In his column in the June issue of Discover, Jaron Lanier tackles the problems of taking consciousness as a matter of faith or of dismissing its existence altogether (as, he notes, Daniel Dennett does). Highlighting the impossibility of conducting proofs for the existence of consciousness and the difficulty of ignoring that there is some thing that joins subjective experiences, Lanier writes: "Consciousness is precisely the only thing that is just as real if it's an illusion."

This is an immensely important issue that runs through the realms of science, philosophy, and psychology. Consider:

- Although there's no agreement on what consciousness is, those who posit its existence invariably have it linked in some way to subjective experience. This puts it at the base of any grounds people have for understanding one another (as hinted at in the beginning of the prior post).

- Consciousness is thus inextricably entwined in the philosophical and psychological relationship between subject and object, and the ongoing debate over how those are linked.

- The form and function of consciousness are thus central to any possibility for empathy, with an understanding the former a likely prerequisite for measuring the presence of the latter.

- Because consciousness is generally regarded as one of the things that distinguishes us from the rest of the natural world (or at least provides a basis for other distinguishers like language and art), its existence also can be viewed as an example that we have already moved beyond (the rest of) biology. How and to what degree are therefore questions that should offer clues about why we have that drive and where it is directed.