Consciousness is the essence of the “ghost in the machine.” It is that part of us with the greatest claim to being the soul itself, thought by many to leave our bodies and enter the afterlife when we die.

It also is hard for physical scientists to study and explain. Historically, it has been a mystery, assigned by many scientists to the arena of the supernatural. Often it has been dismissed as a non-material force that may animate material bodies but may not be explained by the laws of physics or nature. Only recently have scientists ventured to explain human consciousness as grounded in the evolution of brain capacity and language.[1]

If despite these efforts we are not persuaded that scientists can fully explain consciousness, must we accept that only a supernatural force can explain it? Are we back to needing the ghost in the machine to show how consciousness can both exist and not be susceptible to complete explanation by the physical sciences? Alternatively, if consciousness cannot be explained by the material world, does it exist at all in the way we perceive it? Can we assume that our experience of consciousness is not real because it is only a temporary illusion?

The simpler explanation Is still “no”

As with other intangible things, consciousness is an intangible experience that occurs in the tangible world. Consciousness can be experienced, so it is real in the same way that other intangible things are real. From a simple human perspective, there is nothing more natural than consciousness. It is what we perceive as ourselves and is no less real if physical scientists do not explain it to our complete satisfaction.

The difficulties that physical scientists encounter when trying to measure and assess consciousness do not justify an assumption that consciousness is supernatural or does not exist. That leap of logic simply is not necessary. Why not take the simpler path of assuming that consciousness is a completely natural attribute of the natural universe itself?

We know that consciousness exists in the universe. We know that it exists in different forms across different conscious entities in the known universe. We know that we do not yet understand the characteristics and behavior of all the particles, forces, and quantum relationships that make up the fabric of the material world. It is only logical to assume that consciousness must exist somewhere in the elements that make up the world, since it could not be part of the whole if it were not part of the elements of the whole.[2]

Consciousness is a core component of the physical world

Just as we have learned that energy and matter are fundamentally linked states of physical existence, we may one day learn that consciousness is intrinsic to elements that comprise the material world. Contemporary scientists and philosophers are already exploring natural explanations for consciousness. Theories of natural selection may explain how consciousness evolved to become a fundamental characteristic of the human species. More broadly, Integrated Information Theory suggests that consciousness is not limited to humans, but is a natural characteristic of physical systems of integrated information. Even more broadly, panpsychist philosophers assert that consciousness is an intrinsic building block of all existence in the universe. Others theorize that consciousness or its equivalent plays a fundamental role in the laws of quantum mechanics through the “observer” effect, or that the causal element of consciousness, i.e., free will, can influence probability distributions and their measured outcomes in some physical systems in the universe. Wherever or however we come to understand consciousness and other intangible experience—somewhere in the fabric of the universe are the elements of all that exists in the universe.

So fundamentally, as with other intangible things, the simplest and best explanation is that consciousness is part of the physical world. The material world is what is—precisely because it includes the elements of consciousness and other intangible things.

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[1] See especially Dennett (1991).

[2] Is consciousness an element of the universe like matter and energy? Is it a natural process?