Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe

by Brian Greene

The art of science, of which Newton was the master, lies in making judicious simplifications that render problems tractable while retaining enough of their essence to ensure that the conclusions drawn are relevant. The challenge is that simplifications effective for one class of problems can be less so for others. Model the planets as solid balls and you can work out their trajectories with ease and precision. Model your head as a solid ball and the insights into the nature of mind will be less enlightening. But to jettison unproductive approximations and lay bare the inner workings of a system containing as many particles as the brain—a laudable goal—would require mastering a level of complexity fantastically beyond the reach of today’s most sophisticated mathematical and computational methods. What’s changed in recent years is newfound access to observable and measurable features of brain activity that, at the very least, access processes that reliably accompany conscious experience. When researchers can use functional magnetic resonance imaging to meticulously track blood flow supporting neural activity, or insert deep brain probes to detect electrical impulses firing along individual neurons, or use electroencephalograms to monitor electromagnetic waves rippling across the brain, and when the data reveal clear patterns that mirror both observed behavior and reports of inner experience, the case for approaching consciousness as a physical phenomenon strengthens substant...