We need a conversion, not just a conversation about consciousness
From Consciousness Theories to Consciousness Practice
A recent 3-day online conference, entitled Mind at Large, was hosted by the Center for Process Studies and brought together some of the most prominent voices in contemporary consciousness studies. It was a rich and thought-provoking gathering. But it also revealed something increasingly difficult to ignore: The field of consciousness studies may not be lacking ideas - it may be overwhelmed by them.
Throughout the conference, a quiet frustration seemed to be surfacing, in the chat.
in the questions.
At one point, a speaker, Alex Gómez-Marín, said it directly:
The field does not just need more conversation; it needs conversion - transformation, not endless intellectual debate.
Rather than attempting to cover everything, I focused on four voices that captured the core tensions of the field: Philip Goff, Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes, Iain McGilchrist, and Àlex Gómez-Marín.
Four thinkers. Four perspectives. One emerging shift.
And also—one very clear gap.
Four Voices on Consciousness
Philip Goff - Philosopher of Consciousness
Goff’s work challenges the dominant assumption that consciousness is produced by the brain. Instead, he argues that consciousness may be a fundamental feature of reality itself.
Core Position:
Panpsychism as a bridge between science and spirituality
Preserve structures (religion, philosophy, community)
Integrate expanded experience into existing frameworks
Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes - Philosopher of Mind and Metaphysics
Sjöstedt-Hughes situates the debate within a broader philosophical landscape, emphasising that there is no single settled account of consciousness.
His work underscores a key point: scientific data alone does not determine metaphysics. The same evidence can be interpreted through different ontological lenses.
The problem of consciousness is not a lack of data, but the absence of agreement on how to interpret it.
Core Position:
Many metaphysical models are viable
No single system is final
Historical and cultural forces shape belief
Iain McGilchrist - Psychiatrist and Philosopher of Mind
McGilchrist shifts the focus from what consciousness is to how it operates.
His central insight is that the brain embodies two fundamentally different modes of engaging with reality:
The left hemisphere abstracts, categorises, and manipulates
The right hemisphere attends to context, relationship, and lived experience
These are not just cognitive differences - they shape the very world we perceive.
When analytical, representational thinking dominates, reality appears fragmented and controlled. When this loosens, a more relational, embodied, and meaningful world comes into view.
Core Position:
Attention shapes reality
Modern culture overvalues abstraction
Expanded states reflect a shift in attention
And then came the provocateur — in the truest sense of the word.
Stepping onto centre stage:
Àlex Gómez-Marín - Neuroscientist and Consciousness Researcher
He didn’t just present a theory.
He brought something forward.
He challenged the entire culture of the conversation.
At one point, he said something that shifted the tone of the event entirely:
“Without transformation, much of this becomes intellectual masturbation.”
You could feel the message resonate across the room—and in the chat.
He pointed to something many people sense but rarely say out loud.
We have:
more theories of consciousness than ever (nearly 400 according to Robert Lawrence Kuhn)
more debates than ever
more frameworks than ever
And yet…
Very little guidance on how to actually work with consciousness itself.
His Core Position:
Science has narrowed consciousness
We must reclaim experience
The “edges of consciousness” are where truth lies
Gomez-Marin’s key insight is simple, but profound - minds do not change through argument. They change through experience. Near-death experiences. Psychedelics. Meditation. Spontaneous breakthroughs. These are the moments that shift people. Not papers. Not debates. Not models. Experience breaks the frame.
But Here’s the Gap
Gomez-Marin identifies the problem beautifully. But he stops at the threshold. Because once we accept that experience changes consciousness, a deeper question emerges:
What do we do with that?
How do we approach these experiences safely?
How do we understand them without collapsing into belief or dismissal?
How do we integrate them into a life, rather than becoming overwhelmed by them?
This is where the current conversation begins to falter.
Where Transpersonal Psychology Enters
This is precisely the space that Transpersonal Psychology has been quietly working in for decades. Not just asking:
What is consciousness?
But asking:
How do human beings develop in relation to consciousness?
This is the shift.
From:
explanation → engagement
theory → practice
analysis → development
Within a transpersonal framework, experiences are not random or anomalous.
They are part of a developmental process.
For example:
Early stages involve imagination, curiosity, and creativity
Then comes a threshold - Expanded States of Consciousness
Beyond that lies the challenge of integration: wisdom, spirituality, and ultimately, love
In other words:
The experience itself is not the endpoint. It is the beginning of a developmental journey.
Why This Matters Now
We are entering a moment where:
AI is reshaping cognition
Psychedelics are resurging
Therapy is being automated
Information is everywhere
But, too often, meaning is not.
And experience—especially profound, destabilising, or transformative experience—is becoming more common, not less.
Without frameworks, people are left with:
confusion
misinterpretation
spiritual bypassing
or dismissal
A Needed Evolution
If Goff expands the ontology…
If Sjöstedt-Hughes expands the philosophical landscape…
If McGilchrist expands our understanding of attention…
Then Gómez-Marín forces the real question:
How do we actually live this?
The Next Step
The future of consciousness studies will not be defined by better arguments about what consciousness is.
It will be defined by:
Better ways of helping human beings navigate, stabilise, and integrate their experience of consciousness.
And this is where Developmental Transpersonal Psychology becomes essential, it becomes the framework for engaging with the most profound aspects of human experience.
Because at some point, the conversation has to move beyond:
“What is consciousness?”
…and become:
“What do we do when consciousness expands?
Also see Substack article - Applied Consciousness
For more information:
https://www.britishtranspersonalassociation.org