Editing Global workspace theory (section)

== Criticism ==
J. W. Dalton has criticized the global workspace theory on the grounds that it provides, at best, an account of the cognitive ''function'' of consciousness, and fails even to address the deeper problem of its nature, of what consciousness ''is'', and of how any mental process whatsoever can be conscious: the [[hard problem of consciousness]].{{sfn|Dalton|1997}} However, the abstract of A. C. Elitzur's 1997 paper summarized that while GWT "does not address the 'hard problems,' namely, the very nature of consciousness, it constrains any theory that attempts to do so and provides important insights into the relation between consciousness and cognition".{{sfn|Elitzur|1997|p=319}}

In ''Consciousness: A Very Short Introduction'', [[Susan Blackmore]] said there are two possible interpretations of GWT and it is often hard to tell which people mean, but "in the first version, the hard problem remains: something magical happens to turn unconscious items into conscious ones. In the second, it disappears, but we have to give up the idea that some items are conscious and others not".{{sfn|Blackmore|2017|p=48}}