Panpsychism is crazy, but it’s also most probably true | Aeon Ideas

On the inner life of molecules and electrons: or why panpsychism is highly likely to be true, even if it sounds crazy

Photo by Stanislav Nevyhosteny/Wikipedia Common sense tells us that only living things have an inner life. Rabbits and tigers and mice have feelings, sensations and experiences; tables and rocks and molecules do not. Panpsychists deny this datum of common sense. According to panpsychism, the smallest bits of matter – things such as electrons and quarks – have very basic kinds of experience; an electron has an inner life. The main objection made to panpsychism is that it is ‘crazy’ and ‘just obviously wrong’. It is thought to be highly counterintuitive to suppose that an electron has some…

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• Esther Thielking

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