Toward a Science of Consciousness Coming to Hong Kong

This June, the School of Design is hosting a Conference, Toward a Science of Consciousness. As I bring this up in conversation, I often get a response of "aren't you in the School of Design? What does that have to do with consciousness?" My answer is "Everything!" Design is about creating experiences. Consciousness is the substrate from which experience is created. TSC brings together many different disciplines including philosophy, psychology, neurosciences, cognitive sciences, and spirituality to understand many simple things that we as designers take fore granted. What is the experience of the color red? Why do some sounds and colors seem to sound / look good together, while others don't? How do images and sounds trigger emotions? Where do my design ideas really come from?

At the heart of the Science of Consciousness is what is known as the mind-body problem. What is the relationship between the mind, my subjective experience, and my physical body. With today's medicine, we understand how most of systems of the body work such as the heart, digestion, respiratory, etc. and we know that there is a relationship between the brain and thinking. But is the mind created by the brain? How? What are the biological mechanisms? The mind and body seem very much related. When I experience an emotion it influences my facial expression and body language. Certain material substances (e.g., drugs) can alter my perception of reality. How? We can build incredible tools and technologies, decode the human genome, peer into the quantum world and the farthest reaches of the galaxy, but we still don't know how it is that we can experience reality. I can't tell you how it is that both you and I know that the PolyU logo is red, or what red really even is (It gets stranger than that! http://cns-alumni.bu.edu/~slehar/cartoonepist/cartoonepist.html).

Now, how does all this relate to design you may continue to ask. Well, what is good design? Function? Form? Texture? Aesthetic? Related to culture? Symbols (semiotics)? Adherence to certain rules (golden ratio)? Is it all subjective (coke or pepsi) or can there be universal rules like, say, gravity or physical properties of hydrogen? How are subjective experiences (mind) created from physical properties (body)?

Can there be a science of design?

Did you know that the image of a logo can affect one's perceived taste of a beverage? (http://www.60secondmarketer.com/60SecondArticles/Branding/cokevs.pepsitast.html)

Did you know that there are theories which explain how we experience good visual art (http://mixingmemory.blogspot.com/2005/01/cognitive-science-of-art-ramachandrans.html), neuroasethetics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroesthetics).

Did you know that imagination and perception use the same neural circuits? (http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/129/rewiring-the-creative-mind.html) - A basis for mindful design?

Did you know that there are parts of your brain that don't know the difference between you doing something and you watching someone do something (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3204/01.html) - explains how movies and video games are so engaging!

These are just some of the recent findings related to the efforts to develop an understanding, toward a science of consciousness. If you are alive and conscious, you have just as much say as anyone to explain your experience. If you have any ideas, theories, I encourage you to submit an abstract to our Conference (http://www.asiaconsciousness.org/TSC).


We will have many of the world's leading Consciousness Researchers here for the event. Among the participants include:

David Chalmers - the philosopher who coined the term "The hard problem of consciousness" and the challenge of bridging first-person and 3rd-person experience.

Stuart Hameroff - A leading proponent of quantum consciousness. He has also been featured in many films including "What the Bleep."

Hakwan Lau - Hong Kong local graduate, cognitive neuroscientist now at Columbia University working on neural correlates

Ken Mogi - Sony researcher focusing on a neural basis of qualia.

Susan Greenfield - Author and Cambridge researcher who created the BBC Brain Story Series.

Ovid Tzeng - Leading authority on cognitive neuroscientific studies of Chinese Language.

Victor Lamme - Leading authority in vision and visual perception.

Jonathan Schooler - Leading researcher in consciousness, memory, and the relationship between language and thought, problem-solving, and decision making.

Marilyn Schlitz - CEO of the Noetic Institute and researcher on psi, psychophysiology, cross cultural healing, creativity, and consciousness.

Ben Goertzel - Leader in the the machine consciousness movement.

Allan Combs - Integral consciousness researcher and editor of the Journal of Conscious Evolution.

If you feel that TSC may be too heavy for you, we are planning a whole "Asia Consciousness Festival" from June 5th to June 18th (http://www.asiaconsciousness.org). The Festival will include workshops, movie screenings, art exhibits, etc. around the theme of consciousness. We are open to contributions. Please participate!