Most scientists believe that consciousness, life’s most striking emergent property, cannot be reduced to physics and chemistry.  This is false, argues Addy Pross, since the process by which consciousness evolved from inanimate matter, if known, would reveal its physical basis. Recent studies in chemistry reaffirm that an understanding of life lies at the level of chemistry, not biology.

1. The ‘hard problem’ of consciousness

There exists a big black hole of uncertainty at the centre of the natural sciences. The physical and biological sciences are awkwardly and fundamentally incompatible. Most scientists agree that living things are just physical/chemical aggregates, yet their behaviour is quite different to that expected from regular physical ‘stuff’ governed by cold, impersonal laws of nature. The physicalist view of nature rests on science’s axiom of objectivity, but living things ­– unlike planets, rocks, lakes, atoms and electrons – express purpose, intentionality, goals and desires. In short, they manifest a mental dimension. Most strikingly, within that dimension lies its ultimate expression, consciousness.

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But for life’s characteristics, that reductionist approach has failed – consciousness and purpose are seemingly beyond physicality.

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