Key points of the Living Mirror Theory of consciousness with Dr James Cooke | Living Mirrors #3

Welcome to Living Mirrors with Dr. James Cooke. Living Mirrors is a new podcast in which neuroscientist Dr. James Cooke will be interviewing people on topics like consciousness, science, spirituality, meditation and the renaissance in psychedelic research. Subscribe now wherever you get your podcasts.

Ask questions for the next AMA via patreon or the channel membership community (click the "join" button above):

#consciousness #thehardproblem #philosophy
We live in a world filled with suffering, where attempts to help have been split into largely separate scientific and spiritual communities. As a spiritually engaged neuroscientist I hope to communicate how these seemingly separate world views can be reconciled. I produce weekly videos on topics at the intersection of neuroscience and wellbeing, including consciousness, meditation and psychedelic science.

Dr. James Cooke:
Neuroscientist, writer & speaker, focusing on perception, meditation, psychedelics, mental health and wellbeing.
PhD in Neuroscience, Oxford University
MSc in Neuroscience, Oxford University
MA in Experimental Psychology, Oxford University

Follow me on Twitter:

Follow me on Instagram:

Follow me on Facebook:

Join the subreddit:

Visit my website:

Consider supporting this work on patreon:

[themindfulpsychonaut]

Started off very confused and over time started to put things together, love the way you explain things James 🙏

[PaulSmitNonduality]

I think the metaphor of the mirror is brilliant! Consciousness is a property of the environment and the living system.

[edoardodardi]

Just some very inspiring Minutes to listen to your Content and your Voice.Chrystal clear thougts, perfect junction between philosophie und sience.Just brilliant!❤thank you!🙏

[jacey]

You talk very fluently and clearly about some very complex ideas, it's fascinating to listen to you unpacking the theory. I think this will be a very important theory and to bring it to the public directly is a brilliant idea, from the horse's mouth as such. I love the idea that there is a process within us that is vital for evolution to occur and that the living mirror is that process which allows or gives rise to natural selection.

[mintakan]

I love the metaphor of the "mirror". Though from a "data science" background, I tend to think more in terms of "models" (admittedly, has a more conceptual feel to it). This raises the question of the match or mismatch between the model and "data" (outside world). The *process* to reconcile the two maybe partly related to "consciousness". So it's a combination of a certain structure, a process, as well as the energetics (e.g. "loss function", "optimization objective"), in a certain configuration, that results in the phenomena we call "consciousness" (?)
-
Of course, mechanical systems are currently externally driven (engineered). It does not have an internal life. We have not gotten to a point where we can bootstrap the thing to be self-contained, self-sustaining, and recursively self improving.

[nyworker]

Just like in an electric motor the winding of an armature makes magnetism the dominant force. For planets and biospheres; for atmospheres and complex life gravity is the dominant force.

[simonjames]

Am struggling with this. I’m not understanding the distinction between life form and consciousness. If there isn’t a distinction, then what is the theory explaining?

[nyworker]

The problem with consciousness is that we don't take into account that it is reducible. So it appears to be something that is "over and above". Just like we think heat or energy is over and above.

[nyworker]

The disjunctive syllogism of banana.
Terence Deacon's discussion of absences.

[ektube]

I'm afraid I don't see what the differential characteristic between life and non-life is within an objective, mechanistic paradigm and as it relates to your theory. Seemingly, the distinction is merely a function of human perception, as all is just a mechanistic system of infinite 1's and 0's . In fact, seemingly, from within this paradigm, we can't even know that other humans are conscious; it is just an assumption. If it is so that self-preserving systems are conscious, then all aspects of reality should seemingly be conscious. Defining a self-preserving system to be an emergent pattern more complex than merely the pattern of being or existence itself seems arbitrary. But, assuming it is actually non-arbitrary and the universe is mechanistic and that it is of evolutionary utility for a system, i.e a pattern within the superset system or the infinite and binary matrix, to 'believe' or be conscious of certain things about the world, as these are patterns of reality that present as delayed entropic disorder, it remains still possible for one of these patterns to not believe or be conscious of certain things about the world and to still delay entropic disorder sans consciousness by merely chance.

[dinonichas]

so mainly because the plant has an understanding of the world and behaves relevenant to external stimuli it means that it has consciousness? i don't follow this logic, because the plant may be behaving like a machine or like a zombie. it might just behave like this because its biologically programmed to do it, similar to a virus or bacteria.

[LucoReborn]

Done psychs achieved ultimate consciousness nothing special to be honest, if you want a tip. Serve Jesus as quick as you can and stop questioning❤

Jesus is God the son, God is one person in 3 forms.

The Son, The Father, The Holy Spirit.