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Mind and consciousness are often used interchangeably but refer to different aspects of human cognition and awareness. The mind encompasses thoughts, memories and cognitive functions while consciousness is an awareness of these processes. Are mind/consciousness amenable to explanation by physics? Stephen Barr, professor of theoretical particle physics, thinks not.
Most scientists believe in “physicalism“, also called “scientific materialism“, the idea that all reality, human mind included, is ultimately nothing but matter and its interactions and explicable by physics. But Barr explains that consciousness may be something as fundamental as matter but not reducible to matter.
Physics, the most basic of the sciences, discovers the laws that determine the behaviour of the physical world and has achieved an ever-more unified conception of physical phenomena. Thus, Newton’s laws (17th century) are “universal”, applying to matter throughout the universe and “deterministic” because they determine how events will unfold from any given starting point. The laws of physics discovered in the two centuries after Newton are also deterministic, giving rise to the belief that physical effects are entirely accounted for by prior physical causes – the principle of “causal closure” of the physical world.
Nevertheless, many scientists persisted in thinking that life and mind are exceptions, involving non-physical principles and forces. However, 19th and 20th century discoveries showed that the chemistry of living cells is based on the same chemical laws that apply in the nonliving world.
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Most scientists believe in “physicalism“, also called “scientific materialism“, the idea that all reality, human mind included, is ultimately nothing but matter and its interactions and explicable by physics. But Barr explains that consciousness may be something as fundamental as matter but not reducible to matter.
Physics, the most basic of the sciences, discovers the laws that determine the behaviour of the physical world and has achieved an ever-more unified conception of physical phenomena. Thus, Newton’s laws (17th century) are “universal”, applying to matter throughout the universe and “deterministic” because they determine how events will unfold from any given starting point. The laws of physics discovered in the two centuries after Newton are also deterministic, giving rise to the belief that physical effects are entirely accounted for by prior physical causes – the principle of “causal closure” of the physical world.
Nevertheless, many scientists persisted in thinking that life and mind are exceptions, involving non-physical principles and forces. However, 19th and 20th century discoveries showed that the chemistry of living cells is based on the same chemical laws that apply in the nonliving world.
Will physics ever explain consciousness?
We may be pushing physicalism too far in asking it to account for the mind, as this ignores the primacy of perception
Nordic Gibson - 
