A New Science of Consciousness | Talking Brains with Anil Seth

#Consciousness #BeingYou #AnilSeth
While you are watching this interview, the electrical activity of billions of neurons is generating your own personal experience of these images, sounds and words. How do we experience life in first person as a consequences of the activity of these interconnected neurons? How does this happen in our brains at all? Neuroscientist Anil Seth discusses these questions under the framework of his fascinating new theory of consciousness.

Talking Brains host Andres Canales-Johnson discusses fundamental questions of life and the human mind with thinkers of diverse and unique backgrounds, from the whole spectrum of the arts and sciences.

Anil Seth | Our guest

Anil Seth is a leading researcher in the field of consciousness science. He is Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, and Co-Director of the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, and of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Program on Brain, Mind, and Consciousness. Anil has published over 160 highly influential academic papers. His new book Being You: A New Science of Consciousness is a Sunday Times Top 10 Bestseller and Guardian Book of the Week. Anil's 2017 main-stage TED talk has more than 12 million views and is one of TED’s most popular science talks.

Andres Canales-Johnson | Our Host

Andres Canales-Johnson is a brain researcher at the University of Cambridge (UK). His main research focus on the neuroscience of human consciousness from a biological and philosophical perspective – including phenomena such as perceptual ambiguity, visceral perception, pathological consciousness and learning during sleep. Although he is the author of more than 30 specialized scientific articles, Andres is currently interested in the dissemination of inspiring conversations about the human mind on the "Talking Brains" YouTube channel.

Follow Anil Seth on:

Twitter: @anilkseth

Follow Andres Canales-Johnson on:

Twitter: @canalesjohnson
Instagram: @canalesjohnson

A New Science of Consciousness | Relevant Links

Anil Seth bestselling book:

Being You: A New Science of Consciousness.

Talking Brains | Edited by Mariana Vaz

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
03:33 - What is consciousness?
04:26 - What is the difference between consciousness and intelligence?
15:05 - Influential theories of consciousness
17:20 - Predictive processing and consciousness
19:06 - How to study consciousness?
41:12 - Differences between perception and imagination.
46:25 - Perception from inside out.
52:04 - Perception versus hallucinations.
1:12:30 - What is panpsychism?
1:21:31 - The future of consciousness research.

[star-r]

Really super talk! Thanks for Anil. He have really good answers about consciousness.

[crinawidadbondreardelean]

Could you please add a link to the Varela interview you mention - "...modulated by whispers from the world..."? Thank you!

[mrbwatson]

If you could map in real-time down to atomic level of precision my brain and body. You could change any property you want you could take any atom and change its spin charge momentum…. Would the mystery of consciousness “dissolve “ as according to Anil? How would you induce the feeling of hope or the smell of a rose? Which atoms would you manipulate? Anil is a clever man but I bet he couldn’t answer that 🤪. Anil is just trying to carve himself a workspace without EVER tackling the real mystery. His approach is just a way of keeping materialism alive that same old story we are making progress we are almost there one day the problem will be “dissolved “. That in my view is an insult to our intelligence. He says boldly the brain generates consciousness then at the same time he admits its objectively absurd that a physical system can give rise to inner experience. So in essence he is saying materialism and his ideas about consciousness are objectively absurd. So why are should we even entertain his “objectively absurd “ ideas about consciousness? I feel as an interviewer you failed us.