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Very Bad Wizards is a podcast with a philosopher, my dad, and psychologist Dave Pizarro. The only class on the philosophy of mind I ever took ended up being an entire class on zombies. "I always do wonder how philosophers come up with the examples that they come up with," he says.

We try (with varying success) to wrap our heads around Thomas Nagel’s classic article “What is it Like to be a Bat?" Does science have the tools to give us a theory of consciousness or is that project doomed from the outset? Why do reductionist or functionalist explanations seem so unsatisfying? Is the problem that consciousness is subjective, or is it something about the nature of conscious experience itself? Is this ultimately an epistemological or metaphysical question? What are we talking about? Do we even know anymore?

Plus, the return of Mr. Robot! We talk about the big new mystery at the heart of the new season.

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