--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I read philosophy or neuroscience…" description: "\"When I read philosophy or neuroscience papers about consciousness, I don't get the sense we're any closer to understanding it than we were 50 years ago..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/479/stuart-j-russell-21468_consciousness_when-i-read-philosophy-or-neuroscience-p_2037706.jpg" --- # When I read philosophy or neuroscience papers about… ![“When I read philosophy or neuroscience papers about consciousness, I don't get the sense we're any closer to understanding it than we were 50 years ago.” quote by Stuart J. Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/479/stuart-j-russell-21468_consciousness_when-i-read-philosophy-or-neuroscience-p_2037706.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/479/stuart-j-russell-21468_consciousness_when-i-read-philosophy-or-neuroscience-p_2037706.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/479/stuart-j-russell-21468_consciousness_when-i-read-philosophy-or-neuroscience-p_2037706.jpg) > “When I read philosophy or neuroscience papers about consciousness, I don't get the sense we're any closer to understanding it than we were 50 years ago.” [Stuart J. Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-j-russell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He notes that despite advances, consciousness remains as elusive as it was half a century ago. **In simple terms:** Understanding consciousness hasn't progressed much in 50 years. Key Takeaway Acknowledge limits and keep questioning. Themes philosophy neuroscience AI consciousness knowledge Mood skeptical thoughtful Type philosophical scientific When to use this quote - research planning - interdisciplinary study - philosophical inquiry - AI ethics Key Concepts epistemology mind-body problem scientific humility Questions to Reflect On - What obstacles hinder consciousness research? - How can interdisciplinary work accelerate insight? 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I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-j-russell/to-my-knowledge-nobody-no-one-who-is-publishing-papers-in-the-main/) [Stuart J. Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-j-russell/) > [“Perception is like painting a scenery - no matter how beautifully you paint, it will still be a painting of the scenery, not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/perception-is-like-painting-a-scenery-no-matter-how-beautifully-you/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [ “\[I\]f you can be with the pleasant without chasing after it, with the unpleasant without resisting it, and with the neutral without ignoring it… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-hanson/i-f-you-can-be-with-the-pleasant-without-chasing-after-it-with-the/) [Rick Hanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-hanson/) > [“Sometimes, humanity surprises me with all its lack of control over the primordial urges. These innate urges are the biological traits that make us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/sometimes-humanity-surprises-me-with-all-its-lack-of-control-over-the/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“...what draws us into a story and keeps us there is the firing of our dopamine neurons, signaling that intriguing information is on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-cron/what-draws-us-into-a-story-and-keeps-us-there-is-the-firing-of-our/) [Lisa Cron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-cron/) > [“The conscious events that we are aware of are physical events in their own right, just as much as the brain events observed in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hirstein/the-conscious-events-that-we-are-aware-of-are-physical-events-in/) [William Hirstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hirstein/) > [“The purpose of all of this (left hemisphere's way of choosing denial or repression over considering an anomaly) is to impose stability on behavior…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-ramachandran/the-purpose-of-all-of-this-left-hemisphere-s-way-of-choosing-denial/) [V.S. Ramachandran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-ramachandran/) > [Metaphor isn't just a fancy turn of speech. It shapes our thoughts and feelings, reaches out to grasp new experience, and even binds our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-richardson/metaphor-isn-t-just-a-fancy-turn-of-speech-it-shapes-our-thoughts-and/) [James Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-richardson/) > [“The brain works in a holistic, cooperative way that makes our basest desire or most abject fear as expressive of who we are as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-amerland/the-brain-works-in-a-holistic-cooperative-way-that-makes-our-basest/) [David Amerland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-amerland/) > [I read a couple of books about neuroscience and the relationship between the mind and the body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-kinnaman/i-read-a-couple-of-books-about-neuroscience-and-the-relationship/) [Joel Kinnaman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-kinnaman/) ## More by Stuart J. 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We don't really know how humans play chess, but one of the things we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-j-russell/chess-programs-don-t-play-chess-the-way-humans-play-chess-we-don-t/) [Stuart J. Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-j-russell/) > [You're able to use a search engine, like Google or Bing or whatever. But those engines don't understand anything about pages that they give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-j-russell/you-re-able-to-use-a-search-engine-like-google-or-bing-or-whatever/) [Stuart J. Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-j-russell/) > [The more we learn about AI and about how the brain works, the more amazing the brain seems. Just the sheer amount of computation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-j-russell/the-more-we-learn-about-ai-and-about-how-the-brain-works-the-more/) [Stuart J. Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-j-russell/) > [If human beings are losing every time, it doesn't matter whether they're losing to a conscious machine or an completely non conscious machine, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-j-russell/if-human-beings-are-losing-every-time-it-doesn-t-matter-whether-they/) [Stuart J. Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-j-russell/) > [A lot of people talk about sometime around 2030, machines will be more powerful than the human brain, in terms of the raw number…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-j-russell/a-lot-of-people-talk-about-sometime-around-2030-machines-will-be-more/) [Stuart J. Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-j-russell/) > [I used to say that if you gave me a trillion dollars to build a sentient or conscious machine I would give it back.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-j-russell/i-used-to-say-that-if-you-gave-me-a-trillion-dollars-to-build-a/) [Stuart J. 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