What makes a theory of consciousness unscientific?

Karen Yan; Martijn E. Wokke; Michal Wierzchon; Thalia Wheatley; Josh Weisberg; Taylor Webb; Sebastian Watzl; Jonas Vibell; Peter U. Tse; Frank Tong; Vincent Taschereau-Dumouchel; Timo Stein; Hugo Spiers; David Soto; Guillermo Solovey; Barry C. Smith; Heleen A. Slagter; Juha Silvanto; Joshua Shepherd; Aaron R. Seitz; Ryan B. Scott; D. Samuel Schwarzkopf; Aaron Schurger; Daniela Schiller; Adina Roskies; Dario L. Ringach; Geraint Rees; Dobromir Rahnev; Rosanne L. Rademaker; Ian Phillips; Megan A.K. Peters; Franco Pestilli; David Pereplyotchik; Adrian M. Owen; Charles C.F. Or; Brian Odegaard; Myrto Mylopoulos; Jorge Morales; Robert M. Mok; Dean Mobbs; Partha P. Mitra; Kenneth D. Miller; Matthias Michel; Janet Metcalfe; Julio Martinez-Trujillo; Maro G. Machizawa; Ka Yuet Liu; Ying Tung Lin; Matthew D. Lieberman; Beatrice de Gelder; IIT-Concerned

doi:10.1038/s41593-025-01881-x

What makes a theory of consciousness unscientific?

Karen Yan, Martijn E. Wokke, Michal Wierzchon, Thalia Wheatley, Josh Weisberg, Taylor Webb, Sebastian Watzl, Jonas Vibell, Peter U. Tse, Frank Tong, Vincent Taschereau-Dumouchel, Timo Stein, Hugo Spiers, David Soto, Guillermo Solovey, Barry C. Smith, Heleen A. Slagter, Juha Silvanto, Joshua Shepherd, Aaron R. SeitzRyan B. Scott, D. Samuel Schwarzkopf, Aaron Schurger, Daniela Schiller, Adina Roskies, Dario L. Ringach, Geraint Rees, Dobromir Rahnev, Rosanne L. Rademaker, Ian Phillips, Megan A.K. Peters, Franco Pestilli, David Pereplyotchik, Adrian M. Owen, Charles C.F. Or, Brian Odegaard, Myrto Mylopoulos, Jorge Morales, Robert M. Mok, Dean Mobbs, Partha P. Mitra, Kenneth D. Miller, Matthias Michel, Janet Metcalfe, Julio Martinez-Trujillo, Maro G. Machizawa, Ka Yuet Liu, Ying Tung Lin, Matthew D. Lieberman, Beatrice de Gelder, IIT-Concerned

Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/Letter to the editor › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Theories of consciousness have a long and controversial history. One well-known proposal — integrated information theory — has recently been labeled as ‘pseudoscience’, which has caused a heated open debate. Here we discuss the case and argue that the theory is indeed unscientific because its core claims are untestable even in principle.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	689-693
Number of pages	5
Journal	Nature Neuroscience
Volume	28
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-025-01881-x
Publication status	Published - 1 Apr 2025

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10.1038/s41593-025-01881-x

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Yan, K., Wokke, M. E., Wierzchon, M., Wheatley, T., Weisberg, J., Webb, T., Watzl, S., Vibell, J., Tse, P. U., Tong, F., Taschereau-Dumouchel, V., Stein, T., Spiers, H., Soto, D., Solovey, G., Smith, B. C., Slagter, H. A., Silvanto, J., Shepherd, J., ... IIT-Concerned (2025). What makes a theory of consciousness unscientific? Nature Neuroscience, 28(4), 689-693. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-025-01881-x

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title = "What makes a theory of consciousness unscientific?",

abstract = "Theories of consciousness have a long and controversial history. One well-known proposal — integrated information theory — has recently been labeled as {\textquoteleft}pseudoscience{\textquoteright}, which has caused a heated open debate. Here we discuss the case and argue that the theory is indeed unscientific because its core claims are untestable even in principle.",

author = "Karen Yan and Wokke, \{Martijn E.\} and Michal Wierzchon and Thalia Wheatley and Josh Weisberg and Taylor Webb and Sebastian Watzl and Jonas Vibell and Tse, \{Peter U.\} and Frank Tong and Vincent Taschereau-Dumouchel and Timo Stein and Hugo Spiers and David Soto and Guillermo Solovey and Smith, \{Barry C.\} and Slagter, \{Heleen A.\} and Juha Silvanto and Joshua Shepherd and Seitz, \{Aaron R.\} and Scott, \{Ryan B.\} and Schwarzkopf, \{D. Samuel\} and Aaron Schurger and Daniela Schiller and Adina Roskies and Ringach, \{Dario L.\} and Geraint Rees and Dobromir Rahnev and Rademaker, \{Rosanne L.\} and Ian Phillips and Peters, \{Megan A.K.\} and Franco Pestilli and David Pereplyotchik and Owen, \{Adrian M.\} and Or, \{Charles C.F.\} and Brian Odegaard and Myrto Mylopoulos and Jorge Morales and Mok, \{Robert M.\} and Dean Mobbs and Mitra, \{Partha P.\} and Miller, \{Kenneth D.\} and Matthias Michel and Janet Metcalfe and Julio Martinez-Trujillo and Machizawa, \{Maro G.\} and Liu, \{Ka Yuet\} and Lin, \{Ying Tung\} and Lieberman, \{Matthew D.\} and \{de Gelder\}, Beatrice and IIT-Concerned",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Springer Nature America, Inc. 2025.",

year = "2025",

month = apr,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1038/s41593-025-01881-x",

language = "English",

volume = "28",

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Yan, K, Wokke, ME, Wierzchon, M, Wheatley, T, Weisberg, J, Webb, T, Watzl, S, Vibell, J, Tse, PU, Tong, F, Taschereau-Dumouchel, V, Stein, T, Spiers, H, Soto, D, Solovey, G, Smith, BC, Slagter, HA, Silvanto, J, Shepherd, J, Seitz, AR, Scott, RB, Schwarzkopf, DS, Schurger, A, Schiller, D, Roskies, A, Ringach, DL, Rees, G, Rahnev, D, Rademaker, RL, Phillips, I, Peters, MAK, Pestilli, F, Pereplyotchik, D, Owen, AM, Or, CCF, Odegaard, B, Mylopoulos, M, Morales, J, Mok, RM, Mobbs, D, Mitra, PP, Miller, KD, Michel, M, Metcalfe, J, Martinez-Trujillo, J, Machizawa, MG, Liu, KY, Lin, YT, Lieberman, MD, de Gelder, B & IIT-Concerned 2025, 'What makes a theory of consciousness unscientific?', Nature Neuroscience, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 689-693. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-025-01881-x