How We Are Being Misled About the Science of Consciousness

Markus Spiske on unsplash. Climate change, GMOs, vaccinations, Covid-19––all examples we can point to of the gap between what scientists say are the facts and what many in the public think are the facts. One reason for that is the mediating role that media play. Add the current state of the science of consciousness to the gap between public understanding and what scientists are really saying. But, who is to blame?

The large gap between science consensus and what the public believes has come to light on a number of topics: climate change, GMOs, safety of vaccination, and so on. One of the biggest gaps may be what science says about the mind-brain connection and what the public is told science says about that through popular media.

Here is one typical example. In April 2016 Forbes carried a Quora response to the question “How Does the Brain Create Consciousness?” The question was the title of the response. In this question and headline there is a clear and direct assumption that the brain creates consciousness. It didn’t ask “If the brain creates consciousness, how does it do it?” And it didn’t say: “A Question of the Brain and Consciousness.” What’s important is that the very first sentence of the response by Yohan John, Ph.D in Cognitive and Neural Systems, contradicts the assumption implicit in the question and headline:

“Does the brain create consciousness? I’m not so sure. At the very least, I know that no neuroscientist has caught the brain “red-handed” in the act of creating consciousness.”

Another example: A May 2018 post on Big Think carried this headline: “Consciousness: How Does the Brain Make the Mind?” Again, it does not ask: “Does the Brain Make the Mind?” The how question directly implies…