Intelligent Design the Future Did Consciousness Evolve?
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Apr 12, 2024 
Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor interviews philosopher Bernardo Kastrup about consciousness, evolution, and intelligent design. They challenge evolutionary theories on consciousness, question materialism's view, and discuss the existence of organizing principles in evolution. The podcast explores the relationship between natural selection, internal organism constraints, and the presence of guiding principles in evolutionary paths.
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Consciousness and Evolution Challenge
- Consciousness cannot have evolved via Darwinian mechanisms because it has no causal efficacy under physicalism.
- This challenges the role of natural selection, making evolutionary theory unfalsifiable if consciousness evolved without function.
Materialism vs Consciousness
- Materialism struggles to reconcile with consciousness and Darwinian evolution, leading to panpsychism or idealism.
- Kastrup argues materialism's metaphysics must be discarded to resolve these contradictions.
Skepticism of Random Mutations
- Kastrup finds nothing unreasonable in intelligent design suggesting unknown organizing principles guide genome evolution.
- He doubts genetic mutations are truly random, proposing patterns influenced by causal agents yet unknown.