The Psychology Podcast
Today we welcome Dr. Anil Seth. He is the Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, where he is also Co-Director of the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science. His research has been supported by the European Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. Dr. Seth’s 2017 main-stage TED talk is one of the most popular science TED talks, with more than 13 million views. His latest book, which has received numerous accolades, is called Being You: A New Science of Consciousness.
In this episode, I talk to Dr. Anil Seth about the new science of consciousness. Although we don’t exactly know how or why consciousness exists, Dr. Seth thinks this shouldn’t stop us from exploring its properties. One of the things he explores in his research is the conditions for consciousness. Everyone has their own way of perceiving the world. Perceptual diversity exists and we would be misguided to try and standardize consciousness on a single dimension. We also touch on the topics of intelligence, panpsychism, free will, AI technology, and the after life.
Website: www.anilseth.com
Twitter: @anilkseth
Topics
02:08 The hard problem of consciousness
07:02 The value of inner experiences
12:22 Experiencing is consciousness
15:51 Panpsychism
19:01 The condition for consciousness
21:38 Neuroscience of consciousness
27:32 Perceptual diversity
37:09 Perception Census
43:00 Can we measure consciousness?
49:13 Individual differences in experiencing
56:40 Experience of free will is not an illusion
1:09:24 Cybernetic free will
1:12:55 Can artificial intelligence produce consciousness?
1:24:24 The desire to persist
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I'm reading his book right now on consciousness and it's really good. He has a way of explaining concepts in such a seemless way.
Just finished listening to this podcast and found the subject quite fascinating. As a lay person though I struggled to understand some of the subject matter. Could anyone recommend anything to watch/read/listen to that would help my understanding? Maybe something basic to help build my knowledge? Many thanks
Measuring consicnous is like trying to Measure air even that is putting that mildly I don't think we will ever figure it out……. look up (psychology today the real problem of consciousness anil seth poses excellent questions but has weak answers) that's what it'll say and that's the truth
It seems to me, oblivion requires awareness, so there can only be infinite consciousness. Perhaps if we accept the inevitability of life, we would not cling so tightly to material existence, and evolve our quality of consciousness (less of a transcendence – more of a return). In regard to AI and consciousness – they're two black boxes in a black room.
Very good. I love listen Anil and his talks about new science of consciousness.
Super discussion guys. Loved it. But I think you both misunderstand Sam Harris and his view on free will. As humans we are a function of our genes, our environment, and the interactions between them. We don’t have the slightest role in choosing our parents or where we were raised. Free will is not illusion, it’s an illusion of an illusion. This is Sam’s point.
1:32:00 the irrational apes uses thievery as patching techniques.
what! Irrational apes want to challenge human?!
apes can steal and pollute human thoughts but they have no chance to challenge human mind!
1:13:00 general anesthesia has similar affects of psychedelic and meditation but it disconnects consciousness type one completely.
1:27:40 that is incorrect, already was written years ago: during so-called psychedelics and meditation the irrationals lose high percentage of consciousness type one (tool to recognise the inner and outer world) so who wonders is the self itself but the irrationals are unaware of anything.
many thief apes already have stolen and polluted what has been mentioned above.
1:27:40 that is incorrect, already was written years ago: during so-called psychedelics and meditation the irrationals lose high percentage of consciousness type one (tool to recognise the inner and outer world) so who wonders is the self itself but the irrationals are unaware of anything.
many thief apes already have stolen and polluted what has been mentioned above.
1:26:00 read carefully O irrationals: the irrational apes here are talking about consciousness type one and consciousness type one is just a process! How to deal with the apes!
It is a great and challenging conversation.
1:22:00 irrational apes want to think!
Human arguing irrational apes for the sake of future generations (triple punishment)!
1:18:00 this a sick irrational ape !
he talks about consciousness type one! They don’t recognise the meaning of deciphering consciousness type one ! They are a real irrational apes!
Scott's hair is absolutely fabulous today 🙂
The irrational apes are real dilemma! Consciousness will never take place miraculously ! It’s a very sophisticated process!
apes don’t believe in miracles will happen miraculously! utter stupidity mixed with hypocrisy!
1:12:00 turn anything that their little minds can’t comprehend into illusion ! Easy peasy!
The irrational apes are using big ambiguous word to mislead the public !
The irrational apes speak a different language (irrationality itself) that what attracts them to each other!
1:03:00 this an irrational ape, can irrational apes with defective logic and destructive irrational meanness of the apes defy human intelligence?!
1:00:30 this is a real ape!
self concept isn’t a ghost or so-called spirit,…etc
It’s one of the most advanced coding systems in existence (there are no better scientific terms right now) it’s governed by science and only science.
the irrational apes call what their little irrational minds can’t comprehend as miracles!
1:00:00 what this irrational ape says is completely wrong.
59:00 this irrational ape has a very limited mental capacity, he uses patching techniques, limited free will does exist, it’s limited because of a kind of so-called super deterministic related to cycle two.
The irrational thief apes don’t need to think as long as human exist! just keep human thoughts clean (intact).
Do you think the previous comment is easy?! It is the most important thoughts that mankind has produced ever and it will remain so even if the owners of small minds cannot comprehend it. It is the product of the human mind. Humanity would not know that even after thousands of years. Instead of saying thanks, the irrational thieving apes work on stealing his thoughts and polluting them, then remove his traces! The ignorance, greed and ingratitude of the irrational apes are unlimited! and they depend entirely on their irrational destructive meanness!
Making polluted version (apes version) of human thoughts will ruin human thoughts and mislead future generations (it’s a terrible crime against science and mankind)
Probably the irrational thief apes are targeting this: Read carefully: Do you want to know the real schizophrenia?!
forget about what I have written about how self concept generates both consciousness type one and personal identity (and that story of that dialogue in the apes’ minds).
the real split of personality is between self concept and it’s simulation (personal identity).
that’s where the irrational apes lost all human characteristics such as morals, values, principles and mind to maintain them, there where the destructive irrational meanness played the main role! environment, societies, traditions,…etc (in essence all the irrational apes are the same).
all the irrational apes on the planet of the apes share the same core (built-in morals and values) but because the irrational apes are unaware of anything they ruined everything!
this existence is very sophisticated, only rational intelligent entities can survive.
Human thoughts are so valuable, what is mentioned above could take thousands of years of human life to figure that out (actually they have no chance to recognise that).
Human thoughts must reach future generations clean (intact) that is essential for them to survive (they are your descendants).
there are more details.
53:30 what this irrational ape says has no value (he is just an irrational ape) he hallucinates.