N-theory: A falsifiable, coherent, scientific, theory-of-consciousness.
Preprint: https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/dzau9 (6/21)
Part 3 of the Sciencey Trinity
‘N-Theory’ in 20 minutes
The N-theory book-chapter (from the book, The Science We Need) catalogues all the problems for currently-mainstream consciousness science, including the orthodoxy/unorthodoxy issue (identified by True, and potentially resolved by One), and adding in evolutionary, spatial, and spacetime issues. It then creates a new hypothesis (N-theory) that addresses all these issues (in contrast with mainstream hypotheses, which address none of them), and explains how each feature of N-theory can in principle be falsified.
The video begins by comparing N-theory to the current mainstream, emphasizing N’s dynamically-unorthodox nature. It then explains the broader theoretical purposes of N-theory (for example, within physical theory as a whole), as well as giving a brief justification for the scientific origin of each N-theoretic feature. It closes with an explanation of N-theory’s stance in a call for a real, experimental, science of consciousness.