The hard problem: is consciousness a subset of, or transcendent to brain activity, and why it is key to our mental health, happiness, and meaning

The presumption that the brain causes consciousness is at the heart of our mental (and physical) health, environmental, socio-political and economic crises, contends Mark Gober, international speaker and author of several mind-blowing books: An End to Upside Down Thinking: Dispelling the Myth That the Brain Produces Consciousness, and the Implications for Everyday Life, and An End to Upside Down Living: Reorienting Our Consciousness to Live Better and Save the Human Species, and An End to Upside Down Liberty: Turning Traditional Political Thinking on Its Head to Break Free from Enslavement

In this profound and thought-provoking presentation for MindHealth360, Mark proposes that the only way to save ourselves is through a revolution in our understanding of consciousness, and explains how we can tackle the ultimate human question—aka the ‘hard problem’—: what is consciousness? He shows that through rethinking answers to this question, we can turn our worldview upside down and transform ourselves individually and collectively. 

Princeton educated, a successful investment banker, and then a partner at investment firm Sherpa Technology Group in Silicon Valley, Mark realised, after listening to podcasts about consciousness and reality, that he had to drastically change his worldview. 

Bringing intellectual rigour to the debate of consciousness, he suggests a revolutionary new mindset to explore life’s challenging questions. He explains that our brains do not cause consciousness, but that consciousness creates all material reality. He presents astounding research (into quantum physics, telepathy, near death experiences, previous life memories) in order to demand a redefinition of consciousness and what it means to be human. In doing so he suggests we can feel more connected to life, happiness, relationships, world peace and even consciousness beyond death.

Learn about:

  • What consciousness is (our subjective inner experience), and why revolutionising how we understand consciousness brings profound meaning to life
  • Why the conventional worldview (that consciousness comes from physical matter; the brain) is based on a fundamental misunderstanding, and why it leads to nihilistic views of humanity that ultimately make life meaningless 
  • Why questions of consciousness apply to us all, and how these questions are helping to transform our worldview on an individual and collective level
  • How debunking the myth that the brain causes consciousness demands we ask new questions about what consciousness really is, and why we should be thinking of the brain as the processor, or antenna of consciousness, rather than its cause
  • How viewing physical matter (our bodies and brains) as derivative of consciousness makes psychic abilities and outer-body consciousness both possible and predictable 
  • How CIA documents show scientific evidence of psychic abilities (telepathy, psychoenergetics, and psychokinesis), and its relevance to the ‘hard problem’ 
  • Why near death experiences, communication with the deceased and childhood memories of previous lives can transform how we think about life, and show the possibility of continued consciousness beyond our physical bodies 
  • The implications of understanding consciousness as the basis of all reality: turning science, medicine, politics, violence on its head
  • How viewing all of us as part of one underlying consciousness can heal our humanity and restore our sense of connectedness and meaning