What is consciousness?

A short introduction to this album. 

The difficulties of explaining consciousness scientifically. 

Are animals conscious? Can we produce conscious machines? 

<p>It's pretty obvious to each of us that we are conscious, as we go about our days and feel the experience of just ‘being ourselves'. But how do we know that someone else is conscious? </p><p>It’s something we lose during dreamless sleep, under anaesthesia or in a coma. But wha ... Show More

Examining the nature of consciousness. 

Examining the nature of consciousness. 

How do your billions of tiny brain cells build consciousness as they chatter away with electrical spikes and chemical signals? And why is your laptop, with its sophisticated algorithms and billions of parts, presumably not conscious? Could other large systems like a city become c ... Show More

Language and Mind: What is rationality? What is consciousness? How do we manage to express our thoughts and experiences in language? 

The difficulties of trying to describe consciousness. 

Sam Harris speaks with Anil Seth about the scientific study of consciousness, where consciousness emerges in nature, levels of consciousness, perception as a “controlled hallucination,” emotion, the experience of “pure consciousness,” consciousness as “integrated information,” me ... Show More