Rethinking Consciousness: A Scientific Theory of Subjective Experience

Some interesting ideas (consciousness=awareness of attention), though I did not find them compelling, and for me, at least, the author did not make his case. The final part of the book veers off entirely into speculation about what the future might hold should we develop artificial consciousness, and is by far the weakest part of the book. It is pure fantasy, complete with the now requisite (and tiresome) warnings about autocracy and fascism. Oddly, the author speculates about how to create artificial consciousness, and what that might entail and result in, without ever raising the possibility it already has been, and we're living it. The author's argument is rooted in materialism: he posits that, while consciousness is a reproducible construct, it is grounded by a relationship to the physical realm (most notably the body housing the consciousness), while acknowledging consciousness only receives limited inputs from whatever's out there. It's a missed opportunity for deeper exploration