The “Hard Problem of Consciousness” Is Actually Easy | Slavoj Žižek, Carlo Rovelli, Alenka Zupančič

What if the “hard problem of consciousness” isn’t hard at all?

In this mind-expanding conversation, Slavoj Žižek, Carlo Rovelli, and Alenka Zupančič challenge one of philosophy’s biggest mysteries: consciousness itself. Is subjective experience really an unsolvable puzzle — or are we asking the wrong question?

Drawing from philosophy, quantum physics, psychoanalysis, and cultural theory, the trio deconstructs the so-called “hard problem,” questioning the very assumptions behind it. Instead of treating consciousness as a mystical add-on to matter, they explore whether it emerges naturally from how we misunderstand reality, language, and the self.

The conversation takes an even deeper turn with reflections inspired by Michael Pollan, examining how altered states, perception, and human experience reshape what we think consciousness is.