Unlocking Consciousness

A BOLD REFRAMING OF ONE OF SCIENCE’S DEEPEST MYSTERIES Drawing on conversations with some of the world's leading scientists and philosophers, Annaka Harris takes readers to the frontier of mind and reality, challenging the dominant assumption that consciousness is an emergent property of the brain, and exploring the radical possibility that it is fundamental to the universe itself.

Annaka Harris takes on one of the deepest unanswered questions in science: how consciousness arises in nature. For decades, scientists have assumed that consciousness emerges from complex brain activity. But what if that assumption is wrong? Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience, physics, and philosophy, and on intimate conversations with leading thinkers including Brian Greene, David Eagleman, Anil Seth, and Carlo Rovelli, Harris explores a provocative alternative: that consciousness may be a fundamental feature, like gravity or spacetime, underlying everything in our universe. Once considered fringe, this idea is now gaining traction among leading thinkers. Blending personal narrative with rigorous inquiry, Harris guides readers through the implications of this shift – from how we understand animal minds and artificial intelligence, to what it means for free will, and how we think about the structure of the universe itself. This is a book for anyone who has ever wondered not just how the world works – but why it feels like something to be here.