Modern Wisdom

#649 - Anil Seth - Does Your Brain Hallucinate Conscious Reality?

Jul 3, 2023

Anil Seth, a cognitive and computational neuroscientist at the University of Sussex, tackles the mysteries of consciousness. He delves into questions about self-identity, exploring how we perceive reality and whether our memories can be trusted. Seth discusses how the brain creates our experiences, including the illusion of color. He challenges conventional notions of identity, suggesting that we are dynamic beings shaped by interactions. The conversation also touches on the evolution of consciousness and fascinating insights into neurodiversity.

01:16:22

Episode guests

Anil Seth

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Quick takeaways

The problem of consciousness focuses on explaining the properties of consciousness, even if the hard problem of how consciousness arises from brain activity remains unsolved.

The self encompasses various levels of conscious experiences and continuously evolves and changes.

Our conscious perceptions are not direct reflections of objective reality, but rather the brain's interpretations and predictions based on sensory information.

Deep dives

The Real Problem of Consciousness

The real problem of consciousness focuses on explaining the properties of consciousness, such as what experiences feel like and the differences between various conscious experiences. By addressing this problem, progress can be made in understanding consciousness, even if the hard problem of explaining how consciousness arises from brain activity remains unsolved.

Our Consciousness' Relationship with Reality

03:01

The Fundamental Reason for Predictive Brains

01:32

Different levels of self

01:52

Measuring Consciousness: Mirror Self Recognition and Responsiveness to Pain in Animals

01:59

Intro

5min

Exploring the Real Problem of Consciousness

2min

The Self as a Prediction Machine

22min

The Illusion of Color Perception and Reality

2min

Exploring Perception: Reality and Consciousness

2min

The Evolution and Complexity of Consciousness

27min

Dining in Darkness: Exploring Perception

21min

Anil Seth is a professor of cognitive and computational neuroscientist at the University of Sussex, co-director of the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, and an author.

What is the Self? What does it mean that we are the same person we were 10 years ago? Why do we have a subjective experience of reality at all? Is consciousness created or perceived? These are fundamental questions that philosophers and neuroscientists have been trying to answer for centuries. So can a new science of consciousness give us the answers?

Expect to learn why answering the problem of consciousness is such a difficult challenge, why you wake up as the same person everyday, whether we know for a fact that animals are conscious, why perception often is divorced from objective reality, just how reliable our memories are, how to trust your brain even when it's incredibly fallible and much more...

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