On the Evolution of Subjective Experience
Jerome A. Feldman (ICSI, UC Berkeley)

TL;DR
This paper explores the evolutionary origins of Subjective Experience (SE), highlighting the challenges in linking it to physical processes and discussing recent theoretical, experimental, and computational insights into its development and function.
Contribution
It synthesizes evidence from multiple disciplines to constrain understanding of SE's evolution and suggests directions for future research, emphasizing the neural and evolutionary basis of SE.
Findings
SE appears in vertebrates and is conserved in mammals and humans
Progress has been made in understanding SE's role in prosthetic success
Many mysteries of everyday experience remain incompatible with current neuroscience
Abstract
Subjective Experience (SE) is part of the ancient mind-body problem, which continues to be one of deepest mysteries of science. Despite major advances in many fields, there is still no plausible causal link between SE and its realization in the body. The core issue is the incompatibility of objective (3rd person) public science with subjective (1st person) private experience. Any scientific approach to SE assumes that it arose from extended evolutionary processes and that examining evolutionary history should help us understand it. While the core mystery remains, converging evidence from theoretical, experimental, and computational studies yields strong constraints on SE and some suggestions for further research. All animals confront many of the same fitness challenges. They all need some kind of internal model to relate their life goals and actionable sensed information to action. We…
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Taxonomy
TopicsNeural dynamics and brain function · Memory and Neural Mechanisms · Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
