Old Chigwellian and Texan anaesthesiologist Peter Walling treated the separate branches of the WP to three challenging, thrilling and fascinating accounts of his research into consciousness. Using animals on his farm, his own family, and patients waking up from anaesthesia, he has established that the number of dimensions of the attractors associated with EEG wave patterns is directly linked to the level of consciousness. In a nutshell, frogs show a similar dimensionality to humans waking up, so are likely to be in some ways conscious; fish are not.

Also, and more philosophically, his research has led him to suggest that our consciousness is a construct made up of perceived slices of a higher-dimensional reality.

Peter’s home-grown research, enthusiasm and clarity were inspirational, and we all hope that a future Einstein of consciousness was somewhere in the audience.

Peter kindly gave the school several copies of his book, so we can read his ideas at leisure.