Yet the resistance of consciousness to a reductionist understanding delights much of the public. They denigrate reason and those who serve its call, for a complete elucidation of consciousness threatens long and dearly held beliefs about the soul, about human exceptionalism, about the primacy of the organic over the inorganic. Dostoyevsky’s Grand Inquisitor understands this mind-set well: “There are three powers, three powers alone that are able to conquer and hold captive for ever the conscience of these impotent rebels for their happiness—those forces are miracle, mystery, and authority.”
