AI Insight
A growing movement within theoretical physics and philosophy of science proposes that conscious experience may be more fundamental to the structure of reality than the physical constituents described by quantum mechanics. Rather than building consciousness upward from particles and fields, this framework suggests inverting the explanatory hierarchy, treating subjective experience as a foundational element from which physical laws may emerge. Proponents argue this approach could resolve longstanding puzzles such as the measurement problem in quantum mechanics and the hard problem of consciousness.
Why it matters
If consciousness is genuinely integrated into the foundational framework of physics, it could reshape how scientists model reality and approach questions at the intersection of neuroscience, cosmology, and quantum theory, though practical technological applications remain highly speculative at this stage.
The idea that everything that exists can be built from the bottom up has long held sway among physicists. Now, a new kind of science is under construction that centres conscious experience – and might unravel the universe’s biggest mysteries
Source: Is consciousness more fundamental to reality than quantum physics?