The hard problem of consciousness is the problem of explaining why and how we have qualia or phenomenal experiences. This is in contrast to the "easy problems" of explaining the physical systems that give us and other animals the ability to discriminate, integrate information, and so forth. These problems are seen as (relatively) easy because all that is required for their solution is to specify a mechanism that can perform the function. Philosopher David Chalmers claims that even once we have solved such problems about the brain and experience, the hard problem will "persist even when the performance