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Full Idea
Even if we knew every last detail about the physics of the universe, that information would not lead us to postulate the existence of conscious experience.
Gist of Idea
Nothing in physics even suggests consciousness
Source
David J.Chalmers (The Conscious Mind [1996], 2.3.1.3)
Book Ref
Chalmers,David J.: 'The Conscious Mind' [OUP 1997], p.101
A Reaction
I find this a very strange claim. Given that the biggest gap in our physical knowledge is that concerning the brain and consciousness, Chalmer is no position to say this. Why shouldn't a physical revelation suddenly make consciousness inevitable?
| 2109 | Increase a conscious machine to the size of a mill - you still won't see perceptions in it [Leibniz] |
| 7392 | If a lion could talk, it would be nothing like other lions [Dennett on Wittgenstein] |
| 4161 | If a lion could talk, we could not understand him [Wittgenstein] |
| 7391 | We can know a lot of what it is like to be a bat, and nothing important is unknown [Dennett] |
| 7522 | A full neural account of qualia will give new epistemic access to them, beyond private experience [Churchlands] |
| 3148 | Dualist privacy is seen as too deep for even telepathy to reach [Rey] |
| 5341 | Only you can have your subjective experiences because only you are hooked up to your nervous system [Flanagan] |
| 2403 | Nothing in physics even suggests consciousness [Chalmers] |
| 5210 | We could know what a lion thinks by mapping both its brain patterns and its experiences [Douglas,A] |