Varieties of Consciousness Theories with Robert Lawrence Kuhn
New Thinking AllowedAug 13, 2026
Robert Lawrence Kuhn, creator of PBS's Closer to Truth, explains how he built the Landscape of Consciousness, a sweeping map of more than 400 competing theories ranging from hardcore materialism to idealism. He recounts his early ties to parapsychology pioneer J.B. Rhine, a childhood terror that turned out to be the question 'why is there anything at all?', and his fight to keep parapsychology and religious views of the soul in a peer-reviewed science journal. Kuhn argues that questions like life after death, free will, and AI consciousness cannot be answered without first choosing a theory of consciousness, and he admits he leans toward a blend of dualism and idealism.
