Remembering as a research tool for selfless consciousness studies
Asian Journal of Philosophy January 15, 2026 I-Jan Wang
Memory, typically used to identify selfless conscious states (states without self-consciousness), faces three epistemic problems. The memory challenge involves avoiding false negatives—selfless states mistakenly classified as self-conscious. The newly introduced zero-inflation challenge concerns avoiding false positives—self-conscious states misclassified as selfless. The measurement challenge involves reliably capturing non-self-related aspects of experience within selfless states. These challenges question whether remembering can serve as a reliable tool for studying selfless consciousness.