Can Science Fully Explain Consciousness? Alex O’Connor on Materialism & Skepticism

As scientific skeptics, we prioritize critical thinking and evidence-based reasoning—but when it comes to consciousness, are we actually any closer to understanding it?

I'm sure many of you are familiar with Alex O’Connor, a well-known atheist thinker and philosophy graduate from Oxford. I wanted to share this episode of Soul Boom where he talks about the limits of materialism in explaining consciousness. While Alex is firmly in the atheist camp, he acknowledges that questions around near-death experiences, subjective awareness, and the origins of consciousness remain unsettled.

Some points this episode brings up:

• Is love just neurons firing, or is there something irreducible about our subjective experience?
• Can near-death experiences be fully explained by neuroscience, or do they challenge our materialist assumptions?
• Does materialism adequately explain first-person consciousness, or is there a missing piece to the puzzle?

Curious to hear thoughts!