Philosophy For Our Times The brain filters consciousness | Alex Gomez-Marin
May 5, 2026
Alex Gomez-Marin, a theoretical physicist and neuroscientist, reflects on his near-death experience and dual training in physics and brain science. He explores whether the brain produces consciousness or simply filters it. Short, provocative segments cover the history of science sidelining inner experience, near-death reports, terminal lucidity, and calls for a more open Science 2.0.
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Near Death Tunnel Vision And Choosing To Return
- Alex Gomez Marin nearly died from a stomach leak and experienced a tunnel with three figures and a yellow light while clinically ill in hospital.
- He chose to 'come back' from that experience, later had surgery and integrated it into his professional thinking as a neuroscientist and physicist.
Galileo's Mathematics Bias Delayed Consciousness Science
- Galileo set science to prioritise what can be mathematized, which excluded inner experiences like consciousness for centuries.
- This historical choice explains why rigorous consciousness science only emerged in the 1990s after a long omission.
Consciousness Science Started As Promissory Materialism
- Modern consciousness studies began recently and started from a materialist framework assuming the brain produces consciousness.
- That promissory materialism framed decades of research and limited consideration of alternative hypotheses.
