# Bernard Baars Bernard Baars (b. 1946) is a neuroscientist who proposed [[Global Workspace Theory]] (GWT), one of the leading scientific theories of [[Consciousness]]. In *A Cognitive Theory of Consciousness* (1988), Baars argued consciousness functions as a "global broadcast"—when information enters the global workspace, it becomes available to multiple specialized brain processes simultaneously. The theater metaphor: consciousness is like a spotlight on a stage, illuminating one thing at a time for a large audience of unconscious processors. GWT explains attention, working memory, and why consciousness is serial while unconscious processing is parallel. Stanislas Dehaene later extended GWT into Global Neuronal Workspace Theory with neural correlates. ## Key Contributions | Contribution | Significance | |--------------|--------------| | Global Workspace Theory | Major consciousness theory | | Theater metaphor | Consciousness as broadcast | | Cognitive approach | Functionalist account of awareness | ## Quotes <!-- QueryToSerialize: LIST FROM #type/quote AND [[Bernard Baars]] WHERE public_note = true SORT file.name ASC --> ## Books <!-- QueryToSerialize: LIST FROM #type/book AND [[Bernard Baars]] WHERE public_note = true SORT file.name ASC --> ## Related - [[Global Workspace Theory]] - [[Consciousness]] - [[Cognitive Science]] ## References - Baars, Bernard. *A Cognitive Theory of Consciousness* (1988) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Baars