Philosopher David Chalmers is famous for distinguishing between easy problems of consciousness and the hard problem of consciousness. Easy problems of consciousness are those that can be explained in terms of computational or neural mechanisms and, as such, pose no serious or insurmountable challenge to scientific investigation. An example of an easy problem of consciousness would be trying to explain how the brain can gain access to its own internal states. In contrast, the hard problem of consciousness involves trying to explain the subjective or experiential nature of consciousness – the fact that there is something it is like to be conscious (as Thomas Nagel put it). In this painting, a bonobo holds a copy of Chalmers’ The Nature of Consciousness. The painting asks us to consider how an ape, whose cognitive capacities were shaped by evolution, can hope to learn anything about the nature of consciousness. After all, evolution is “blind,” (Richard Dawkins) and apes, like other animals, are the result of random mutations that have contributed to their survival and reproduction. Should we expect the brains of apes to uncover the nature of reality and solved solve deep metaphysical puzzles? Of course, we too are apes, and a similar origin story can be told about our brains.
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