A World Appears by Michael Pollan
Michael Pollan's "A World Appears" explores the nature of consciousness, ultimately suggesting a non-material, expansive view of mind inspired by science, philosophy, and psychedelic experience.
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I have just finished reading the recently published book: “A World Appears” by Michael Pollan.
In it, Pollan searches for answers to the question of what consciousness is. Some in the scientific community believe that consciousness is simply the result of brain activity. They are confident that they will find evidence to support this theory at some point in the future.
However, others are more hesitant, or even certain, that consciousness cannot be found as the result of brain activity. This view gives rise to the so-called ‘hard problem’ of consciousness: how to explain why and how humans (and other organisms) have qualia, or phenomenal consciousness. In a materialistic worldview, qualia have no place.
I think Michael Pollan has chosen his chapters wisely. First, he looks for consciousness in the plant world, calling this chapter ‘Sentience’. He then looks for consciousness in the animal kingdom, calling this chapter ‘Feeling’. In the next chapter, he searches for consciousness in humans, calling it ‘Thinking’. Finally, he searches for consciousness in the ‘I’, calling it ‘Self’.
Through the conversations and quotes he references, he paints a valuable picture of the human being. Consciousness is present in the body, in feelings, in thought, and in the self, of course in different degrees of awareness.
Ultimately, Michael Pollan does not find the answer to the question of what consciousness is. He is very honest, basing his views on the scientists and philosophers he speaks to and his own experience.
One of the scientists he refers to throughout the book is the Christof Koch. Koch is an American cognitive scientist, neurophysiologist and computational neuroscientist best known for his work on the neural basis of consciousness. Interestingly, Koch changed his mind after a psychedelic experience. Prior to this, he was certain that consciousness existed in the brain. However, after this experience, which he refers to as ‘Mind at Large’, he concedes that consciousness may exist beyond the brain.
There is one passage about the ‘I’ that I find especially intriguing. On page 179 of the chapter on the self, Pollan writes, ‘But when I search for this “I”, I too find only a bunch of free-floating perceptions, thoughts, and feelings, none of which are anchored to anything I would call “I”.’
He then continues: ‘I realise there are five personal pronouns in that last sentence, so who exactly is searching and finding nothing?’
My interpretation of this sentence is that, although he doesn’t find the self, he does argue extensively about it and with it. So it must be there somewhere. In my personal experience, it is the ‘I’ that is able to observe its own activity within consciousness. Thoughts can be experienced with consciousness while they are being thought. Who is doing this? It is my ‘I’ doing it.
Michael Pollan concludes his book with an image of the moon and stars against a clear sky — an experience he calls “Mind at Large”, akin to what Koch experienced. He ends his book with the sentence: “For the first time, I could see — no, feel — that the stars and I shared the same infinite space.”
Warm greetings
,
Alexander