Not by Data Alone: The Promises and Pitfalls of Data Analysis in Understanding Consciousness

Since the introduction of new technologies, the deluge of neuroscientific data has been overwhelming. On one hand this new information has produced remarkable breakthroughs in our understanding of brain function and development as well as lifesaving treatments for trauma and disease. On the other hand, the lure and reward for explanations of mental phenomena in terms of simple, manipulable brain processes has led to questionable research methodologies and unsubstantiated claims. A more fundamental issue is raised by the attempt to explain consciousness by means of information, as proposed by the Information Integration Theory (IIT). While the models produced by this massive computation of data will no doubt improve our understanding of brain function and capacity, a strict information processing approach cannot address the problem of meaning. A solution to this problem demands an evolutionary, developmental, and dynamic account of an organism in its environment. Data analysis will play a role in this inclusive explanatory program, but explanation is insufficient by data alone.