Is consciousness an illusion? 5 experts explain
January 11, 2024
2,538,493
42,251
4,830
1.85%
Search the Record
IndexedEvery word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
Big Think Episodes Around January 11, 2024
See what was published immediately before and after this episode.
43:53Now PlayingIs consciousness an illusion? 5 experts explain
YouTube Description
as posted by the channelBecome a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more“If science aims to describe everything, how can it not describe the simple fact of our existence?” On this episode of Dispatches, Kmele speaks with the scientists, mathematicians, and spiritual leaders trying to do just that
This video is an episode from @The-Well, our publication about ideas that inspire a life well-lived, created with the @TempletonFoundation.
Subscribe to The Well on YouTube ►
Watch the full podcast now ►
In the newest episode of Dispatches from The Well, we’re diving deep into the “hard problem of consciousness.” Here, Kmele combines the perspectives of five different scientists, philosophers, and spiritual leaders to approach one of humanity’s most pressing questions: what is consciousness?
In the AI age, the question of consciousness is more prevalent than ever. Is every single thing in the universe self-aware? What does it actually mean to be conscious? Are our bodies really just a vessel for our thoughts? Kmele asks these questions, and many more, in the most thought-provoking episode yet. This is Dispatches from The Well.
Featuring: Sir Roger Penrose, Christof Koch, Melanie Mitchell, Reid Hoffman, Swami Sarvapriyananda
Read the video transcript ►
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About Kmele Foster:
Kmele Foster is a media entrepreneur, commentator, and regular contributor to various national publications. He is the co-founder and co-host of The Fifth Column, a popular media criticism podcast.
He is the head of content at Founders Fund, a San Francisco based venture capital firm investing in companies building revolutionary technologies, and a partner at Freethink, a digital media company focused on the people and ideas changing our world.
Kmele also serves on the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read more from The Well:
Actually, neuroscience suggests “the self” is real
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein can illuminate the debate over generative AI
Few of us desire true equality. It’s time to own up to it
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About The Well
Do we inhabit a multiverse? Do we have free will? What is love? Is evolution directional? There are no simple answers to life’s biggest questions, and that’s why they’re the questions occupying the world’s brightest minds.
Together, let's learn from them.
Subscribe to the weekly newsletter ►
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Join The Well on your favorite platforms:
Links & Promotions
Guests & Subjects Covered
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.









