The Consciousness Atlas is an interactive web app that visualizes more
than 450 theories of consciousness. It is based on Robert Lawrence
Kuhn's 2024 paper,
"A Landscape of Consciousness". The Atlas maps theories that address phenomenal consciousness - the
subjective feel of experience, such as the redness of red.
What the Atlas is
The Atlas is a visual reference built on Kuhn's taxonomy. It presents
the full set of theories at once so you can explore the field visually
and open any theory to read its entry, like an encyclopedia with
structured entries. Each theory entry shows a concise identity line,
conceptual ground, suggested mechanism, empirical notes, implications,
and sources.
Why this exists
Consciousness is studied across disciplines - neuroscience,
philosophy, and sometimes spiritual or anomalous-state research.
Kuhn's paper collects and organizes hundreds of theories along a
spectrum from most physical to least physical. The Atlas puts that
organization into a visual form so readers, students, and researchers
can quickly see how different positions relate and where each theory
sits on the spectrum.
How it works
Theories are grouped into ten main categories, arranged by their
stance on the physical-to-nonphysical spectrum. Examples of categories
include Materialism, Non-Reductive Physicalism, Functionalism,
Quantum-based theories, Panpsychism, Monism, Dualism, Idealism,
Anomalous States, and Challenge Theories. The app shows the whole map
at once. Click any theory to read its structured entry, which includes
references to canonical sources and named thinkers.
Who it is for
- Students learning philosophy of mind and cognitive science
-
Researchers and lecturers looking for an at-a-glance comparative
resource
-
Journalists and writers who need a quick reference to the range of
positions
-
Curious readers who want a clear view of what people mean when they
talk about consciousness
What the Atlas does not do
The Atlas does not endorse or rank theories. It is a visualization and
reference based on Kuhn's taxonomy - collect and present, not judge.
It does not attempt to settle the hard problem of consciousness. It is
a tool for exploration and comparison.
A note from Kuhn
Kuhn explicitly states the project's purpose: "collect and categorize,
not assess and adjudicate." The Consciousness Atlas follows that
approach. The data and structure are derived from Kuhn's paper;
feedback and suggested corrections are welcome, but the app is a
visualization layer on top of Kuhn's work.
Kuhn was not involved in the design or content of the Consciousness
Atlas, other than his original paper, 'A Landscape of Consciousness,'
which is the sole source.
FAQ
What is phenomenal consciousness?
Phenomenal consciousness refers to subjective experience - the
qualitative feel of being aware, like the taste of coffee or the
redness of red.
How many theories does the Atlas include?
The Atlas visualizes over 220 individual theories, grouped into ten
broad categories.
Does the Atlas show which theory is true?
No. The Atlas presents theories neutrally. It is a map, not an
argument for any single position.
Is the Atlas academic?
The Atlas is based on an academic source - Robert Kuhn's 2024 paper,
"A Landscape of Consciousness" - and links to canonical sources
where available.
Summary
The Consciousness Atlas is a straightforward visualization tool: it
presents Kuhn's taxonomy as a single, explorable map and lets users
open individual theory entries to read structured, referenced
summaries. It is designed to make this complex field easier to survey
and to serve as a practical reference.
Materialism › Electromagnetic
Miller’s Brain Waves’ Analog Organization of Cortex
Consciousness as Cortex Unified by Analog Brain Waves
Earl K. Miller argues that traveling brain waves organize the cortex on the fly by performing analog computations, with slower alpha and beta waves imposing goals on faster gamma activity that carries sensory content. Consciousness, ‘the tip of the iceberg of cognition’, arises when these wave patterns grow large enough to unify the cortex.
Earl K. Miller
What consciousness is
Consciousness is a natural outcome of analog computation by brain waves: it appears when wave patterns become large and coordinated enough to unify the cortex into one representation.
Mind and body
Cognition and consciousness are emergent properties of large-scale neural self-organization, and Miller holds that many aspects of this organization are not reducible to their constituent parts.
Mechanism
Spatial computing: alpha and beta waves act as ‘inhibitory stencils’ on patches of prefrontal cortex, deciding where and when gamma-linked sensory content can be expressed in spiking, so neurons form ad hoc task forces without rewiring.
Core claims
- Miller and Cohen (2001) proposed that the prefrontal cortex exerts cognitive control by maintaining goal patterns that bias other brain regions.
- Buschman and Miller (2007) found stronger low-frequency frontal–parietal synchrony in top-down attention and stronger high-frequency synchrony in bottom-up attention.
- Spatial patterns of alpha/beta activity encode task rules, inversely track sensory spiking, and correlate with trial-by-trial decisions (Chen et al., 2025).
- Ketamine and dexmedetomidine, despite different molecular actions, both increase phase alignment between the two hemispheres during loss of consciousness (Bardon et al., 2025).
Criticisms
Most of the evidence concerns cognition, attention, and working memory; the link to consciousness itself rests on anesthesia studies and on Miller’s own framing of consciousness as ‘the tip of the iceberg’. Anesthesia changes many things at once, so phase disruption may track arousal rather than experience.
Implications
- AI consciousness: Uncertain
- Consciousness here follows from analog wave computation that unifies cortex, which digital systems do not perform; whether analog hardware could do so is not addressed.
- Survival beyond death: No
- Since consciousness depends on wave dynamics in a living cortex, it cannot outlast the brain.
- Virtual immortality: Uncertain
- A copy would need to reproduce analog field dynamics rather than just digital information flow, and the theory does not address this.
Related theories
Sources
- An Integrative Theory of Prefrontal Cortex Function, Earl K. Miller and Jonathan Cohen (2001)
Explore all theories on the Consciousness Atlas
