349: The hard problem of consciousness

P&C review a Rye Pale Ale from Seven Locks Brewing, then discuss consciousness. Why does the brain produce the subjective experience of consciousness? Physical things have mass, energy, electric charge, etc., but we don't typically associate such attributes with physical things. It's even more troubling when we consider that it seems possible for a human being to be able to do everything a human does without any subjective experience. Or, in other words, what does subjective experience add? Is it possible that consciousness is simply a part of the universe, like gravity, and that it manifests to different degrees at different times? If so, what are the triggers that make it manifest?