Brain Science with Ginger Campbell, MD: Neuroscience for Everyone BS 212 Thomas Metzinger on "The Ego Tunnel" (Encore)
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Sep 22, 2023 
Philosopher Thomas Metzinger discusses the discovery that consciousness is a biological process. Topics include altered states, dreaming, out of body experiences, and virtual reality. The relationship between consciousness and biology, as well as the nature of the self as a process, are explored. The disconnection between the body and the brain in lucid dreams and out-of-body experiences is also discussed. The relationship between sense of self and body models, advancements in neurotechnology, and the future understanding of ourselves are considered.
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Consciousness As World Appearance
- Consciousness is best framed as the appearance of a world rather than external accuracy.
- Phenomenal consciousness concerns how things appear to a first-person perspective regardless of veridicality.
Why Consciousness Might Evolve
- Consciousness likely evolved to enable flexible, context-sensitive behavior and selective motor control.
- Being conscious allows attention, concept formation, and fine-grained correction of actions.
Brain-Created Virtual Reality
- Conscious experience is generated by internal neural models that simulate reality.
- Metzinger compares consciousness to a highly advanced, biological virtual reality created by the brain.