Czy ktokolwiek wygrał w derbach świadomości?

[Draft - Forthcoming Publication]

Outline:

In this piece, I recount the dramatic culmination of a 25-year scientific wager between neuroscientist Christof Koch and philosopher David Chalmers over the “hard problem” of consciousness. The essay centers on a historic 2023 event at NYU where the results of a massive, multi-million-dollar “adversarial collaboration” (the COGITATE project) were finally revealed.

This unprecedented experiment pitted the two leading paradigms of consciousness against each other: the Global Workspace Theory (GWT) and the Integrated Information Theory (IIT). While the neuroimaging data favored IIT’s predictions regarding the physical location of consciousness, it failed to confirm the underlying structural mechanisms of either theory—ultimately costing Koch his 1998 bet.

Beyond the scientific minutiae, I explore the explosive academic fallout that followed, including a controversial open letter from 124 scientists labeling IIT “pseudoscience.” Ultimately, the essay illustrates how the messy, tribal, yet rigorous process of science pushes forward, ending with Koch and Chalmers doubling down on a brand new bet for 2048.

Unpublished yet - publication details to be updated