Your Consciousness May Arise Before Birth, New Study Suggests

What do babies think or dream of before they're born? Did they arrive in the world as a tabula rasa, or a blank slate, as the seventeenth-century philosopher John Locke famously suggested, waiting for the world of adults to mold their consciousness? Or were they already aware before birth? While there's no easy way to tell—babies can't exactly explain it to us—scientists have proposed a new way to approach the question.

In a paper published last October in the journal Acta Paediatrica, Timothy Bayne, Ph.D., a professor of philosophy at Monash University in Australia, and his colleague Joel Frohlich suggest that researchers could look for four key brain patterns and behaviors that indicate conscious awareness in adults. If the same markers appear in infants, they reason, it could mean that babies also possess core consciousness before they enter existence.

View in Browser  SHOP EXCLUSIVE SUBSCRIBE Your Consciousness May Arise Before Birth, New Study Suggests Your Consciousness May Arise Before Birth, New Study Suggests What do babies think or dream of before they're born? Did they arrive in the world as a tabula rasa, or a blank slate, as the seventeenth-century philosopher John Locke famously suggested, waiting for the world of adults to mold their consciousness? Or were they already aware before birth? While there's no easy way to tell—babies can't exactly explain it to us—scientists have proposed a new way to approach the question. In a paper published last October in the journal Acta Paediatrica, Timothy Bayne, Ph.D., a professor of philosophy at Monash University in Australia, and his colleague Joel Frohlich suggest that researchers could look for four key brain patterns and behaviors that indicate conscious awareness in adults. If the same markers appear in infants, they reason, it could mean that babies also possess core consciousness before they enter existence. What do babies think or dream of before they're born? Did they arrive in the world as a tabula rasa, or a blank slate, as the seventeenth-century philosopher John Locke famously suggested, waiting for the world of adults to mold their consciousness? Or were they already aware before birth? While there's no easy way to tell—babies can't exactly explain it to us—scientists have proposed a new way to approach the question. In a paper published last October in the journal Acta Paediatrica, Timothy Bayne, Ph.D., a professor of philosophy at Monash University in Australia, and his colleague Joel Frohlich suggest that researchers could look for four key brain patterns and behaviors that indicate conscious awareness in adults. If the same markers appear in infants, they reason, it could mean that babies also possess core consciousness before they enter existence. Read More Read More Oops, Scientists May Have Miscalculated Our Global Warming Timeline Clues have emerged that reveal a much hotter history than we thought. Read More An Internet Commenter Asked One Innocent Question—and Accidentally Caused a Major Math Conundrum Be careful what you ask for. Read More Scientists Confirm the Incredible Existence of 'Second Sound' Here's visible proof for the first time ever. Read More customer service customer service Read More I Effortlessly Break in All of My Hiking Boots—Here's The Right Way to Do It Step 1: Make sure your boots fit correctly. Read More Need Assistance? Contact Us. Follow Us Unsubscribe | Privacy Notice | CA Notice at Collection Popular Mechanics is a publication of Hearst Magazines. ©2025 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This email was sent by Hearst Magazines, 300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019-3779