This isn't pop science woo-woo, it's a journal article that examines scientific evidence of and posits a theory.

I don't see how you can say that using quantum chemistry (the best description we have of the physical world at the scale of molecules) to analyze brain processes (something that happens using molecules) to using a "monads" to understand the brain is at all similar.

Furthermore, I reject your entire premise. Of course we should be using the most recent scientific concepts to study difficult questions in science! What's the alternative, we study consciousness only by using concepts from ancient Greek philosophy?