Consciousness, our experience of being in the world, is one of the mind’s greatest mysteries, but as the neuroscientist Anil Seth explains to Steven Strogatz, research is making progress in understanding this elusive phenomenon. The post What Is the Nature of Consciousness? first appeared on Quanta Magazine

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...Sponsors:Get 5 Free Travel Packs, Free Liquid Vitamin D and more from AG1 at https://drinkag1.com/modernwisdom (discount automatically applied)Get a Free Sample Pack of all LMNT Flavours with your first box at https://www.drinklmnt.com/modernwisdom (automatically applied at checkout)Get £150 discount on Eight Sleep products at https://eightsleep.com/modernwisdom (discount automatically applied)Extra Stuff:Check out The Perception Census - https://perceptioncensus.dreamachine.world/Read Being You - https://amzn.to/3ppLiIjGet my free Reading List of 100 books to read before you die → https://chriswillx.com/books/To support me on Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/modernwisdom-Get in touch.Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillxTwitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillxYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcastEmail: https://chriswillx.com/contact/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Anil Seth discusses AI consciousness, ethics, and incentives. They explore the difference between intelligence and consciousness, ethical concerns, and the impact on human language. The conversation delves into metaphors for the mind, ethical implications of AI consciousness, and lessons from 'Frankenstein'. They emphasize caution in AI development and the distinction between intelligence and consciousness.

Read the full transcript here. How does the world differ from our perception of it? Where is color located? Is the self constructed in the same way our concept of the world is constructed? Aside from being interesting bits of trivia, why does any of that really matter? In what ways does perception most often differ among humans? How different are art and science?Anil Seth is a neuroscientist, author, and public speaker who has pioneered research into the brain basis of consciousness for more than twenty years. His mission is to advance the science of consciousness, and to use its insights for the benefits of society, technology, and medicine. He is Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex; Co-Director of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Program on Brain, Mind, and Consciousness; a European Research Council Advanced Investigator; and Editor-in-Chief of the academic journal Neuroscience of Consciousness. He has published more than 180 research papers and has been recognized by Web of Science, over several years, as being in the top 0.1% of researchers worldwide. A former Wellcome Trust Engagement Fellow, his two TED talks have been viewed more than thirteen million times, he has appeared in several films, and he has written for Aeon, The Guardian, Granta, New Scientist, and Scientific American, and he is lead scientist on the Dreamachine project. His new book Being You: A New Science of Consciousness was an instant Sunday Times Bestseller and a 2021 Book of the Year for The Economist, The New Statesman, Bloomberg Business, The Guardian, The Financial Times and elsewhere. Check out Dreamachine, take part in The Perception Census, visit Anil's website, or follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn. StaffSpencer Greenberg — Host / DirectorJosh Castle — ProducerRyan Kessler — Audio EngineerUri Bram — FactotumWeAmplify — TranscriptionistsMiles Kestran — MarketingMusicBroke for FreeJosh WoodwardLee RosevereQuiet Music for Tiny Robotswowamusiczapsplat.comAffiliatesClearer ThinkingGuidedTrackMind EasePositlyUpLift[Read more]

Anil Seth, a neuroscientist and director at the Sussex Centre for Consciousness Science, delves into what makes us conscious. He presents the idea that perception is a 'controlled hallucination' shaped by our brain's predictions. The discussion tackles intriguing topics like the phenomenon of blindsight and the implications of split-brain studies. Seth suggests that consciousness in animals—and even machines—may reflect our own. His excitement for future research reveals the mysteries still surrounding the nature of consciousness.

What does consciousness mean to you? It’s something that’s fundamental to who we are as humans. And yet it’s a concept that many of us would struggle to define – scientists and philosophers included. But today’s guest is someone who has spent many years and countless hours studying it, and is keen to share what he has learned. Anil Seth is Professor of Cognitive and Computational Science at the University of Sussex and Co-director of the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science. He is a globally respected neuroscientist and author of the Sunday Times bestseller Being You: A New Science Of Consciousness. And he is someone who excels at making complex ideas simple as evidenced by the fact that his TED talk has been viewed over 12 million times to date. After 20 years researching the brain, Anil’s ideas on perception, reality, and what it means to be you, will have you reconsidering everything you’ve taken for granted about your experience of the world. And if that sounds scary, it really isn’t. You don’t need any prior knowledge of neuroscience, philosophy, or spirituality to enjoy this episode – but it will leave you feeling enlightened in all three areas. During this conversation we consider death, ritual and the cultural idea of reincarnation. We talk about Near Death Experiences and what we can potentially learn from them and we dive into what consciousness and the self really mean. Anil also sets out his theory that our brains don’t read the world, they write them – all of life is a controlled hallucination. The way we encounter reality, he asserts, is a construction. Our thoughts and perceptions are merely interpretations of external and biological cues. We’re all hallucinating, all the time. It’s just that when we agree on those hallucinations, we call it reality. Anil’s work is fascinating and I’m convinced it could pave the way for a humanity that’s more connected, considerate, and humble. This is a conversation that I think will have you reflecting and thinking deeply about the world and your place within it. I hope you enjoy listening.Support the podcast and enjoy Ad-Free episodes. Try FREE for 7 days on Apple Podcasts https://apple.co/feelbetterlivemore. For other podcast platforms go to https://fblm.supercast.com.Thanks to our sponsors:https://www.vivobarefoot.com/livemorehttps://www.athleticgreens.com/livemoreShow notes https://drchatterjee.com/366DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

Neuroscientist Professor Anil Seth discusses how our brains create our conscious reality through controlled hallucinations. He explains how our perceptions are interpretations of external cues, challenging the concept of objective reality. The podcast explores the influence of emotions and biases on our perceptions, as well as the relationship between meditation, mindfulness, and neuroscience in understanding consciousness.

Those of us who think that that the laws of physics underlying everyday life are completely known tend to also think that consciousness is an emergent phenomenon that must be compatible with those laws. To hold such a position in a principled way, it’s important to have a clear understanding of “emergence” and when it happens. Anil Seth is a leading researcher in the neuroscience of consciousness, who has also done foundational work (often in collaboration with Lionel Barnett) on what emergence means. We talk about information theory, entropy, and what they have to do with how things emerge.Support Mindscape on Patreon.Anil Seth received his D.Phil in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence from the University of Sussex. He is currently a professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience at Sussex, as well as co-director of the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science. He has served as the president of the Psychology Section of the British Science Association, and is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Neuroscience of Consciousness. His new book is Being You: A New Science of Consciousness.Web siteGoogle Scholar publicationsWikipediaAmazon author pageTwitterBarnett and Seth, “Dynamical independence: discovering emergent macroscopic processes in complex dynamical systems” (2021)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today we welcome Dr. Anil Seth. He is the Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, where he is also Co-Director of the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science. His research has been supported by the European Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. Dr. Seth’s 2017 main-stage TED talk is one of the most popular science TED talks, with more than 13 million views. His latest book, which has received numerous accolades, is called Being You: A New Science of Consciousness.In this episode, I talk to Dr. Anil Seth about the new science of consciousness. Although we don’t exactly know how or why consciousness exists, Dr. Seth thinks this shouldn’t stop us from exploring its properties. One of the things he explores in his research is the conditions for consciousness. Everyone has their own way of perceiving the world. Perceptual diversity exists and we would be misguided to try and standardize consciousness on a single dimension. We also touch on the topics of intelligence, panpsychism, free will, AI technology, and the after life. Website: www.anilseth.comTwitter: @anilkseth Topics02:08 The hard problem of consciousness07:02 The value of inner experiences12:22 Experiencing is consciousness15:51 Panpsychism 19:01 The condition for consciousness21:38 Neuroscience of consciousness27:32 Perceptual diversity37:09 Perception Census43:00 Can we measure consciousness?49:13 Individual differences in experiencing 56:40 Experience of free will is not an illusion1:09:24 Cybernetic free will1:12:55 Can artificial intelligence produce consciousness? 1:24:24 The desire to persistSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jim talks with Anil Seth about his book Being You: A New Science of Consciousness. They discuss the curious non-experience of general anesthesia, defining consciousness, the difference between consciousness & intelligence, experiential vs functional aspects, the hard problem vs the real problem, measuring consciousness, consciousness vs wakefulness, Lempel-Ziv complexity, zap & zip, consciousness as multidimensional, psychedelic states of consciousness, integrated information theory & phi, Scott Aaronson's expander grids, quantum IIT, accounting for conscious contents, the Bayesian brain, paying attention, Adelson's checkerboard, the perception census, prediction error minimization, active inference, the two bridges experiment, aspects of self, the rubber hand illusion, somatoparaphrenia, separating self from personal identity, whether advanced mammals have personal identity, being a beast machine, and much more. Episode Transcript JRS EP97 - Emery Brown on Consciousness & Anesthesia JRS EP148 - Antonio Damasio on Feeling and Knowing The Perception Census Anil Seth is Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, Co-Director of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Program on Brain, Mind and Consciousness, a European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Investigator, and Editor-in-Chief of the academic journal Neuroscience of Consciousness (Oxford University Press). With more than two decades of research and outreach experience, Anil’s mission is to advance the science of consciousness and to use its insights for the benefit of society, technology and medicine. An internationally leading researcher, Anil is also a renowned public speaker, best-selling author, and sought-after collaborator on high-profile art-science projects.