Understanding Consciousness: A conversation with Professor Anil Seth

What does it mean to be "you"? In this episode, we are joined by Anil Seth, professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience at the University of Sussex and author of the best-selling book “Being You”. As one of the world’s leading researchers into the biological basis of consciousness, we had the privilege to sit down and discuss such pressing topics with him.We dive deep into the philosophical and scientific crossroads where the mind meets the machine. From the ancient debates of dualism and panpsychism to the cutting-edge ethics of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) and AI, we explore how our brains construct a stable world from a chaotic stream of sensory data.We had the privilege to discuss the following:The Controlled Hallucination: An exploration of Anil’s landmark theory on how the brain "guesses" reality and what happens when those guesses are radically altered by psychedelics.The Philosophy of Mind: We revisit the "Hard Problem" and discuss why ideas like panpsychism and dualism are seeing a resurgence in modern thought.AI & The Simulation Trap: A look at whether artificial intelligence can truly possess "wetware" consciousness or if it remains a sophisticated "dark intelligence".The Perception Census: Discussing the massive diversity in how humans experience visual reality and what this means for social empathy and shared truth.Animal Sentience: The link between metabolic survival and the "self" and how laws may need to change to preserve the life of animals.The Legacy of Daniel Dennett: A reflection on the influence of one of the 20th century’s greatest philosophers on modern science and on Anil himself.It was incredible to spend this week’s episode with Professor Anil Seth, and this fantastic episode provides a deep dive into what a sense of “self” really is.