I encounter many intelligent people (not usually LWers, though) who say that despite our recent scientific advances, human consciousness remains a mystery and currently intractable to science.

I would ask them to state their definition of consciousness, "describe and model the principal features of consciousness", to be able to discern if they actually believe that science is inept or if the true problem is the terminological vagueness. Personally I don't know what is meant by consciousness.

Here is a starting point for those who wish to delve into the topic of consciousness and cognitive science (not a recommendation, just part of my personal ToDo list):

• Consciousness (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
• 7734 free online papers on consciousness in philosophy and in science.
• Publications by David M. Rosenthal
• Consciousness Explained by Daniel Dennett
• Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of Consciousness by Daniel Dennett
• The Mind's I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self & Soul by Douglas Hofstadter and Daniel Dennett
• I Am a Strange Loop by Douglas Hofstadter
• The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self by Thomas Metzinger
• How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker
• Mindware: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Cognitive Science by Andy Clark
• Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain by Antonio Damasio
• Emerging Mind by Vilaynur Ramachandran
• Cognitive Science in One Lesson by lukeprog (summarizing an introductory textbook on cognitive science)