“If science aims to describe everything, how can it not describe the simple fact of our existence?” On this episode of Dispatches, Kmele speaks with the scientists, mathematicians, and spiritual leaders trying to do just that:
This video is an episode from @The-Well, our publication about ideas that inspire a life well-lived, created with the @JohnTempletonFoundation.
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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?
In the AI age, the question of consciousness is more prevalent than ever. Is every single thing in the universe self-aware? What does it actually mean to be conscious? Are our bodies really just a vessel for our thoughts? Kmele asks these questions, and many more, in the most thought-provoking episode yet. This is Dispatches from The Well.
Featuring: Sir Roger Penrose, Christof Koch, Melanie Mitchell, Reid Hoffman, Swami Sarvapriyananda
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About Kmele Foster:
Kmele Foster is a media entrepreneur, commentator, and regular contributor to various national publications. He is the co-founder and co-host of The Fifth Column, a popular media criticism podcast.
He is the head of content at Founders Fund, a San Francisco based venture capital firm investing in companies building revolutionary technologies, and a partner at Freethink, a digital media company focused on the people and ideas changing our world.
Kmele also serves on the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).
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Read more from The Well:
Actually, neuroscience suggests “the self” is real
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Few of us desire true equality. It’s time to own up to it
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About The Well
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I dont believe the first neitoscientist. I think he's leaving something out.
why background music so loud?
❤
consciousness is a relation.
C= P•f
consciousness = presence • form.
very interesting vidéo. thank you
I am a year late, but the claim that Melanie Mitchell makes regarding the not-so-long ago disbelief in newborns’ ability to feel pain as justification for surgery without anaesthetic is not true. I don’t know why she invents this fiction, but it’s irresponsible.
They don't know.
6:20 he gets angry 😂
– what is consioussnes?
– it is the little ammount of consioussnes that evey particle has
– yeah… But what is it?
– it means to be consiouss…
Wtf does esoteric mean?
what a waste of time
Wow, I loved the video. It really made me think. All of these theories totally validate the Conscious Matter Field (CMF) — a new Theory of Everything by R A Hendrix that actually makes sense.
Consciousness is the only thing that is NOT an illusion. 😄
Consciousness itself isn’t an illusion. What is the illusion is the thought that “you” are in some way different from your physical self.
Get a tooth pulled without an injection, you'll immediately understand whether it's an illusion or not.
0:48 – this guy 10000% shops at Dan Flashes
Human infants eventually develop theory of mind. What about all living organisms? Is a cell’s behavior to deal with infection a basic consciousness or a crude theory of mind?
I wonder if any of Joe Dispenza's works and studies have been looked at by any of these people.
Personally, I find this a very arrogant question that, at the same time, defines humanity. There is no real definition of “consciousness” because we're the ones defining it. The threshold can be anywhere from rewriting one basic function of one's entire existence to having to recognise it's own image in a mirror. Consciousness is in the eye of the beholder.
Science literally doesn’t claim to know everything…
The host was really great!
Consciousness is the new "New Age" bullshit.
What am I? Answer" Since to be aware is to be self-aware, I am an individual self-aware knower of my own personal existence, and therefore the self. Transcendence is defined- 'existence or experience that is beyond the normal or physical' since our body is nothing more than inert unconscious chemicals and thus is unaware that it exists, self-awareness by actualizing its own existence is "not of" the body and therefore represents transcendental existence.
Krishna says in the Bhagavad-Gita: "The sky, due to its subtle nature, does not mix with any thing, although it is all-pervading. Similarly, the soul situated in Brahman vision does not mix with the body, though situated in that body." Being transcendental existence the self would be unaffected by the entropy that Father time imposes on our body, mind, senses, and intelligence as we age, therefore by being unaffected by entropy the self can be considered "eternity knowing itself to exist"
Absolute is defined- 'not qualified or diminished in any way; viewed or existing independently and not in relation to other things; not relative or comparative.' since the self never wanes from its existential nature of being our subjective existence that is unaffected by entropy the self conforms to being absolute existence by never being diminished in any way. And by being " personalized eternity" the self conforms to being absolute existence by being an "uncaused" existence that is not relative or dependent on another existence for it being existent. As Krishna says in the Gita: "For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain." And it is not comparative to any existence since only awareness can be a knower of existence either subjective or objective.
Since this absolute existential nature of the self can only be realized by the self's self-illumined nature transcendental knowledge is an attribute of self and by being the enjoyer of the sense's "pleasure" is of its existential nature as well. And since we love our body's because we identify it as the self (I am this body) that love of body is actually just the self loving itself. Since knowledge, pleasure, and love are characteristics of a person the self is a "spiritual being" that exist independently separate from material existence. So, what we perceive as "death" is just an illusion brought about by our thinking that we are the body but in truth we have no relationship of dependence with it. Since only through awareness can we know the existential nature of awareness, which is absolute existence, we can say "consciousness" is absolute existence knowing itself to exist. So, as the self we are the evidence that reveals that there is more to reality than just material existence.
I just accept life as it happens. All this theorizing about our mind and consciousness are different ways of trying to find a path to immortality. To me it all sounds like religiousness. What if there is no purpose in life, so what? We give our life the purpose we like and have the possibility to make happen. Just imagine how much of the lifetime we are spending on rituals and ceremonies that may be totally void of meaning.
Consciousness is our misery .
1:30 i disagree. That is the flesh suit, not you.
Hey, if you are nothing but energy in a bone suit… energy never dies, it only reboots… Frosty the Snowman doesn't die in the summer, just change of state. But, if this LIFE we are experiencing? it's like a game, same ole story right? It's the best game ever made, "The Human Experience"… so so real… you learn to love and survive on this planet… the bonesuit you are in right now? is a survival tool to learn how to love before you go to the 10th level of YOU.
If there was no God there would be no consciousness there wouldn't even be empty space
I saw a awareness of eternity that scared me so bad my. Spirit jumped out of my body and it's eyeballs to popped out and teeth got real big my heart pounding like a basketball
If you ever feel a God conscience you will say "I know"
13:50 I get it if you don't ever see something you have no way to imagine it I mean you cannot think of a more beautiful woman than the ones you've seen
Consciousnes isnt an illusion. How aware you think you are of it is. But the fact that you are aware of anything makes consciousness valid.
This was masterfully explained, phenomenal job!
I recommend you reading degree of the soul good
The "spiritual leaders" interviewed in this, as BIg Think calls them, know absolutely nothing of relevance. They are just rehearsing ancient and medeival superstitions which people have sentimental attachments to. Why does this channel have such a hard time finding people who are actually advancing new ideas through ACTUAL research and sticking to that approach?
What goes on at Big Think meetings? Is there one employee who is responsible for ensuring that Big Think includes its fair share of small thinkers?
Human knowledge is not limited to the peripheral understanding of the West and goes far beyond.
To get a glimpse of what CONSCIOUSNESS is as concluded by the SCIENCE OF VEDANTA in the language of modern science, especially relativity and quantum mechanics but anchored on the SCIENCE OF VEDANTA in simple mathematics coupled with intuition, refer the book:
SPACETIME AND THAT BEYOND
By A.N.Unnikrishnan.
Available online.
I have been struggling with severe dental deterioration for a long time, and I often feel misunderstood when people ask why I haven’t had my teeth repaired or taken better care of them. My teeth are extensively decayed, with visible cavities and significant discoloration throughout my mouth. Although I am aware of the pain and long-term consequences, my immediate impulses and cravings especially for foods high in sugar tend to overpower my awareness of the potential harm.
This conflict seems closely tied to my state of consciousness and emotional regulation. In moments of stress, fatigue, or emotional overload, my decision-making becomes less focused on long-term health and more centered on seeking comfort or relief. Only the next day, when my body feels calm and re-energized, do I fully recognize the impact of my choices and the ongoing damage they cause. This cycle has made it difficult to break unhealthy habits, despite knowing the consequences.
That's Consciousness…….
What is Consciousness?? What I know of it Consciousness is Understand life without books but with experience and observation.
phones work both ways and ChatGPT never reached out just to see how I’m doing
Give them DMT or a heroic dose of psilocybin… then ask them that question.
Let's just love this phase when we don't know but want to know. Nature itself wants to know 'who am I'. We are the tiny cells in the body of this universe or multiverse, galaxies or ….
Our Apostle Paul tells us in Gal5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. You see this very thing play out in the garden when Eve was tempted by the serpent which is described as being subtle. Paul also tells us to repent, which is a changing of the mind. And how does one have a changing of the mind? The answer to that question is to have the mind of Christ 1Cor2:16. You see the conscious is that subtle voice, it is the flesh that wars against the Spirit(an uppercase S)for those of you who may have overlooked that critical detail. Take time to read our Apostle Paul’s epistles Roman’s through Philemon and share his message of reconciliation with as many as possible today. Grace and Peace
In fact, the only thing that is NOT an illusion is, precisely, consciousness.
Some studies are really a waste of time, a waste of money and completely nonsense. The deeper scientists go into human nature, the shittier human lives get. Look, no respect, no understanding, no hi, no good morning,… Animals have better lives than today's humans.
Consciousness is a attribute of all living bodies the difference is what these bodies provide this consciousness to transcend with these bodies
If you think about consciousness you only find it creatively in living bodies as self-awareness and potentially in matter as awareness builders
There are tow aspects of consciousness local and global, the local one itself has tow parts compact and less compacted. In order to be serene ; local should be aligned with compacted and global with less compacted
When we do the collapse of waves fonction in lab on the flat screen.
I can assure you that you get different results if the screen is lightly curved.
I appreciate this documentary for 3 things. 1- It doesn't reduce the question to simple answer many religious would give it. 2- Exactly because it goes after different, and some would say, conflicting, perspectives. 3- It doesn't try to solve the problem; it provokes the discussion and let you think about, instead of forcing an answer that nobody knows if will ever be given. Congrats, and thanks for sharing.
Fear of annihilation sure gives rise to some whacky ideas. 💡
The experiencer and the experienced is the same. We are all One and yet at the same time, everyone has their own reality. Love is Truth.