logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2025
1h 13m

A Radical Question To Put Your Problems ...

10% Happier
About this episode

How to think about consciousness without breaking your brain.

Annaka Harris is the New York Times bestselling author of CONSCIOUS: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind and writer and producer of the audio documentary series, LIGHTS ON. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Nautilus Magazine, the Journal of Consciousness Studies, and IAI Magazine, and she is also an editor and consultant for science writers, specializing in neuroscience and physics. 

 

In this episode we talk about:

  • What consciousness is—and why we should care about it
  • The question of whether or not consciousness is a fundamental aspect of the universe (so literally—is consciousness embedded in the chair I’m sitting in?)
  • Why thinking about this mystery can create a sense of awe (a reliable antidote to suffering)
  • Meditation techniques for exploring consciousness
  • The illusion of the self 
  • The importance of challenging our intuitions
  • And much more

 

Related Episodes: 

 

Sign up for Dan’s newsletter here

Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok

Ten Percent Happier online bookstore

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

 

Additional Resources: 

 

Up next
Yesterday
How To Find Calm in a World on Fire | Pico Iyer
The antidote to a noisy, chaotic world. Pico Iyer is the acclaimed and bestselling author of more than a dozen books translated into twenty-three languages, most recently the nationally bestselling Aflame: Learning from Silence. In this episode we talk about: Why and how Pico fou ... Show More
1h 9m
Oct 6
Are You a Grudge Holder or a Revenge Seeker? Here’s How It’s Hurting You – And How To Get Over It | James Kimmel, Jr.
The psychology and neuroscience of revenge. James Kimmel, Jr. is a lecturer in psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, an expert on revenge, a lawyer, and the founder and co-director of the Yale Collaborative for Motive Control Studies. He is the creator of The Nonjustice Syst ... Show More
1h 11m
Oct 5
Sebene Selassie On: Resiliency, Rewriting Your Patterns and Finding a Teacher Who Speaks to You
We’re in the midst of an exciting evolution of the overall 10% Happier project. In our quest to make this podcast more actionable – to help you operationalize all the game-changing ideas you encounter on this pod – we’re now offering guided meditations to accompany each full epis ... Show More
24m 15s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2024
E104 - Annaka Harris: Reality Is Stranger Than You Think, Consciousness, Perception, Free Will, AI & Love
Annaka Harris dives deep into some of the most profound and perplexing questions about the nature of consciousness, perception, free will, AI, and the underlying meaning of love and existence. Annaka begins by defining consciousness and exploring the "hard problem". She discusses ... Show More
2h 24m
Apr 2025
#927 - Annaka Harris - Unpacking The Mystery Of Consciousness
Annaka Harris is an author, editor, and speaker focused on neuroscience and consciousness.What does it mean to be conscious? What is consciousness? These questions have puzzled humanity for millennia. Despite our greatest scientific breakthroughs and philosophical efforts, are we ... Show More
1h 7m
Mar 2025
#404 — What If Consciousness Is Fundamental?
Sam Harris speaks with his wife, Annaka Harris, about LIGHTS ON, her ten-part audio documentary exploring the perplexities of consciousness and the cosmos. They discuss the hard problem of consciousness, whether consciousness is fundamental, what split-brain patients can teach us ... Show More
2h 20m
Jul 2024
Sam Harris, PhD: Cutting Through to Consciousness Without a Center
How do meditation and mindfulness accelerate moral progress? Is spiritual insight alone sufficient to solve today’s problems? Dr. Sam Harris is a five-time New York Times bestselling author, philosopher, neuroscientist, and host of the popular podcast Making Sense. He is also som ... Show More
1h 27m
Sep 2024
Consciousness: The Key to Everything with Dr. Tony Nader and Jack Canfield
Episode hosted by Jack Canfield: In this thought-provoking episode of the Jack Canfield Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Tony Nader, a renowned expert in the field of consciousness and a prominent leader in the Transcendental Meditation (TM) community. Dr. Nader shares his profound i ... Show More
49m 56s
Jul 2020
Episode 82, ‘The Nature of Consciousness’ with Susan Blackmore (Part II - Further Analysis and Discussion)
The smell of coffee, the taste of asparagus, the warmth of a hug, and the agony of death: conscious experience makes up the fabric of our world, yet many consider it to be the most intractable mystery in philosophy and science. What is it like to undergo experience? What is the f ... Show More
41m 34s
Jul 2024
#94: Exploring Consciousness & Deep Awareness - Doug Kraft
How does the mind shape our reality? What happens when the conceptual mind turns off? The answers might be found in the depths of meditation. Doug Kraft has delved into the complexities of the mind from various perspectives: as a psychotherapist, writer, minister, meditation teac ... Show More
59m 43s
Dec 2024
Dr. Lisa Miller: The Neuroscience of Spirituality - How To Heal Your Mind & Manifest More
My conversation with renowned psychologist Dr. Lisa Miller takes us deep into the fascinating intersection of spirituality and neuroscience. As a pioneer in the field and professor at Columbia University, Dr. Miller shares groundbreaking research on how our brains are actually wi ... Show More
1h 56m
Oct 3
Are Transcendental Experiences Proof of God? Dr. James B. Glattfelder on Consciousness, Spiritually & The Amazing Intelligence of the Universe
Are Aliens Just an Extension of Our Consciousness? Are psychedelics the only way to tap into a higher state of consciousness? Dr. James B. Glattfelder on the Transcendental Multiverse, Psychedelics, and the Fight for Meaning What if communicating with aliens isn’t “out there”, bu ... Show More
1h 43m
Sep 2
A landscape of consciousness | Robert Lawrence Kuhn and Hilary Lawson
Will we ever reach a conclusive, agreed-upon theory of consciousness?Over the millennia of recorded history, countless stories, theories, and arguments have emerged to explain the origins of consciousness. And yet, here we are in 2025 - post-Plato, post-Descartes, post-scientific ... Show More
41m 19s