ABSTRACT
The argument is made that scientific explanation operates with rational constructions and logical reasoning, whereas subjective experience can be contacted through intuitive observation. Observing subjective experience is a necessary condition for building scientific knowledge in the forms of rational constructions and science-generated objects. Our internal Self develops rational constructions from psychological foundations by means of selection, exclusion and signification. Examples are considered of converting the sense of causation into physical causality, and qualia into physical theories of sensations. It is argued that while subjective experience is a ‘raw material’ for the production of knowledge, in the current Western perspective, it is viewed as a distorted reflection of scientific knowledge. Theories are analysed that interpret subjective experience as a simulation of reality designed by external forces (evolution or technically advanced aliens). Limitations of the simulation hypothesis are discussed.
