40 min listen
What Is the Nature of Consciousness?
FromThe Joy of Why
ratings:
Length:
52 minutes
Released:
May 31, 2023
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
Neuroscience has made progress in deciphering how our brains think and perceive our surroundings, but a central feature of cognition is still deeply mysterious: namely, that many of our perceptions and thoughts are accompanied by the subjective experience of having them. Consciousness, the name we give to that experience, can’t yet be explained — but science is at least beginning to understand it. In this episode, the consciousness researcher Anil Seth and host Steven Strogatz discuss why our perceptions can be described as a “controlled hallucination,” how consciousness played into the internet sensation known as “the dress,” and how people at home can help researchers catalog the full range of ways that we experience the world.
Released:
May 31, 2023
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (35)
Why Is Inflammation a Dangerous Necessity?: The immune system protects us from a full spectrum of pathogens, but without balance, it can end up hurting us over time, too. The immunologist Shruti Naik explains how our defenses can turn on us. by The Joy of Why