Consciousness is central to human experience, shaping everything we perceive and understand. Yet, its nature remains one of science’s greatest mysteries. In a recent video, author and science communicator Annaka Harris explores fundamental questions about consciousness, challenging traditional assumptions and offering new ways to think about awareness and perception. This article provides an overview of the key topics she discusses.
Who is Annaka Harris?
Annaka Harris is a science writer known for her work on the philosophy and science of consciousness. Her book, Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind, became a New York Times bestseller, exploring deep questions about awareness and perception. She has also authored I Wonder, a children’s book encouraging curiosity and scientific thinking. Through her work, she bridges the gap between complex scientific theories and public understanding.
The Mystery of Consciousness
Harris begins by emphasizing that consciousness is at the core of human experience, yet we do not fully understand how it arises. The main question is: how does non-conscious matter, such as neurons in the brain, organize itself to produce subjective experience? Some theories suggest that consciousness is a byproduct of complex information processing, but Harris explores the possibility that it might be a fundamental feature of the universe—similar to gravity—existing in various degrees throughout nature.
What is Consciousness?
Defining consciousness is challenging. Harris references philosopher Thomas Nagel’s essay What is it Like to Be a Bat?, which illustrates the difficulty of understanding subjective experience. Bats navigate using echolocation, forming a sensory perception of their environment very different from human vision. Yet, there is still something it feels like to be a bat. Harris defines consciousness as awareness, sentience, and felt experience—not necessarily thought or complex cognition. This means even simple organisms or systems could possess some level of consciousness.
Questioning Our Assumptions
Harris challenges two key assumptions about consciousness:
- Can we determine consciousness from external behavior?
- Does consciousness influence decision-making?
Locked-in Syndrome: A Conscious Mind Without Movement
One striking example Harris discusses is locked-in syndrome, a condition in which a person is fully conscious but unable to move or communicate. Jean-Dominique Bauby, former editor of French Elle, experienced this after a stroke left him completely paralyzed except for the ability to blink one eyelid. Despite being unable to move, he retained full consciousness and even wrote a memoir, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, by blinking to communicate each letter. This case suggests that consciousness might exist in other systems without outward signs of awareness.
The Binding Problem: Does Consciousness Drive Behavior?
Common intuition suggests that consciousness drives decision-making, such as feeling fear and reacting to danger. However, neuroscience reveals that the brain processes threats and initiates movement before we become consciously aware of them. This phenomenon, known as the binding problem, suggests that consciousness may not be the cause of action but rather a constructed experience that follows neural processing.
Is Consciousness Fundamental?
If consciousness does not solely arise from complexity, could it be fundamental to nature? This idea, known as panpsychism, suggests that consciousness might exist at all levels of reality, even in the simplest forms of matter. If true, this raises significant ethical and scientific questions:
- Could consciousness be shared between systems?
- Which systems experience suffering?
- How does this change our perception of non-human consciousness?
Ethical and Scientific Implications
Understanding consciousness more broadly could have major ethical implications. We already know animals experience pain similarly to humans. If plants or artificial intelligence also possess some form of awareness, it could challenge how we interact with the world around us. Harris shares a thought experiment: What if every plant on a hiking trail were a sentient being? How would that change our perspective on nature?
Conclusion
Annaka Harris’s discussion encourages us to rethink our understanding of consciousness. By questioning long-held assumptions, she opens the door to new scientific exploration and philosophical inquiry. Whether consciousness arises from complexity or is a fundamental property of reality, studying it will continue to shape our understanding of existence itself.
For those interested in deeper exploration, watch the full video linked below, where Harris expands on these thought-provoking ideas.
Jan loves Wildlife and Animals and is one of the founders of Animals Around The Globe. He holds an MSc in Finance & Economics and is a passionate PADI Open Water Diver. His favorite animals are Mountain Gorillas, Tigers, and Great White Sharks. He lived in South Africa, Germany, the USA, Ireland, Italy, China, and Australia. Before AATG, Jan worked for Google, Axel Springer, BMW and others.
