Philosophy of mind
The hard problem, physicalism, dualism and the question of whether experience can be fully explained from the outside.
An independent inquiry by Sahil Tayal
A Study in
Consciousness
by Consciousness.
The universe developed a way to wonder about itself. We call that experience consciousness. But what, exactly, is experiencing?
Enter the inquiry ↓Explore the questions01 / The beginning
What is consciousness?
Consciousness is commonly understood as subjective experience: the fact that there is something it is like to be you, here, now.
Science can investigate the neural processes associated with conscious states. Philosophy asks why physical processes should be accompanied by experience at all. Contemplative traditions examine awareness from the first-person perspective.
These approaches illuminate different aspects of the question. None has yet settled every disagreement.
You can observe your thoughts. But what is it that knows a thought has appeared?
02 / Five lenses
Many maps. One mystery.
A useful inquiry does not mistake a compelling metaphor for a scientific result.
Neuroscience
Attention, perception, sleep, anaesthesia and neural correlates of consciousness—what experiments can and cannot tell us.
Meditation
What changes when we pay attention to attention? Exploring practice without promising enlightenment or medical cures.
Self-awareness
Metacognition, identity, memory, cognitive biases and the gap between understanding ourselves and changing our behaviour.
Consciousness & AI
Can artificial systems have subjective experience? Intelligence and fluent language do not, by themselves, settle the question.
Ancient perspectives
Vedanta, Buddhist thought and other traditions offer distinct accounts of self and awareness, not one interchangeable doctrine.
03 / Compare perspectives
What is the self?
Select a lens to see how different traditions frame the question. These are simplified introductions, not definitive accounts.
Awareness and non-duality
In Advaita Vedanta, ultimate reality is understood as non-dual Brahman, and the deepest self (Atman) is not separate from it. This is a philosophical and spiritual claim, not an established neuroscience finding.
04 / The everyday experiment
Understanding is not the same as changing.
You can know your patterns, name your biases and describe your aspirations—yet still find action difficult.
My Identity–Action Gap inquiry explores the friction between self-understanding and behavioural execution. Consciousness makes reflection possible; it does not automatically make behaviour easy to change.
Explore the Human Behaviour Lab ↗Awareness may be a beginning. It is not always a mechanism of change.
05 / Open questions
Good questions deserve room.
Why does experience feel like anything at all?
Is the self a thing, a process, or a story?
Can meditation change how we relate to thoughts?
Could an AI system ever be conscious?
How much of perception is shaped by expectation?
What can first-person experience teach science?
An open question is not evidence for any particular answer.
06 / The person asking
Not a guru. A participant in the inquiry.
I'm Sahil Tayal, a writer and independent researcher interested in organisational behaviour, psychology, philosophy and the experience of being human.
This site extends the consciousness writing on my personal website into a dedicated space for curiosity, disagreement and intellectual humility. My perspective is exploratory, not a claim to scientific or spiritual authority.
My guiding idea is simple: learn from ancient maps, examine modern evidence, and remain willing to revise the map.