I would not discount Penrose with the ease the GP does. These themes are quite philosophical, therefore all sides are making some big assumptions. I would read Penrose, Dennett, Chalmers, Tononi, Searle, Putnam and many others. In philosophy the trick is to disagree with everyone.

Agreed. I am very intrigued by Penrose but not convinced. In Scott Aaronson's online lectures for Quantum Computing since Democritus he is pretty dismissive of Penrose, but in the book he asks why a renowned Oxford scholar would insist on such a position, and that's a good question! In these arguments people are too willing to clamp shut their opinion and shut down wonder.