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45-649: Zombie Blues is a rock band founded by the Australian philosopher and cognitive scientist David Chalmers , who serves as the lead singer of the band. Its name comes from Chalmers' philosophical zombie thought experiment—a hypothetical creature that looks like humans but lacks consciousness . The band's only song, "The Zombie Blues", has been performed at various cognitive science and philosophy conventions, including Qualia Fest . Its core lyrics include: I act like you act, I do what you do / But I don’t know, what it’s like to be you / What consciousness is, I ain’t got

90-405: A primary intension and a secondary intension , which together form its meaning. The primary intension of a word or sentence is its sense , i.e., is the idea or method by which we find its referent. The primary intension of "water" might be a description, such as "the substance with water-like properties". The entity identified by this intension could vary in different hypothetical worlds. In

135-454: A silicon chip . Since each substitute neuron performs the same function as the original, the subject would not notice any change. But, Chalmers argues, if qualia (for example, the perceived color of objects) were to fade or disappear, the brain's holder could notice the difference, which would alter the brain's functional profile, leading to a contradiction. He concludes that such fading qualia are impossible in practice, and that after each neuron

180-467: A simulation without knowing it. Chalmers proposes that computers are forming a form of "exo-cortex", where a part of human cognition is 'outsourced' to corporations such as Apple and Google . Chalmers was featured in the 2012 documentary film entitled The Singularity by filmmaker Doug Wolens , which focuses on the theory proposed by techno-futurist Ray Kurzweil , of that "point in time when computer intelligence exceeds human intelligence." He

225-413: A clue / I got the zombie blues. The Irish Times wrote, "With his leather jacket and biker’s haircut, David Chalmers is about the closest thing philosophy has to a rock star these days." David Chalmers David John Chalmers ( / ˈ tʃ ɑː l m ər z / ; born April 20, 1966) is an Australian philosopher and cognitive scientist specializing in the areas of the philosophy of mind , and

270-439: A decade. Chalmers has published works on the "theory of reference" concerning how words secure their referents. He, together with others such as Frank Jackson , played a major role in developing two-dimensional semantics . Before Saul Kripke delivered his famous lecture series Naming and Necessity in 1970, the descriptivism advocated by Gottlob Frege and Bertrand Russell was the orthodoxy. Descriptivism suggests that

315-622: A full-time professor in 2014. In 2013, Chalmers was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences . He is an editor on topics in the philosophy of mind for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy . In May 2018, it was announced that he would serve on the jury for the Berggruen Prize . In 2023, Chalmers won a bet—made in 1998, for a case of wine—with neuroscientist Christof Koch that

360-513: A lecture at the inaugural Toward a Science of Consciousness conference. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education , this "lecture established Chalmers as a thinker to be reckoned with and goosed a nascent field into greater prominence." He went on to coorganize the conference (renamed "The Science of Consciousness") for some years with Stuart Hameroff , but stepped away when he felt it became too divergent from mainstream science. Chalmers

405-470: A name does not secure its reference via any process of description fitting. Rather, a name determines its reference via a historical-causal link tracing back to the process of naming. And thus, Kripke thinks that a name does not have a sense, or, at least, does not have a sense which is rich enough to play the reference-determining role. Moreover, a name, in Kripke's view, is a rigid designator , which refers to

450-458: A name is an abbreviation of a description, which is a set of properties. This name secures its reference by a process of properties fitting: whichever object fits the description most, is the referent of the name. Therefore, the description provides the sense of the name, and it is through this sense that the reference of the name is determined. However, as Kripke argued in Naming and Necessity ,

495-400: A term T such that (i) the parties to the dispute disagree over the meaning of T, and (ii) the dispute arises solely because of this disagreement. In the same work, Chalmers proposes certain procedures for the resolution of verbal disputes. One of these he calls the "elimination method", which involves eliminating the contentious term and observing whether any dispute remains. Chalmers addressed

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540-452: A way to explain how reference is determined by distinguishing between epistemic possibilities (primary intension) and metaphysical necessities (secondary intension), ensuring that the referent (H2O) is uniquely identified across all metaphysically possible worlds. In some more recent work, Chalmers has concentrated on verbal disputes. He argues that a dispute is best characterized as "verbal" when it concerns some sentence S which contains

585-536: Is a founding member of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness and one of its past presidents. Having established his reputation, Chalmers received his first professorship at UC Santa Cruz , from August 1995 to December 1998. In 1996 he published the widely cited book The Conscious Mind . Chalmers was subsequently appointed Professor of Philosophy (1999–2004) and then Director of

630-432: Is famous for his commitment to the logical (though, not natural) possibility of philosophical zombies . These zombies are complete physical duplicates of human beings, lacking only qualitative experience. Chalmers argues that since such zombies are conceivable to us, they must therefore be logically possible. Since they are logically possible, then qualia and sentience are not fully explained by physical properties alone;

675-624: Is just a fact of life. It's a natural fact of life". Stuart Hameroff Hameroff received his BS degree from the University of Pittsburgh and his MD degree from Hahnemann University Hospital , where he studied before it became part of the Drexel University College of Medicine . He took an internship at the Tucson Medical Center in 1973. From 1975 onwards, he has spent the whole of his career at

720-590: Is now the director. The Center for Consciousness Studies hosts meetings on the study of consciousness every two years, as well as sponsoring seminars on consciousness theory. The conference was described by the Chronicle of Higher Education as "the Stuart Show", and that its "anything goes" atmosphere is damaging the credibility of the field. In 2006, Hameroff participated in the first Beyond Belief conference, where his theories were criticized by Lawrence Krauss , among others. Hameroff appeared as himself in

765-620: Is replaced, the resulting functionally isomorphic robotic brain would be as conscious as the original biological one. In addition, Chalmers proposed a similar thought experiment, "dancing qualia", which concludes that a robotic brain that is functionally isomorphic to a biological one would not only be as conscious, but would also have the same conscious experiences (e.g., the same perception of color when seeing an object). In 2023, he analyzed whether large language models could be conscious, and suggested that they were probably not conscious, but could become serious candidates for consciousness within

810-470: Is widely regarded as a landmark event within the field of consciousness studies, and by bringing researchers from various disciplines together led to various useful synergies, resulting indirectly, for instance, in the formation of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness , and more directly in the creation of the Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona , of which Hameroff

855-650: The University of Oxford , where he was a Rhodes Scholar but eventually withdrew from the course. In 1993, Chalmers received his PhD in philosophy and cognitive science from Indiana University Bloomington under Douglas Hofstadter , writing a doctoral thesis entitled Toward a Theory of Consciousness . He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology program directed by Andy Clark at Washington University in St. Louis from 1993 to 1995. In 1994, Chalmers presented

900-487: The cytoskeleton . Hameroff argued that these subneuronal cytoskeleton components could be the basic units of processing rather than the neurons themselves. The book was primarily concerned with information processing, with consciousness a secondary consideration. Separately from Hameroff, the English mathematical physicist Roger Penrose had published his first book on consciousness, The Emperor's New Mind , in 1989. On

945-566: The hard problem of consciousness , and for popularizing the philosophical zombie thought experiment. Chalmers and David Bourget co-founded PhilPapers ; a database of journal articles for philosophers. David Chalmers was born in Sydney , New South Wales , and subsequently grew up in Adelaide , South Australia , where he attended Unley High School . As a child, he experienced synesthesia . He began coding and playing computer games at

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990-540: The philosophy of language . He is a professor of philosophy and neural science at New York University , as well as co-director of NYU's Center for Mind, Brain and Consciousness (along with Ned Block ). In 2006, he was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities . In 2013, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences . Chalmers is best known for formulating

1035-485: The twin Earth thought experiment , for example, inhabitants might use "water" to mean their equivalent of water, even if its chemical composition is not H 2 O. Thus, for that world, "water" does not refer to H2O. The secondary intension of "water" is whatever "water" refers to in this world. When considered according to its secondary intension, water means H 2 O in every world. Through this concept, Chalmers provides

1080-491: The Center for Consciousness Studies (2002–2004) at the University of Arizona . In 2004, Chalmers returned to Australia, encouraged by an ARC Federation Fellowship , becoming professor of philosophy and director of the Center for Consciousness at the Australian National University . Chalmers accepted a part-time professorship at the philosophy department of New York University in 2009, becoming

1125-651: The University of Arizona, becoming professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Psychology and director for the Center for Consciousness Studies, both in 1999, and finally Emeritus professor for Anesthesiology and Psychology in 2003. At the very beginning of Hameroff's career, while he was at Hahnemann, cancer-related research work piqued his interest in the part played by microtubules in cell division, and led him to speculate that they were controlled by some form of computing. It also suggested to him that part of

1170-633: The age of 10 on a PDP-10 at a medical center. He also performed exceptionally in mathematics , and secured a bronze medal in the International Mathematical Olympiad . When Chalmers was 13, he read Douglas Hofstadter 's 1979 book Gödel, Escher, Bach , which awakened an interest in philosophy. Chalmers received his undergraduate degree in pure mathematics from the University of Adelaide . After graduating Chalmers spent six months reading philosophy books while hitchhiking across Europe, before continuing his studies at

1215-399: The basis of Gödel's incompleteness theorems , he argued that the brain could perform functions that no computer or system of algorithms could. From this it could follow that consciousness itself might be fundamentally non-algorithmic and therefore impossible to model as a classical Turing machine type of computer. This conflicts with the idea that consciousness is explainable mechanistically,

1260-428: The borders of the mind. According to Chalmers, systems that have the same functional organization "at a fine enough grain" (that are "functionally isomorphic ") will have "qualitatively identical conscious experiences". In 1995, he proposed the reductio ad absurdum "fading qualia" thought experiment . It involves progressively replacing each neuron of a brain with a functional equivalent, for example implemented on

1305-437: The discovery of an efficient quantum algorithm for computations performed by the brain, would do much to bring these speculations from the 'far-out' to the mere 'very unlikely'." In 2022, a group of Italian physicists conducted several experiments that failed to provide evidence in support of a gravity-related quantum collapse model of consciousness, weakening the possibility of a quantum explanation for consciousness. Hameroff

1350-449: The facts about them are further facts . Instead, Chalmers argues that consciousness is a fundamental property ontologically autonomous of any known (or even possible) physical properties, and that there may be lawlike rules which he terms "psychophysical laws" that determine which physical systems are associated with which types of qualia. He further speculates that all information -bearing systems may be conscious, leading him to entertain

1395-418: The issue of virtual and non-virtual worlds in his 2022 book Reality+ . While Chalmers recognises that virtual reality is not the same as non-virtual reality, he does not consider virtual reality to be an illusion, but rather a "genuine reality" in its own right. Chalmers sees virtual reality as potentially offering as meaningful a life as non-virtual reality, and argues that we could already be inhabitants of

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1440-506: The neural underpinnings for consciousness would not be resolved by the year 2023, while Koch had bet that they would. Chalmers is best known for formulating what he calls the " hard problem of consciousness ," in both his 1995 paper "Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness" and his 1996 book The Conscious Mind . He makes a distinction between "easy" problems of consciousness, such as explaining object discrimination or verbal reports, and

1485-930: The next two years the two collaborated in formulating the orchestrated objective reduction ( Orch-OR ) model of consciousness. Following this collaboration, Penrose published his second consciousness book, Shadows of the Mind (1994). Over the years since 1994, Hameroff has been active in promoting the Orch-OR model of consciousness through his web site and lectures. Hameroff and Penrose's model has been met with skepticism from many disciplines. Rick Grush and Patricia Churchland , argued that "physiological evidence indicates that consciousness does not directly depend on microtubule properties in any case". In 2000, physicist Max Tegmark calculated that quantum states in microtubules would survive for only 10 seconds, too brief to be of any significance for neural processes. Hameroff and

1530-533: The objective to the subjective, and criticizes physicalist explanations of mental experience, making him a dualist . Chalmers characterizes his view as " naturalistic dualism": naturalistic because he believes mental states supervene "naturally" on physical systems (such as brains); dualist because he believes mental states are ontologically distinct from and not reducible to physical systems. He has also characterized his view by more traditional formulations such as property dualism . In support of this, Chalmers

1575-635: The physicists Scott Hagan and Jack Tuszynski replied to Tegmark arguing that microtubules could be shielded against the environment of the brain and that Tegmark had used his own criteria for the reduction of the wavefunction, and did not use Penrose's OR, which is the basic assumption behind the whole theory. Christof Koch and Klaus Hepp also agreed that quantum coherence does not play, or does not need to play any major role in neurophysiology . Koch and Hepp concluded that "[t]he empirical demonstration of slowly decoherent and controllable quantum bits in neurons connected by electrical or chemical synapses, or

1620-515: The possibility of conscious thermostats and a qualified panpsychism he calls panprotopsychism . Chalmers maintains a formal agnosticism on the issue, even conceding that the viability of panpsychism places him at odds with the majority of his contemporaries. According to Chalmers, his arguments are similar to a line of thought that goes back to Leibniz 's 1714 "mill" argument ; the first substantial use of philosophical "zombie" terminology may be Robert Kirk 's 1974 "Zombies vs. Materialists". After

1665-438: The prevailing view among neuroscientists and artificial intelligence researchers. Penrose saw the principles of quantum theory as providing an alternative process through which consciousness could arise. He further argued that this non-algorithmic process required a new form of the quantum wave reduction, later given the name objective reduction (OR), which could link the brain to the fundamental spacetime geometry. Hameroff

1710-689: The publication of Chalmers's landmark paper, more than twenty papers in response were published in the Journal of Consciousness Studies . These papers (by Daniel Dennett , Colin McGinn , Francisco Varela , Francis Crick , and Roger Penrose , among others) were collected and published in the book Explaining Consciousness: The Hard Problem . John Searle critiqued Chalmers's views in The New York Review of Books . With Andy Clark , Chalmers has written " The Extended Mind ", an article about

1755-442: The reference of natural kind terms. The kind of theory of reference that is advocated by Kripke and Putnam is called the direct reference theory . Chalmers disagrees with Kripke, and direct reference theorists in general. He thinks that there are two kinds of intension of a natural kind term, a stance called two-dimensionalism . For example, the statement "Water is H 2 O" expresses two distinct propositions, often referred to as

1800-405: The same object in all possible worlds . Following this line of thought, Kripke suggests that any scientific identity statement such as "Water is H 2 O" is also a necessary statement, i.e. true in all possible worlds. Kripke thinks that this is a phenomenon that descriptivism cannot explain. And, as also proposed by Hilary Putnam and Kripke himself, Kripke's view on names can also be applied to

1845-408: The single hard problem, which could be stated "why does the feeling which accompanies awareness of sensory information exist at all?" The essential difference between the ( cognitive ) easy problems and the ( phenomenal ) hard problem is that the former are at least theoretically answerable via the dominant strategy in the philosophy of mind: physicalism . Chalmers argues for an "explanatory gap" from

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1890-461: The solution of the problem of consciousness might lie in understanding the operations of microtubules in brain cells, operations at the molecular and supramolecular level. Hameroff's first book Ultimate Computing (1987) argues that microtubes allow for computation sufficient to explain consciousness. The main substance of this book dealt with the scope for information processing in biological tissue and especially in microtubules and other parts of

1935-596: Was a featured philosopher in the 2020 Daily Nous series on GPT-3 , which he described as "one of the most interesting and important AI systems ever produced." As of 2012 Chalmers was the lead singer of the Zombie Blues band, which performed at the music festival Qualia Fest in 2012 in New York. Regarding religion, Chalmers said in 2011: "I have no religious views myself and no spiritual views, except watered-down humanistic, spiritual views. And consciousness

1980-414: Was inspired by Penrose's book to contact Penrose regarding his own theories about the mechanism of anesthesia , and how it specifically targets consciousness via action on neural microtubules. The two met in 1992, and Hameroff suggested that the microtubules were a good candidate site for a quantum mechanism in the brain. Penrose was interested in the mathematical features of the microtubule lattice, and over

2025-452: Was the lead organizer of the first Tucson Toward a Science of Consciousness meeting in 1994 that brought together approximately 300 people interested in consciousness studies (e.g., David Chalmers , Christof Koch , Bernard Baars , Roger Penrose , Benjamin Libet ). Hameroff remains co-organizer of this influential annual conference (now simply Science of Consciousness). The first conference

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