A. T. Bollands

This very short paper provides a panpsychic solution to the Hard Problem of Consciousness. It was presented to the Philosophical Society of the Oxford University Department of Continuing Education (OUDCE) on 18th August 2019, and posted on Twitter (@ATBollands) on the 20th August, 2019. It solves the Hard Problem by 1) making the case for Panpsychism, and 2) solving the Combination Problem (Panpsychism's equivalent of the Hard Problem). The paper aims to be clear, concise, to-the-point and accessible to the general educated reader. It is short on discussion and elaboration, and does not seek to defend its argument against all reasonable objections. However, by keeping its argument to under 2 pages, it ensures the casual reader is not discouraged from taking a look, allowing them to engage with both the Hard Problem and this Short Solution.

We live in a world full of mysteries. How do our brains create consciousness? Which animals are conscious, and which are not? How can we have free-will in a deterministic universe? What are the fundamental Laws of Nature? What caused the Big Bang? How can we make sense of Quantum Mechanics? Why is the universe so finely-tuned for Life? And how did Life begin? Despite investigating such mysteries for decades or more, scientists and philosophers are no closer to finding clear and convincing answers that everyone can agree upon. The big question is: why do such mysteries exist, and can they ever be solved? In Life, the Universe and Consciousness, A. T. Bollands introduces us to twelve so-called intractable problems, demonstrating how each one arises from a conflict between beliefs. And yet, beliefs that are in conflict cannot all be true, which means that one or more of them must be false. To solve each problem, therefore, all we need to do is work out which of our beliefs are false and correct them. This may sound easy, but these beliefs include the most fundamental assumptions of modern science. If that wasn’t enough, it turns out that these twelve intractable problems are related, such that we cannot solve any one of them satisfactorily until we have solved all twelve within the same coherent worldview. Examining each of these problems in turn, we finally arrive at our twelfth intractable problem: What is Life? A. T. Bollands proposes a new definition for Life, and with it a new way of understanding the physical world – a scientific worldview he calls Universal Life. Armed with this new worldview, he proceeds to solve all twelve intractable problems one by one, thereby developing the Theory of Universal Life and the solution to the “Big Problem of 20th Century Science”. By successfully solving each problem, he shows that Universal Life offers us a simpler, more natural, more coherent and hence more credible explanation for ourselves and the world we live in than our current scientific worldview ever can.