Iulia M. Comșa

What is consciousness? Why do we see the world in first-person? Why do we sleep and dream? How does the brain think about thinking? 

I am Iulia and this is a snapshot of my mindspace. :-)

I was born in Brașov, Romania, and I live in Zürich, Switzerland, with my wonderful husband. My research explores the capabilities of large language models using tasks inspired by cognitive science. In the past, I worked on biologically-inspired artificial neural networks and on developing measures of consciousness in humans. I have background in cognitive neuroscience, computer science and a bit of philosophy.

My goal is to understand as much as possible about consciousness, using any methods. My current philosophical position is closest to epiphenomenalism, although I do not currently have an explanation of how we can talk about consciousness if it lacks causal power. 

I also like stargazing, writing, making music (piano & singing), gardening, playing video games, karate and learning foreign languages. 

If you know something about consciousness that I don't know, please get in touch.