Seeing Red: A Study in Consciousness

Seeing Red: A Study in Consciousness is a 2006 book by the psychologist Nicholas Humphrey, published by Harvard University Press. In the book, Humphrey proposes an evolutionary account of consciousness, specifically addressing the "hard problem" of phenomenal experience. He argues that conscious sensations are not passive observations of the world but "privatized" bodily actions—feedback loops that evolved to give organisms a sense of self-worth, thereby enhancing their motivation to survive.