I think the key area of novelty here is the relationship to consciousness and thus the great unsolved questions over what precisely consciousness is and what purpose it serves.
I am not impressed with this. This merely answers what practical use consciousness would have under the (unrpoven) assumption that it evolved as a survival mechanism. It does not explain what qualia is or how it comes about (hard problem). Therefore it is a bit far-fetched to say this answers what consciousness is at its core.
I'm interested to know what a satisfying explanation of qualia would look like to someone who believes it's a real, well-defined phenomenon? I get a strong impression that anything mechanistic will not do, and a slightly cynical feeling that anything that can be put in precise terms will not do. Is there any explanation that gets some of the way there?
I would be interested in an explanation that understands the mechanism to the point where one could arbitrarily insert information into a qualia experience. E.g. controlling what someone is imagining by placing objects there, etc.
I suspect no such explanation can exist and therefore the hard problem does not exist in the sense of a solvable problem in pyhsics. It's really a question of metaphysics.
