FoundationalConceptsNeuroscience

philosophy to describe different metaphysical frames for understand-
ing the mind—matter connection.
It is useful to be familiar with terminology and descriptions of
metaphysical frameworks, as these are frequently invoked in scientific
and philosophical discussions about the nature of mind. However, it
is also good to be aware that terminologies may restrict our thinking,
confining us to particular categories in ways that may end up not
being helpful. Beware the boxes created by terminology.
Let’s approach the framing of the mind-body problem from the
perspective of evolutionary biology and neuroscience, the descriptive
framework detailed throughout this book. Life provides a separation
between inner and outer. The first living cells would have had such
an interior—-exterior boundary. Single-celled bacteria are in sensory
contact with their environment, detecting the presence of nutrient
chemicals or of sunlight. Thus, even relatively simple life forms
can be imagined to have some sort of inner perspective on sensory
information.
As sensory processes became more elaborate over the course of
evolutionary history, that inner perspective became correspondingly
more nuanced, leading eventually to an emergence of awareness—
the experience of what it is like to be a particular organism. In this
view, sophisticated sentience goes along with nervous systems that
conduct sufficiently sophisticated analyses of sensory information.
These sensory analyses are used to construct mental models—of the
environment, of other individuals, of oneself—that have adaptive
utility, by enriching understanding of and ability to navigate through
the world.
As for the mysterious experiential quality of consciousness,
perhaps this capacity is a fundamental aspect of reality—as central as
matter, energy, space, and time—one that manifests in given particu-