Scientists themselves have increasingly seen the importance of ‘the observer’. Science is for human beings, so it needs to understand what it is to be human, what self-awareness is, and what the range of human needs are (scientists tend to stop at the survival (medicine), and material (technology) needs.) But above all because immediate experience is all we have! All else is inferred, models, theories, assumptions, attempts at communication etc.

So take mental processes seriously. And take seriously the mental processes of others — there is a real possibility of empathy. (Note how primitive Western philosophy and psychology can be here, without ‘contemplative’ disciplines.)

Can consciousness be studied scientifically (i.e. objectively)?

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