“A Science of Consciousness: Buddhism (1), the ... - B. Alan Wallace

integration of the first-person methodologies of Buddhism with the third-person
methodologies of the cognitive sciences may lead to a richer understanding of
consciousness than either Buddhist or Western civilization has discovered on its
own.
Historical Impediments to the Emergence of a Science of Consciousness in the
West
When asking why the West has yet to develop a science of consciousness, I turn
first to the twin roots of Western civilization: the Greco-Roman and the Judeo-
Christian traditions. In general, a pivotal element in the emergence of a new
science is the development and refinement of instruments to precisely observe
and possibly experiment with the phenomena under investigation. Galileo’s use
of the telescope to examine the sun, moon, and planets signaled the emergence of
the science of astronomy, much as Van Leeuwenhoek’s use of the microscope in
observing minute life forms was instrumental to the emergence of modern
biology. It is therefore reasonable to assume that if there is to be, or ever has
been, a science of consciousness, it will be heralded by the development and
refinement of an instrument with which states of consciousness can be observed
with rigor and precision. The only instrument humanity has ever had for directly
observing the mind is the mind itself, so that must be the instrument to be
refined. The untrained attention is habitually prone to alternating bouts of
2