What makes a theory of consciousness unscientific?

Michał Klincewicz; Tony Cheng; Michael Schmitz; Miguel Ángel Sebastián; Joel S. Snyder; Derek H. Arnold; Mark G. Baxter; Tristan A. Bekinschtein; Yoshua Bengio; James W. Bisley; Jacob Browning; Dean Buonomano; David Carmel; Marisa Carrasco; Peter Carruthers; Olivia Carter; Dorita H. F. Chang; Ian Charest; Mouslim Cherkaoui; Axel Cleeremans; Michael A. Cohen; Philip R. Corlett; Kalina Christoff; Sam Cumming; Cody A. Cushing; Beatrice de Gelder; Felipe De Brigard; Daniel C. Dennett; Nadine Dijkstra; Adrien Doerig; Paul E. Dux; Stephen M. Fleming; Keith Frankish; Chris D. Frith; Sarah Garfinkel; Melvyn A. Goodale; Jacqueline Gottlieb; Jake R. Hanson; Ran R. Hassin; Michael H. Herzog; Cecilia Heyes; Po-Jang Hsieh; Shao-Min Hung; Robert Kentridge; Tomas Knapen; Nikos Konstantinou; Konrad Kording; Timo L. Kvamme; Sze Chai Kwok; Renzo C. Lanfranco; Hakwan Lau; Joseph LeDoux; Alan L. F. Lee; Camilo Libedinsky; Matthew D. Lieberman; Ying-Tung Lin; Ka-Yuet Liu; Maro G. Machizawa; Julio Martinez-Trujillo; Janet Metcalfe; Matthias Michel; Kenneth D. Miller; Partha P. Mitra; Dean Mobbs; Robert M. Mok; Jorge Morales; Myrto Mylopoulos; Brian Odegaard; Charles C.-F. Or; Adrian M. Owen; David Pereplyotchik; Franco Pestilli; Megan A. K. Peters; Ian Phillips; Rosanne L. Rademaker; Dobromir Rahnev; Geraint Rees; Dario L. Ringach; Adina Roskies; Daniela Schiller; Aaron Schurger; D. Samuel Schwarzkopf; Ryan B. Scott; Aaron R. Seitz; Joshua Shepherd; Juha Silvanto; Heleen A. Slagter; Barry C. Smith; Guillermo Solovey; David Soto; Hugo Spiers; Timo Stein; Vincent Taschereau-Dumouchel; Frank Tong; Peter U. Tse; Jonas Vibell; Sebastian Watzl; Taylor Webb; Josh Weisberg; Thalia Wheatley; Michał Wierzchoń; Martijn E. Wokke; Karen Yan

doi:10.1038/s41593-025-01881-x

What makes a theory of consciousness unscientific?

Michał Klincewicz, Tony Cheng, Michael Schmitz, Miguel Ángel Sebastián, Joel S. Snyder, Derek H. Arnold, Mark G. Baxter, Tristan A. Bekinschtein, Yoshua Bengio, James W. Bisley, Jacob Browning, Dean Buonomano, David Carmel, Marisa Carrasco, Peter Carruthers, Olivia Carter, Dorita H. F. Chang, Ian Charest, Mouslim Cherkaoui, Axel CleeremansMichael A. Cohen, Philip R. Corlett, Kalina Christoff, Sam Cumming, Cody A. Cushing, Beatrice de Gelder, Felipe De Brigard, Daniel C. Dennett, Nadine Dijkstra, Adrien Doerig, Paul E. Dux, Stephen M. Fleming, Keith Frankish, Chris D. Frith, Sarah Garfinkel, Melvyn A. Goodale, Jacqueline Gottlieb, Jake R. Hanson, Ran R. Hassin, Michael H. Herzog, Cecilia Heyes, Po-Jang Hsieh, Shao-Min Hung, Robert Kentridge, Tomas Knapen, Nikos Konstantinou, Konrad Kording, Timo L. Kvamme, Sze Chai Kwok, Renzo C. Lanfranco, Hakwan Lau, Joseph LeDoux, Alan L. F. Lee, Camilo Libedinsky, Matthew D. Lieberman, Ying-Tung Lin, Ka-Yuet Liu, Maro G. Machizawa, Julio Martinez-Trujillo, Janet Metcalfe, Matthias Michel, Kenneth D. Miller, Partha P. Mitra, Dean Mobbs, Robert M. Mok, Jorge Morales, Myrto Mylopoulos, Brian Odegaard, Charles C.-F. Or, Adrian M. Owen, David Pereplyotchik, Franco Pestilli, Megan A. K. Peters, Ian Phillips, Rosanne L. Rademaker, Dobromir Rahnev, Geraint Rees, Dario L. Ringach, Adina Roskies, Daniela Schiller, Aaron Schurger, D. Samuel Schwarzkopf, Ryan B. Scott, Aaron R. Seitz, Joshua Shepherd, Juha Silvanto, Heleen A. Slagter, Barry C. Smith, Guillermo Solovey, David Soto, Hugo Spiers, Timo Stein, Vincent Taschereau-Dumouchel, Frank Tong, Peter U. Tse, Jonas Vibell, Sebastian Watzl, Taylor Webb, Josh Weisberg, Thalia Wheatley, Michał Wierzchoń, Martijn E. Wokke, Karen Yan

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › 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
Journal	Nature Neuroscience
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-025-01881-x
Publication status	Published - 10 Mar 2025

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10.1038/s41593-025-01881-x

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Klincewicz, M., Cheng, T., Schmitz, M., Sebastián, M. Á., Snyder, J. S., Arnold, D. H., Baxter, M. G., Bekinschtein, T. A., Bengio, Y., Bisley, J. W., Browning, J., Buonomano, D., Carmel, D., Carrasco, M., Carruthers, P., Carter, O., Chang, D. H. F., Charest, I., Cherkaoui, M., ... Yan, K. (2025). What makes a theory of consciousness unscientific? Nature Neuroscience. 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 = "Micha{\l} Klincewicz and Tony Cheng and Michael Schmitz and Sebasti{\'a}n, {Miguel {\'A}ngel} and Snyder, {Joel S.} and Arnold, {Derek H.} and Baxter, {Mark G.} and Bekinschtein, {Tristan A.} and Yoshua Bengio and Bisley, {James W.} and Jacob Browning and Dean Buonomano and David Carmel and Marisa Carrasco and Peter Carruthers and Olivia Carter and Chang, {Dorita H. F.} and Ian Charest and Mouslim Cherkaoui and Axel Cleeremans and Cohen, {Michael A.} and Corlett, {Philip R.} and Kalina Christoff and Sam Cumming and Cushing, {Cody A.} and {de Gelder}, Beatrice and Brigard, {Felipe De} and Dennett, {Daniel C.} and Nadine Dijkstra and Adrien Doerig and Dux, {Paul E.} and Fleming, {Stephen M.} and Keith Frankish and Frith, {Chris D.} and Sarah Garfinkel and Goodale, {Melvyn A.} and Jacqueline Gottlieb and Hanson, {Jake R.} and Hassin, {Ran R.} and Herzog, {Michael H.} and Cecilia Heyes and Po-Jang Hsieh and Shao-Min Hung and Robert Kentridge and Tomas Knapen and Nikos Konstantinou and Konrad Kording and Kvamme, {Timo L.} and Kwok, {Sze Chai} and Lanfranco, {Renzo C.} and Hakwan Lau and Joseph LeDoux and Lee, {Alan L. F.} and Camilo Libedinsky and Lieberman, {Matthew D.} and Ying-Tung Lin and Ka-Yuet Liu and Machizawa, {Maro G.} and Julio Martinez-Trujillo and Janet Metcalfe and Matthias Michel and Miller, {Kenneth D.} and Mitra, {Partha P.} and Dean Mobbs and Mok, {Robert M.} and Jorge Morales and Myrto Mylopoulos and Brian Odegaard and Or, {Charles C.-F.} and Owen, {Adrian M.} and David Pereplyotchik and Franco Pestilli and Peters, {Megan A. K.} and Ian Phillips and Rademaker, {Rosanne L.} and Dobromir Rahnev and Geraint Rees and Ringach, {Dario L.} and Adina Roskies and Daniela Schiller and Aaron Schurger and Schwarzkopf, {D. Samuel} and Scott, {Ryan B.} and Seitz, {Aaron R.} and Joshua Shepherd and Juha Silvanto and Slagter, {Heleen A.} and Smith, {Barry C.} and Guillermo Solovey and David Soto and Hugo Spiers and Timo Stein and Vincent Taschereau-Dumouchel and Frank Tong and Tse, {Peter U.} and Jonas Vibell and Sebastian Watzl and Taylor Webb and Josh Weisberg and Thalia Wheatley and Micha{\l} Wierzcho{\'n} and Wokke, {Martijn E.} and Karen Yan",

year = "2025",

month = mar,

day = "10",

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

language = "English",

journal = "Nature Neuroscience",

issn = "1097-6256",

publisher = "Nature Research",

}

Klincewicz, M, Cheng, T, Schmitz, M, Sebastián, MÁ, Snyder, JS, Arnold, DH, Baxter, MG, Bekinschtein, TA, Bengio, Y, Bisley, JW, Browning, J, Buonomano, D, Carmel, D, Carrasco, M, Carruthers, P, Carter, O, Chang, DHF, Charest, I, Cherkaoui, M, Cleeremans, A, Cohen, MA, Corlett, PR, Christoff, K, Cumming, S, Cushing, CA, de Gelder, B, Brigard, FD, Dennett, DC, Dijkstra, N, Doerig, A, Dux, PE, Fleming, SM, Frankish, K, Frith, CD, Garfinkel, S, Goodale, MA, Gottlieb, J, Hanson, JR, Hassin, RR, Herzog, MH, Heyes, C, Hsieh, P-J, Hung, S-M, Kentridge, R, Knapen, T, Konstantinou, N, Kording, K, Kvamme, TL, Kwok, SC, Lanfranco, RC, Lau, H, LeDoux, J, Lee, ALF, Libedinsky, C, Lieberman, MD, Lin, Y-T, Liu, K-Y, Machizawa, MG, Martinez-Trujillo, J, Metcalfe, J, Michel, M, Miller, KD, Mitra, PP, Mobbs, D, Mok, RM, Morales, J, Mylopoulos, M, Odegaard, B, Or, CC-F, Owen, AM, Pereplyotchik, D, Pestilli, F, Peters, MAK, Phillips, I, Rademaker, RL, Rahnev, D, Rees, G, Ringach, DL, Roskies, A, Schiller, D, Schurger, A, Schwarzkopf, DS, Scott, RB, Seitz, AR, Shepherd, J, Silvanto, J, Slagter, HA, Smith, BC, Solovey, G, Soto, D, Spiers, H, Stein, T, Taschereau-Dumouchel, V, Tong, F, Tse, PU, Vibell, J, Watzl, S, Webb, T, Weisberg, J, Wheatley, T, Wierzchoń, M, Wokke, ME & Yan, K 2025, 'What makes a theory of consciousness unscientific?', Nature Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-025-01881-x