If Consciousness Is Fundamental: A Dialogue on Neuroscience, Intentionality, and What It Means to Be Human

SCIENCE, 29 Jun 2026

David Andersson | Pressenza - TRANSCEND Media Service

(Image by Depositphotos)

28 Jun 2026 – For more than a century, mainstream neuroscience has largely assumed that consciousness is something the brain produces. Our thoughts, emotions, memories, and sense of self have been understood as emerging from the extraordinary complexity of billions of neurons.

Today, however, that assumption is being reconsidered by a growing number of researchers. Among them are Christof Koch, one of the world’s leading neuroscientists and a pioneer in the scientific study of consciousness, and Nicco Reggente, whose work explores new approaches to understanding consciousness that move beyond conventional materialist models.

Although they arrive at the question from different perspectives, both are contributing to a broader scientific conversation: What if consciousness is not produced by the brain? What if consciousness is instead a fundamental feature of reality, with the brain acting as the biological system that organizes, filters, or expresses it?

This idea remains a hypothesis rather than an established scientific conclusion. Yet its implications are profound. If consciousness is fundamental, then the discussion extends far beyond neuroscience. It invites us to rethink not only the nature of consciousness but also what it means to be human.

Question: Suppose consciousness isn’t created by the brain. What changes?

Answer: Almost everything.

The question is no longer simply What is consciousness?

It becomes What is a human being?

Instead of viewing ourselves as biological organisms that accidentally became conscious through evolution, we might understand ourselves as conscious beings whose bodies provide a uniquely human way of experiencing, expressing, and acting within the universe.

The body is no longer simply a machine.

It becomes the extraordinary means through which consciousness enters history.

Question: Doesn’t this sound similar to ideas found in philosophy and spirituality?

Answer: In some respects, yes.

Many philosophical and spiritual traditions have long proposed that consciousness is more fundamental than matter.

Science, however, operates differently. Researchers such as Christof Koch and Nicco Reggente are not attempting to validate spiritual beliefs. They are developing theories that can be explored through observation, experimentation, and logical consistency.

Yet something important has changed.

Questions that were once dismissed as unscientific are now being investigated with increasing seriousness. The conversation is no longer one of opposition between science and spirituality, but of dialogue around a shared mystery.

Question: Where does intentionality fit into this picture?

Answer: This is where the discussion becomes especially interesting.

In phenomenology, intentionality refers to the idea that consciousness is always consciousness of something—it is inherently directed toward the world rather than existing as a passive container of thoughts.

Building on this tradition, the thinker and humanist Silo described intentionality not merely as “having intentions,” but as a fundamental characteristic of consciousness itself. Consciousness is dynamic rather than passive; it is always reaching beyond itself toward objects, people, possibilities, and the future.

If consciousness is fundamental, then intentionality may be understood as the uniquely human capacity to direct conscious experience and, through action, transform both ourselves and the world.

Meaning is therefore not simply discovered. It is realized through intentional action.

Question: If consciousness is fundamental, shouldn’t the real question become how we relate to it?

Answer: Perhaps.

Question: If consciousness is fundamental, what does that mean for human development?

Answer: It may change how we think about it.

If consciousness is a fundamental aspect of reality, then human development may involve more than acquiring knowledge or developing cognitive abilities. It may also involve cultivating the quality of consciousness itself.

From this perspective, coherence, intentionality, attention, and inner unity are not merely psychological traits. They may become essential dimensions of human growth.

This is not yet a scientific conclusion. It is a philosophical possibility inspired by both contemporary consciousness research and traditions that emphasize inner transformation. But it suggests that understanding consciousness may require not only studying it objectively, but also developing the conditions through which it is more fully expressed.

Question: Does this perspective also reopen the question of transcendence and the possibility of life beyond death?

Answer: It makes the question legitimate again, even if it does not answer it.

Neuroscience has not demonstrated that consciousness survives physical death, nor has it demonstrated transcendence. But if consciousness is not entirely reducible to brain activity, then the possibility that consciousness extends beyond the brain can no longer be dismissed simply because materialism assumes it impossible.

This does not constitute evidence for transcendence. It simply reopens a question that many believed science had already settled.

Silo approached this question not through neuroscience but through lived experience. He once said:

“We are very interested in understanding those possibilities—the possibilities of a meaning in life that is definitive, not temporary, and that can even serve to teach us something whenever we encounter a setback in life.”

Notice that he speaks about understanding possibilities, not demanding belief.

Whether consciousness ultimately transcends physical existence remains unknown. But if consciousness is fundamental, the question itself becomes scientifically and philosophically open once again.

Question: Could this perspective also change how we understand autism?

Answer: It might encourage us to ask different questions.

Rather than viewing autism primarily as a deficit, many researchers now understand it as a different organization of perception, communication, and cognition.

If consciousness is fundamental, one might further ask whether autistic minds represent different ways in which conscious experience is organized and expressed.

This does not suggest that autistic people possess more or less consciousness.

It suggests that human diversity may reflect different ways consciousness becomes embodied.

Whether this proves fruitful scientifically remains to be seen, but it illustrates how a new conceptual framework can generate new questions.

Question: Why does all this matter?

Answer: Because our understanding of consciousness shapes our understanding of ourselves.

If consciousness is merely an accidental by-product of matter, then meaning and purpose can appear as temporary constructions.

If consciousness is fundamental, then meaning becomes something we participate in through the direction of our lives.

Purpose is no longer merely something we invent. It becomes something we intentionally embody.

This perspective does not diminish science. Nor does it replace philosophy or spirituality. Instead, it invites a broader conversation in which scientific inquiry, lived experience, and human aspiration can inform one another.

Question: What question should we be asking now?

Answer: It may no longer be simply What is consciousness?

It may be What kind of human beings are we capable of becoming?

Science will continue to investigate whether consciousness is fundamental, requiring evidence, careful reasoning, and testable theories. But whatever the outcome, one thing has already changed: consciousness has returned to the center of scientific inquiry—not merely as a problem of neural computation, but as one of the deepest questions about reality itself.

If that inquiry continues to unfold, the greatest revolution may not simply be in neuroscience. It may be in our understanding of human possibility.

In that possibility lies not a conclusion, but an invitation—one that science is beginning to explore, philosophy has long contemplated, and each of us must ultimately investigate through our own experience.

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David Andersson is a writer and humanist based in New York City. He focuses on issues of global justice, collective consciousness, and nonviolent transformation. English Editor with Pressenza International Press Agency and is the author of The White-West: A Look in the Mirror, a collection of op-eds examining the dynamics of Western identity and its global impact. Many of his articles have been translated into more than five languages.

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