Foundations

Qualia and the Syntax and Semantics of Thought

The hard problem of consciousness, as formulated by David Chalmers, challenges us to explain subjective experiences—the mystery of qualia. But in a living, thinking universe, must this remain a mystery? If we view souls as thinkers and experiencers of thoughts, dreaming the world into existence, can we solve this riddle?

In the fall of 2019, I was studying neurofeedback, driven by a mission to improve my focus and concentration. While attending my first live boot camp to learn the ropes, I had a dream where I could visualize my brain waves and tease apart the complex signal into individual components. I saw a kind of language emerge—one I couldn’t speak, but I intuitively knew was there. Imagine the individual brain wave frequencies as an alphabet forming words, with our subjective experiences as the decoded sentences. Just as our written and spoken language has syntax (the structure and pattern of the language) and semantics (the meaning of the sentence), so too does thought have its measurable patterns and its felt experiences.

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The language of thought

What is a thought, anyway? Science suggests thoughts are electrochemical reactions produced in the brain, arising from both external and internal stimuli—sensory inputs, emotions, memories, and even physiological states. Meanwhile, Eastern mystics see thoughts as transient fluctuations, illusions that bind us to the material world, clouding deeper understanding. Yet

A Mathematical, Thinking Universe

We easily conceptualize a world made of matter, with the universe as its container. We can touch it, see it, and measure it. But should we trust our senses? A philosophical idealist would argue that the universe is made of thought. But how do we even begin to conceptualize the

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