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    The McMaster Department of Philosophy has now put together the following notice commemorating Barry: Barry Allen: A Philosophical Life Barry…

Chalmers/Koch bet regarding consciousness

Brian Leiter

Chalmers wins (but what does he win?):

A 25-year science wager has come to an end. In 1998, neuroscientist Christof Koch bet philosopher David Chalmers that the mechanism by which the brain’s neurons produce consciousness would be discovered by 2023. Both scientists agreed publicly on 23 June, at the annual meeting of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC) in New York City, that it is still an ongoing quest — and declared Chalmers the winner.

What ultimately helped to settle the bet was a key study testing two leading hypotheses about the neural basis of consciousness, whose findings were unveiled at the conference.

“It was always a relatively good bet for me and a bold bet for Christof,” says Chalmers, who is now co-director of the Center for Mind, Brain and Consciousness at New York University. But he also says this isn’t the end of the story, and that an answer will come eventually: “There’s been a lot of progress in the field.”

(Thanks to Joshua Selby for the pointer.)

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17 responses to “Chalmers/Koch bet regarding consciousness”

  1. Euro Prof

    I believe that Chalmers won a case of Portuguese wine for winning the bet.

    Reply
  2. bar tender

    Brian, I cannot tell if you are being ironic in asking "what does he win?" He wins the favourite drink of zombies, wine, a case of wine (as the Nature story reports).

    Reply
  3. Peter

    Not a neuroscientist, but isn't the brain (and consciousness for that matter) too complex to expect decisive evidence for a theory at this stage? The theories set against each other seem awfully simplistic and direct readings of neurons across the whole cortex have not yet been achieved (which is the gold standard afaik). That is, the theories are not well-developed and neither are the methods up to the task. Although also not a physicist, debates about the suitedness of the standard-model seem infinitely more sophisticated and capable of yielding real progress in one direction or the other.

    Chalmers looks like casino employee and Koch like a gambling-addict.

    Reply
  4. Howard Simmons

    For any year n, I would bet that the 'hard problem of consciousness' will not be solved by n.

    Reply
  5. Anonymous

    No doubt Lawrence Krauss is busy writing a book somewhere "explaining" to everyone that philosophy is dated and neuroscience has already explained the basis of consciousness. (sarcasm)

    Reply
  6. Gregg Shores

    The photo shows Koch carrying a wooden box. It looks like it's marked Biondi Santi, who makes Brunello.

    Reply
  7. Ned Block

    This account in Science is much more detailed and accurate about the scientific issues than the Nature article: https://www.science.org/content/article/search-neural-basis-consciousness-yields-first-results

    Reply
  8. Euro Prof

    Good Spot!
    But the Nature article explicitly claims the wine is Portuguese:
    "As for the bet, Koch was reluctant to admit defeat but, the day before the ASSC session, he bought a case of fine Portuguese wine to honour his commitment."

    Reply
  9. Euro Prof

    … and the article in Science suggests that the case includes a bottle of vintage port:
    'Koch conceded on Friday that those correlates remain unclear and, on stage, gallantly offered up a bottle of 1978 Madeira to Chalmers, with five more fine red wines in the wings.'
    '

    Reply
  10. Tom Cochrane

    I still can't understand why the global workspace theory would commit to any specific location in the brain being the neural correlate of global broadcasting. It seems contrary to the spirit of the theory. Any pointers would be appreciated!

    Reply
  11. Mohan Matthen

    The bet in question wasn't about the hard problem, was it?

    Reply
  12. Mohan Matthen

    Except that it said that philosophers "since Plato" had been worrying about consciousness. Is there anything in Plato (or Aristotle) about consciousness?

    Reply
  13. Howard Simmons

    It was about determining 'the mechanism by which the brain’s neurons produce consciousness'. I suppose this could be interpreted as being a matter of merely identifying the precise neural correlates of phenomenal consciousness, but I read it, not unreasonably I think, as about providing an explanation for phenomenal consciousness, and that is the hard problem.

    Reply
  14. Mohan Matthen

    It's reasonable to take it that way, I agree, but then it would be futile to submit it to a lab to test between "information integration" and "global workspace." Both theories have been elaborated in ways that putatively offer NCC's, but neither is an answer to the hard problem. You're right to say that the hard problem is unanswerable in any year n, and (I would add) that's because the answer is a priori. Anyway, I know you were jesting, and I really shouldn't have been literal-minded in my response. So, my apologies.

    Reply
  15. Howard Simmons

    No need to apologise. Yes, the remark was expressed humorously, but it had a serious message. If Koch had won the bet, some would certainly have been claiming that the hard problem had been solved.

    Reply
  16. GJ

    There's important stuff in Aristotle on consciousness, though not, of course, on the hard problem. Victor Caston published an excellent piece on the topic in Mind in 2002.

    Reply
  17. Terence Edward

    He won? Do I have to return to PhilPapers?

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