# Subjective Experience Should Be Treated as Fundamental Data by Francisco Varela > “Why is our western civilization so reluctant to accept subjective, first-hand experience as fundamental data? In close association: why the reluctance to consider one's experience as a realm to be explored with a discipline just as rigorous as the one invented by science for material phenomena?” > **— Francisco Varela**, *1998, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT QUESTIONS ARE YOU ASKING YOURSELF?”* ## Sources and Context - **Direct Edge response and surrounding essay:** [Biologist at the Æ’cole Polytechnique, in Paris; author of Principles Of Biological Autonomy; coauthor of Autopoiesis And Cognition.](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/11953) — Edge published this exact, continuous passage in its 1998 Annual Question collection, *WHAT QUESTIONS ARE YOU ASKING YOURSELF?*. The response page preserves the surrounding argument and qualifications. - **Complete local collection index:** [[research/Edge 1998 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 1998 Full Quotation Curation]] — retained source-first record for the response cohort and this passage's promotion status. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]] - **Article:** [[articles/Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta|Host Infrastructure Overview]] - **Article:** [[articles/Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer|Consciousness Mapping and Transfer]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Organic-Synthetic Brain Atlas|Organic-Synthetic Brain Atlas]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Consciousness|Consciousness]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Consciousness|Consciousness]] - [[wiki/Philosophy of Mind|Philosophy of Mind]] - [[wiki/Qualia|Qualia]] - [[wiki/Neuroscience|Neuroscience]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “Why is our western civilization so reluctant to accept subjective, first-hand experience as fundamental data? In close association: why the reluctance to consider one's experience as a realm to be explored with a discipline just as rigorous as the one invented by science for material phenomena?” — Francisco Varela, 1998, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT QUESTIONS ARE YOU ASKING YOURSELF?” https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-francisco-varela-subjective-experience-treated-fundamental-data ```