byDRCHR ISTI A NJA R R ET T
Christianis a psychologistandsenioreditoratAeon.Hisnext
book about personality change is due for release in 2021.model l i ng of it s ow n at tent iona l processes. Gra zia no,
a neu roscient ist at P r i nceton, is a lso scept ica l of t he
Templeton i n it iat ive, especia l ly it s i nclusion of I TT.
“Consciousnessresearchdoeshavea bigdivideat themoment,”
hesays.“Butit isn’tbetweenthetwoapproachesrepresented
i n t h is projec t. It is bet ween mec ha n ist ic t heor ies a nd
magicalisttheories.”
Grazianocountshisowntheoryasbelonginginthefirstcamp
andITTinthelatter.“[Magicalisttheoriesassumethat]wehave
anessentiallymagicproperty,a subjectivefeelinginsideofus,
thatis itselfnota physicalthingthatcanbedirectlymeasured.
Weca nonlyfeelit a ndtelleachot heraboutfeelingit,”hea rgues.
“Thisapproachresonateswithpeople’snaiveassumptionsand
intuitions,soit isnaturalandcomfortable.Buttheveryfirst
assumption– thata magicalthingexists– putsit outof business.
Thereisnochanceofscientificsuccessorunderstanding.It’s
likeassumingthatghostsexistandthengoingtosearchfor
them‘scientifically’.It is,ina word,pseudoscience.”
GrazianohasmoretimefortheGNWT,buthebelievesversions
ofit alsoflirtwitha magicalistapproachand,bychoosingto
pitchthistheoryagainstITT,heseestheTempletoninitiative
asdoomedfromthestart.“It’stoobadsomanyresearchersare
stilltryingtofindtheghostinthemachineinsteadoftrying
tounderstandwhythemachine thinks there’s a ghost in the
first place,” he says.MOVINGFORWARD
Potgieterhasencounteredmanyofthesestrongopinionsin
thefield– indeedit’spartlywhatmotivatedhimtotrytouse
adversarialcollaborationtomovethingsforward.Forinstance,
ascounterpointtothestrongFrankish-Grazianoperspective,
considertheBritishphilosopherDrGalenStrawson’sview,
expressedintheNewYorkReviewOfBooksin2019,that
illusionismisthe“silliestclaimevermade”.
Given thisacademicclimate,whilethe TWCFproject is
ostensiblyaboutconsciousnesstheories,ultimatelyitsaimsare
fardeeper– tochangethewayscienceisdone.“Ina waythis
is a stretchgoalexerciseandwetrytoachievesomething,and
welearna lotofthingsthatwecanthenapplytojustraisethe
standardofsciencemoregenerally...sohopefullyit worksbut
I’mnotworriedif it doesn’t,”saysPotgieter.
“Ourinterestisasmuchinculturalchangeasit isinthe
formaloutcomeofkillinga theory,”addsPotgieter’sboss,Dr
AndrewSerazin,thepresidentoftheTempletonWorldCharity
Foundation.AccordingtoSerazin,earlysignsaregood.
“Whathasbeenmostinspiringabouttheprocesshasbeen
thededication,professionalism,andgenuineidealismofthe
scientistswhohavespentalreadythebestpartofa year...
makingthisprojectcometolife,”saysTononi.“Ifoneputsthis
togetherwiththeenthusiasmandwillingnesstoparticipate
demonstratedbyseveralbusyexperimentalistsalloverthe
world,onecannothelpbutfeeloptimisticaboutthepossibility
forscientificprogress,even ona problem as difficult and
misunderstood as consciousness.”“ONE CANNOT HELP BUT FEEL
OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE
POSSIBILITY FOR
SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS,
EVEN ON A PROBLEM AS
DIFFICULT AND
MISUNDERSTOOD AS
CONSCIOUSNESS”
GET T Y IMAGES X2