness is, Russell flipped this understanding.
Russell suggested that we directly know what consciousness is through our experience, but what we don't know is the intrinsic nature of physical reality. This insight opens the possibility that the intrinsic nature of physical reality could be some form of consciousness. According to Goff, this approach allows us to understand how physics can emerge from consciousness, which may be more promising than trying to derive consciousness from physics.
5. The fine-tuning problem and cosmic purpose
One of the topics Goff explores in his work is the fine-tuning of physics for life. Scientific discoveries since the 1970s have revealed that for life to be possible, certain fundamental constants in physics had to fall within extremely narrow ranges. The improbability of this happening by chance has led some philosophers and scientists to consider whether there might be some form of cosmic purpose.
Goff suggests there are middle-ground positions between traditional theism and atheism that might address this fine-tuning. These include teleological laws (laws of nature with built-in purposes), a God with limited powers, the simulation hypothesis, or a conscious universe with goal-directed states. He believes exploring these options offers more promise than staying within the traditional theism-atheism dichotomy.
6. Heretical Christianity and mystical traditions
Goff describes himself as a "heretical Christian," someone who engages with Christianity but doesn't necessarily hold all traditional beliefs. He distinguishes between the common Western focus on sin and punishment and the Eastern Orthodox tradition's emphasis on unity with God. The mystical traditions within Christianity, similar to those in other religions like Sufism in Islam and Kabbalah in Judaism, focus more on direct spiritual experience than dogmatic belief.
Goff suggests that the modern emphasis on belief as intellectual assent to propositions is relatively recent. Historian Karen Armstrong argues that the original meaning of "belief" was closer to commitment, trust, and engagement rather than intellectual acceptance of doctrines. This approach allows for a more open engagement with religion where one can be uncertain, interpret scriptures allegorically, or view religious narratives as beautiful metaphors rather than literal truths.
7. The relationship between psychedelics and spiritual experience
During the conversation, both Tim and Philip touch on the role of psychedelics in generating spiritual experiences. Goff mentions that many people who have had psychedelic experiences find resonance with panpsychism. The questionnaire for mystical experiences includes items about sensing "a living presence in all things," which aligns with some panpsychist intuitions.
Tim notes the possibility that psychoactive substances like DMT, which are found in certain plants in the Middle East, may have played a role in early religious experiences. He also observes the current proliferation of churches incorporating psychedelics as sacraments, some formed partly for legal protection but becoming interesting religious institutions in their own right. Both see the current openness to psychedelics as part of a broader cultural shift toward greater spiritual exploration.
8. The scientific challenges of studying consciousness
A fundamental challenge in the scientific study of consciousness is that it is not publicly observable. Unlike physical phenomena that multiple observers can measure, consciousness is inherently subjective. Scientists studying human consciousness must rely on subjects reporting their experiences, which creates limitations when trying to establish neural correlates of consciousness.
This methodological challenge partly explains why, despite decades of neuroscientific research, there's still no scientific consensus on consciousness. Different approaches like Global Neuronal Workspace Theory and Integrated Information Theory place the seat of consciousness in different brain regions. Goff suggests that the scientific data on correlations between brain activity and consciousness, while important, cannot by itself answer the "why" question of why brain activity corresponds to conscious experience at all.
9. The value of philosophical thinking in a scientific age
Throughout the conversation, Goff emphasizes the importance of philosophical thinking alongside scientific investigation. Some questions cannot be settled by experiment alone and require conceptual analysis and judgment calls. The mystery of consciousness particularly requires this philosophical dimension.
Goff suggests that progress on consciousness might require fragmenting the discipline into communities of scientists working under different philosophical assumptions. While some scientists resist this approach as unscientific, he argues that the unique challenges of studying consciousness require acknowledging philosophical foundations. He points to examples where abstract philosophical questions led to practical advances, such as how Bertrand Russell's work on reducing mathematics to logic contributed to the development of predicate logic, which became essential to computer science.
10. The resurgence of interest in spirituality and religion
Both Tim and Philip observe a cultural shift away from the "new atheism" of previous decades toward a greater openness to spiritual exploration. Tim predicts an explosion of interest in traditional religions that have seen declining membership, alongside a proliferation of new religious movements. He attributes this to widespread loneliness and the difficulty of navigating overwhelming information in a purely materialist framework.
Goff notes that his recent book exploring middle-ground positions between theism and atheism received a much warmer reception than similar books published a decade ago. He sees value in religious communities and traditions while advocating for more progressive, open approaches to religious engagement. Rather than the polarized debate between traditional religion and atheism, both suggest there's growing space for nuanced spiritual exploration that draws on traditional wisdom while adapting to contemporary understanding.