Subjective experience may be like the instrument panel of an aircraft, summarizing critical information from systems too complex to inspect directly. If subjective experience has accompanied animal life for so long, then it is reasonable to ask what function it serves. To paraphrase neuroscientist Bjorn Merker, the cortex may generate the contents of consciousness, while deep-brain structures generate conscious experience itself. Across the street, philosopher Matthias Michel examines the conceptual foundations of consciousness itself, asking how subjective experience should be defined and measured. But the moment they ask how those circuits give rise to subjective experience, the scientific ground becomes shaky.