David,
That paper is extremely interesting - I am only about quarter way through it at present! Donald Hoffman would make an excellent guest on skeptiko!
Here you have a serious researcher admitting quite openly that, "In short, the scientific study of consciousness is in the embarrassing position of
having no scientific theory of consciousness."
His own theory seems to be moving away from the idea that the physical brain creates consciousness - towards the opposite conclusion - that consciousness creates the physical world. This is a very bold departure for a scientist who is still in academia!
David |