The “Astonishing Hypothesis” offers a cogent explanation: if consciousness arises from the interactions of a pack of neurons, then splitting that pack—and their interactions—can split consciousness.

Consciousness is still one of the great mysteries of science. A special 2005 issue of the journal Science ranked the top 125 open questions in science. The first-place winner was: What is the universe made of? A well-deserved win, given that today 96 percent of the matter and energy in the universe is “dark,” meaning “we’re in the dark about it.”

The English biologist Thomas Huxley was flummoxed by this mystery in 1869: “How it is that anything so remarkable as a state of consciousness comes about as a result of irritating nervous tissue, is just as unaccountable as the appearance of the Djinn, when Aladdin rubbed his lamp.”3

Perhaps the universe itself is a massive social network of conscious agents that experience, decide, and act. If so, consciousness does not arise from matter; this is a big claim that we will explore in detail. Instead, matter and spacetime arise from consciousness—as a perceptual interface.

Space, time, and physical objects are not objective reality. They are simply the virtual world delivered by our senses to help us play the game of life.

“Fitness-Beats-Truth” (FBT) theorem, which states that evolution by natural selection does not favor true perceptions—it routinely drives them to extinction. Instead, natural selection favors perceptions that hide the truth and guide useful action.

Perception is not a window on objective reality. It is an interface that hides objective reality behind a veil of helpful icons.