One potential way to explain consciousness is to suppose that matter itself contains or carries intelligence and awareness—panpsychism. But if physical reality consists of the wave function alone (see No Evidence for Particles), with no collapse (see No Evidence for Collapse, Mathematical Collapse Interpretations, Observer-Induced Collapse Interpretations), this solution runs into difficulties. Since, under these conditions, matter consists of only the wave function, with all its versions of reality, panpsychism would seem to require that each version of a ‘particle’ wave function has its own intelligence.

Further, at some point, the intelligences of the different versions would have to cooperate, in accord with the probability law, to somehow single out just one version, as required by the arguments of Constraints Imposed by Probability, as the perceived version.

In addition, suppose we do a Stern-Gerlach experiment. Then when the silver atom is in flight, the consciousness would presumably at some point have to ride along on just one version. And consciousness would have to be transferred from the one conscious version of the single particle wave function to one version of the detector wave function to the photons that are reflected by the detector to the nervous system of the observer.

All these problems make the idea of panpsychism seem awkward when there are no particles, no hidden variables, and no collapse.