Why the Hard Problem Was Hard

Consciousness isn’t somewhere. It’s the somewhere-ing.

I.

I was sitting in the hot tub, watching bubbles rise and vanish at the surface. And I noticed: thoughts do the same thing. They surface, catch light for a moment, disappear.

For a moment I couldn’t tell the difference.

Not “couldn’t tell” as in confused. “Couldn’t tell” as in: the distinction stopped mattering. The bubble was a temporary pattern in water…