Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman Ep94 "How does the brain construct reality?"
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Mar 3, 2025 
In this engaging discussion, Anil Seth, a Professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience at the University of Sussex and author of "Being You", dives into the intricate ways our brains construct reality. He poses thought-provoking questions about perception and individuality, exploring whether we see color the same way. The dialogue touches on the historical intersections between cognition and philosophy, and how perceptions can be seen as controlled hallucinations. Seth also examines consciousness across species and AI, revealing the fascinating complexities behind how we experience the world.
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Defining Consciousness
- Consciousness is defined as the state of having subjective experience, like there's something it's like to be you.
- This definition avoids tying it to other things like intelligence, language, or identity.
Perception as Controlled Hallucination
- Perception is a process of controlled hallucination, where our brains actively construct our experiences, rather than passively receiving them.
- The brain uses sensory signals to calibrate its predictions about the world.
Constructing Reality
- We don't see reality as it is; our brains construct it based on limited sensory input.
- This idea dates back to Plato's Allegory of the Cave, where prisoners mistake shadows for reality.
