What is consciousness? How do physical processes in the brain give rise to the self-aware mind and to feelings as profoundly varied as love or hate, aesthetic pleasure or spiritual yearning? These questions today are some of the most hotly debated issues among scientists and philosophers. Now, in his book “The Conscious Mind”, philosopher David Chalmers offers an analysis of this heated debate as he unveils a major new theory of consciousness, one that rejects the prevailing reductionist trend of science, while offering provocative insights into the relationship between mind and brain. Taking us on a tour through the philosophical ramifications of consciousness, Chalmers reveals how contemporary cognitive science and neurobiology have failed to explain how and why mental events emerge from physiological occurrences in the brain. He proposes instead that conscious experience must be understood in an entirely new light--as an irreducible entity that exists at a fundamental level and cannot be understood as the sum of its parts. And after suggesting some intriguing possibilities about the structure and laws of conscious experience, he details how his unique reinterpretation of the mind could be the focus of a new science. Originally published in April of 2019. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.  

Guitarist Nita Strauss visits Google to discuss her life on the road as a touring musician. Los Angeles-born guitarist Nita Strauss has become a force to be reckoned with in the music world, dazzling audiences across the US, UK, Europe, South America, Asia, Australia and Africa, and sharing the stage with a diverse range of artists including legendary R&B star Jermaine Jackson, early MTV darlings Femme Fatale, shock rock pioneer Alice Cooper, and popular tribute band The Iron Maidens. Her skill, exuberant stage presence, and love for all things about her instrument have earned her a stellar reputation and endorsements from many top companies. When she isn’t touring, Nita has been featured in many worldwide print ads and on dozens of albums, trailers, and soundtracks. Originally published in March of 2017. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.  

Author and researcher Karen Bakker visits Google to discuss her new book "The Sounds of Life: How Digital Technology Is Bringing Us Closer to the Worlds of Animals and Plants". The natural world teems with remarkable conversations, many beyond human hearing range. Scientists are using groundbreaking digital technologies to uncover these astonishing sounds, revealing vibrant communication among our fellow creatures across the Tree of Life. At once meditative and scientific, The Sounds of Life shares fascinating and surprising stories of nonhuman sound, interweaving insights from technological innovation and traditional knowledge. We meet scientists using sound to protect and regenerate endangered species from the Great Barrier Reef to the Arctic and the Amazon. We discover the shocking impacts of noise pollution on both animals and plants. We learn how artificial intelligence can decode nonhuman sounds, and meet the researchers building dictionaries in East African Elephant and “Sperm Whalish”. At the frontiers of innovation, we explore digitally mediated dialogues with bats and honeybees. Technology often distracts us from nature, but what if it could reconnect us instead? The Sounds of Life offers hope for environmental conservation and affirms humanity’s relationship with nature in the digital age. After learning about the unsuspected wonders of nature’s sounds, we will never see walks outdoors in the same way again. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.  

Author Quentin Skinner visits Google to discuss his book “Machiavelli: A Very Short Introduction.” Niccolo Machiavelli taught that political leaders must be prepared to do evil so that good may come of it, and his name has been a byword ever since for duplicity and immorality. Is his sinister reputation deserved? In answering this question, Quentin Skinner focuses on three of Machiavelli’s major works, The Prince, the Discourses, and The History of Florence, and distills from them an exceptionally clear introduction to Machiavelli's doctrines. He discusses the influence of Roman moral thought on Machiavelli, concentrating on the extent to which Machiavelli's teachings represent a reaction against this tradition. Placing Machiavelli in the proper social and intellectual context, Skinner reveals the extraordinary originality of his attack on the prevailing moral and political assumptions of his age. Originally published in February of 2020. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.  

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