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Consciousness & Medicine

O'Connor Says Triangle in Mind Cannot Be Identical to Neurons Due to Different Properties

By Egleze Editorial Desk · Published May 25, 2026 · On Purpose with Jay Shetty · Alex O’Connor: #1 Shift That Stops Endless Overthinking (FINALLY Get Unstuck)
O'Connor Says Triangle in Mind Cannot Be Identical to Neurons Due to Different Properties
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
Alex O’Connor: #1 Shift That Stops Endless Overthinking (FINALLY Get Unstuck)
"You can imagine a triangle in your head. I'm told that the triangle that I can literally see in my head right now is the same thing as some neurons firing. I don't think so, because they don't have the same properties. The triangle has 3 sides. The neurons firing that correlate with my experience of that triangle don't have 3 sides."
O'Connor uses Leibniz's Law of identity to argue against materialist theories of consciousness. He contends that mental experiences and brain activity cannot be literally identical because they possess different properties, challenging the dominant scientific view that consciousness is reducible to neural activity.
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On Purpose with Jay Shetty
On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Alex O’Connor: #1 Shift That Stops Endless Overthinking (FINALLY Get Unstuck)

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