Introducing the Big Think Consciousness Special Issue

5 days agoLast Updated: October 30, 2025

7 8 minutes read

Introducing the Big Think Consciousness Special Issue

By Stephen Johnson | Published: 2025-08-20 14:30:00 | Source: Thinking – Big Think

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“We know next to nothing about how to define consciousness, Steven,” says my less-than-enthusiastic colleague, astrophysicist Ethan Siegel, when I tell him we’re planning this special issue. Ethan, I hate to admit he’s right.

Consciousness remains one of the most difficult problems in science and philosophy. To give you a quick idea: a paper Published this year in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews He spends 20,000 words examining the case of five prominent theories of consciousness. The authors then pose a concluding question: “So, what are we left with?” The answer largely boils down to disagreement between theories, even over basic questions, such as what consciousness is and what a theory should aim to explain. That paper covered only a few of the prevailing theories, ignoring far-fetched ideas, such as the idea that even a pebble, a sunflower, or a garden hose might contain a trace of consciousness.

It’s a puzzle, especially when you consider all the phenomena we can define and measure. Just last year, scientists observed the most distant galaxy on record, capturing light that has been traveling for almost the entire lifetime of the universe. We can peer into the furthest reaches of space, yet our inner universe remains a black box for science. However, from within, we know consciousness intimately. It is present in every answer to the question: “What does it look like?” What does it feel like to see the color red? Do you feel your feet burning on the hot sand and then run into the ocean? Do you smell garlic and herbs fried in a pan? To hear your daughter laugh? The best we can do is map out the answers to these questions. But explain exactly how – or perhaps more interestingly, why —Consciousness arises and continues to elude us.

So consider the first-ever print edition of Big Think about Consciousness our humble attempt not to solve the big mysteries but to illuminate their facets, exploring some of the most exciting questions, discoveries, and research in consciousness studies and beyond. Inside, neuroscientist Anil Seth examines the ways machines and living organisms process time, and reveals a fundamental difference between the two that may keep conscious AI out of reach forever. Author Anaka Harris explains why our common intuitions about consciousness are wrong. Neuroscientist Eric Hoyle offers an inside look at the surprisingly controversial “consciousness wars” and their implications for the future of the field. All that and much more.

After reading this, I hope you’ll pause for an extra second the next time you catch yourself in the mirror while brushing your teeth, struck by this strange realization that, somehow, everything you know and feel is being conjured inside three pounds of matter right behind your eyes. And then, like Ethan, you go on with your day.

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