The materialist Neo-Darwinist conception of nature is almost certainly true

I could imagine that, after much effort were expended experimentally and theoretically, we might
ultimately come to believe that the best explanatory framework for the appearance of consciousness in
the universe involves positing mind as a separate category. hat I don!t understand is the a priori-
sounding argument that this would necessarily be a better explanation. If Nagel can demand an
explanation for why the world is intelligible, why can!t I demand an explanation for why mind is a
separate category, or why the universe has teleological tendencies" I don!t see the distinction# in either
case, one must take certain facts about reality as simply given. $y preference would be to minimi%e the
weight given to our intuitive ideas about what form a proper explanation should take, and keep looking
for the simplest and most powerful model that fits the data.
. . .
Imagine what it would entail to truly believe that consciousness is not accounted for by physics. It
would entail, among other things, that the behavior of ordinary matter would occasionally deviate from
that expected on the basis of physics alone, even in circumstances where consciousness was not
involved in any obvious way. &everal billion years ago there weren!t conscious creatures here on 'arth.
It was (ust atoms and particles, bumping into each other in accordance with the rules of physics and
chemistry. 'xcept, if mind is not physical, at some point they swerved away from those laws, since
remaining in accordance with them would never have created consciousness. In effect, the particles
understood that sticking to their physically prescribed behaviors would never accomplish the universe!s
grand plan of producing conscious life. Teleology is as good a word for that as any.
&o, at what point does this deviation from purely physical behavior kick in, exactly" It!s the immortal
soul vs. the Dirac e)uation problem*if you want to claim that what happens in our brain isn!t simply
following the laws of physics, you have the duty to explain in exactly what way the electrons in our
atoms fail to obey their e)uations of motion. Is energy conserved in your universe" Is momentum" Is
)uantum evolution unitary, information-preserving, reversible" +an the teleological effects on )uantum
field observables be encapsulated in an effective ,amiltonian"
This is not a proof that consciousness must be physical -as some folks will insist on misconstruing it.,
(ust an observation of the absolutely enormous magnitude of what the alternative implies.
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