# The Conscious Self May Be Entirely the Activity of Neurons by Vilayanur Ramachandran > “An idea that would be "dangerous if true" is what Francis Crick referred to as "the astonishing hypothesis"; the notion that our conscious experience and sense of self is based entirely on the activity of a hundred billion bits of jelly—the neurons that constitute the brain. We take this for granted in these enlightened times, but even so, it never ceases to amaze me.” > **— Vilayanur Ramachandran**, *2006, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT IS YOUR DANGEROUS IDEA?”* ## Sources and Context - **Direct Edge response and surrounding essay:** [Francis Crick's](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/11940) — Edge published this exact, continuous passage in its 2006 Annual Question collection, *WHAT IS YOUR DANGEROUS IDEA?*. The response page preserves the surrounding argument and qualifications. - **Complete local collection index:** [[research/Edge 2006 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2006 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/Neuroscience|Neuroscience]] - [[wiki/Predictive Processing|Predictive Processing]] - [[wiki/Philosophy of Mind|Philosophy of Mind]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “An idea that would be "dangerous if true" is what Francis Crick referred to as "the astonishing hypothesis"; the notion that our conscious experience and sense of self is based entirely on the activity of a hundred billion bits of jelly—the neurons that constitute the brain. We take this for granted in these enlightened times, but even so, it never ceases to amaze me.” — Vilayanur Ramachandran, 2006, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT IS YOUR DANGEROUS IDEA?” https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-vilayanur-ramachandran-conscious-self-entirely-activity-neurons ```