We will be able to explain and understand consciousness in objective terms 1 second after the first person achieves flight by pulling themselves into the air with the bucket they are standing in. About 5 seconds after a computer can run a 100% simulation of itself running a 100% simulation of itself. A whole minute after someone writes a program that can tell if/when any other programs will stop running.
As a question that's dogged us for thousands of years, maybe its time to accept its just a shitty question.
Nonsense. Consciousness is a matter of information processing. We're just biological computers running a program. The so called hard problem of consciousness is really just folklore by now.
Neuroscience will eventually provide a complete explanation of consciousness. I'm frankly surprised we still think in magical terms about consciousness, in this time and age, knowing all we know about how the universe works, knowing how the brain works.
Pragmatic philosophers, such as Thomas Metzinger, have already accepted the failure of philosophy in this regard, and support the neuroscience approach.
I can refer you to Thomas Metzinger's book, "The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self". He went through great efforts to make it accessible to laypersons, such as myself. It's well worth the time.
Side note, I got to Thomas Metzinger from Peter Watts' Firefall. He says something along the lines "Metzinger is THE man" (will try to find the exact text and come back with an edit at some point).
As a question that's dogged us for thousands of years, maybe its time to accept its just a shitty question.