Robert Lawrence Kuhn Exchange - Part 1

This is the first part of an email exchange I had with the celebrated Robert Lawrence Kuhn of the PBS television series "Closer to Truth".

Several months ago, I heard from Robert Lawrence Kuhn of the PBS television series Closer to Truth. He sent me something he’d written for the journal Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology published by Elsevier. It’s a broad and lengthy survey of mostly contemporary theories of consciousness.

A noted businessman schooled in management at MIT, Kuhn was previously trained in biology and brain science at Johns Hopkins and UCLA. Having hosted Closer to Truth for the last 25 years or so, he has conducted in-depth interviews of a wide variety of scientists and philosophers. Some of his guests have been prominently mentioned in CTMU-related discussions.

I was pleased to note that Mr. Kuhn’s paper contains mention of the CTMU. To say that I was surprised would be an understatement. I appreciate this radical departure from standard operating procedure, and I think that Mr. Kuhn’s paper deserves mention in all of our forums … not just because the CTMU makes an appearance, but because few people are as intimately acquainted with so many interesting perspectives on our areas of interest.

Although it omits some theories and theorists for sheer lack of time and space, there is to my knowledge no survey quite as ambitious and thorough as Kuhn’s. If there is, I haven’t seen it. It is unparalleled for its lucid descriptions of diverse ideas relevant to consciousness, all brought together in one convenient place.