Is Consciousness an Illusion?
Presenter:
Big Think
Time:
43:55
Summary
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?
Transcript
In those quiet moments, when we find ourselves wrestling with trying to understand the nature of our existence, it's only natural to turn to the observable world for answers. We look out at the cosmos to try and decipher how the universe came to be, or we consider the rules that govern the smallest particles of matter. All of the stuff that makes up you and me and everything else. But there's something else that's fundamental to our existence. The thing that makes us us that in a word is consciousness. But what exactly is consciousness?
It seems to me that so many of the conversations about consciousness and existence can be incredibly esoteric, but you are a person who's actually doing scientific investigation into questions of calm consciousness. How do you make it coherent? And make it something that you can actually wrap your hand around when it seems so? How did that feel?