The Giants Shoulder 42 Minutes of the Best Moments in Consciousness Science Giant's Shoulder 2025
Dec 5, 2025
Anil Seth, a neuroscientist renowned for his work on perception, dives into how our brains rely on predictions to shape reality. Michael Levin shares his radical views on cognition in simple systems and the potential for synthetic life to possess awareness. Peter Godfrey-Smith explores the evolution of agency and why nervous systems are critical for subjective experience. Nick Lane connects metabolism and bioelectricity to feelings, even suggesting bacteria might experience basic emotions. Mark Solms emphasizes that raw feelings form the heart of consciousness, driven by brainstem systems.
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Perception As Controlled Hallucination
- The brain generates top-down predictions and treats sensory input as prediction error to update beliefs.
- Conscious perception is the brain's controlled hallucination: predictions form experience, calibrated by sensory signals.
Attention Tightens Perceptual Grip
- Attention shifts the balance toward sensory signals, making perception less hallucinatory and more world-driven.
- Some visual illusions remain cognitively impenetrable despite knowledge, showing strong predictive constraints.
Minds As A Spectrum Beyond Biology
- Cognitive capacities and goal-directed behaviors can emerge in very simple deterministic systems.
- Michael Levin argues minds sit on a spectrum that includes machines, driven by algorithmic organization beyond material substrate.