Exploring the Evolution of Consciousness

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Delving into the philosophical and moral aspects of consciousness, this chapter discusses the emergence of consciousness in humans and potentially in artificial intelligence. The conversation touches on the evolution of feelings preceding cognition and recent research on AI capabilities, prompting reflections on the future of machine intelligence. It also explores the theory that consciousness emerged from the need to predict social behavior, raising questions about AI development and the parallels with human cognition.

In “Psych: The Story of the Human Mind,” Paul Bloom, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, lays out, in his words, “basically everything I know about the mind.” And when he says “everything,” he means it. Where does consciousness come from? Does IQ matter? What makes us happy? Was Sigmund Freud a madman? The answers to these questions (and more) are all in Paul’s book — and in this episode.

An edited version of Rufus’s interview with Paul first aired in April 2023. Today, we’re bringing you their entire conversation.

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