Landscape Grid: Consciousness Categories and Theories
A landscape grid categorizes major theories of consciousness, including Integrated Information Theory, Global Workspace Theory, Higher-Order Thought Theory, and Predictive Processing, mapping them across dimensions such as phenomenal vs. access consciousness and cognitive vs. neural foundations.
Background
- This is from **Closer To Truth**, a long-running series where host Robert Lawrence Kuhn interviews scientists and philosophers about life's biggest questions.
- The **Landscape Grid** is Kuhn's visual map of theories of consciousness. It plots them on two axes: what can be conscious (humans only → all matter) and what consciousness fundamentally is (brain activity → a basic feature of reality).
- The major categories: **Materialism** (consciousness = brain function), **Idealism** (consciousness is fundamental, matter is its appearance), **Panpsychism** (consciousness is everywhere in matter), **Dualism** (mind and matter are separate), and **Mysterianism** (the problem may be unsolvable).
- The grid is widely referenced because consciousness studies lacks a shared definition, and dozens of theories (Integrated Information Theory, Global Workspace Theory, etc.) often talk past each other. The grid gives a common framework for comparing them.