Why is Consciousness So Mysterious? | Episode 103 | Closer To Truth

How can the mindless microscopic particles that compose our brains "experience" the setting sun, the Mozart Requiem, and romantic love? Featuring interviews with Venerable Dr. Yifa, Susan Blackmore, Keith Ward, Daniel Dennett, David Chalmers, John Searle, and Colin McGinn.
Season 1, Episode 3 - #CloserToTruth
Archive episode. First aired in 2008.
▶Register for free at CTT.com for subscriber-only exclusives: bit.ly/2GXmFsP
Closer To Truth host Robert Lawrence Kuhn takes viewers on an intriguing global journey into cutting-edge labs, magnificent libraries, hidden gardens, and revered sanctuaries in order to discover state-of-the-art ideas and make them real and relevant.
▶Free access to Closer to Truth's library of 5,000 videos: bit.ly/376lkKN
Closer to Truth presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.

Пікірлер: 614

  • @MeysamShojaeeNejad
    @MeysamShojaeeNejad2 жыл бұрын

    It would be lovely to fix the audio issue and re-upload the video. Thanks for such great videos.

  • @therougesage7466

    @therougesage7466

    2 жыл бұрын

    Captions , only like one or two segments the rest of the video is completely audible

  • @blaster-zy7xx

    @blaster-zy7xx

    2 жыл бұрын

    No, the audio is a disaster mess. There is no excuse for this level of incompetance in a video where everything else is high quality. This is like watching the Disney Star Wars hotel promos and wondering, who the hell did that amature mess?

  • @MeysamShojaeeNejad

    @MeysamShojaeeNejad

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@blaster-zy7xx hold on your horses man! Things happen :)

  • @blaster-zy7xx

    @blaster-zy7xx

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@MeysamShojaeeNejad ...about this crappy video audio or the crappy Disney Star Wars hotel promos? I hope someone fixes BOTH!

  • @jn.007
    @jn.0072 жыл бұрын

    Background audio is too loud, the dialogue can't be heard

  • @ibinfo-tube5063

    @ibinfo-tube5063

    2 жыл бұрын

    I thought it's my headphones working weirdly, now I know I wasn't alone ( By the way I wasn't expecting any errors from the author's side as they are quite experts, actually nothing so wrong from them as well )

  • @therougesage7466

    @therougesage7466

    2 жыл бұрын

    Captions , only one or two little parts are inaudible the rest is good

  • @h0tbr0wn

    @h0tbr0wn

    2 жыл бұрын

    The great mystery of living being, the most embarrassing audio production. Really get it all here!

  • @tomv1140

    @tomv1140

    2 жыл бұрын

    Exactly, the 'voice overs' are too low compared to the background sounds.

  • @craigbowers4016

    @craigbowers4016

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@therougesage7466 Nope. When I try to share these with people who are already skeptical I know they're going to toss it aside if I say "Oh, ignore the poor audio for the first 5 minutes, but I promise it will be good audio afterwards!" That's like telling someone walking into a restaurant they can get by with poor air prior to ordering their meal. Nope, it is a basic necessity.

  • @TriflingGnome920
    @TriflingGnome9202 жыл бұрын

    Audio Mixing seems severely messed up on this video

  • @Bassotronics

    @Bassotronics

    2 жыл бұрын

    The audio engineer has no consciousness.

  • @TheMagnificentGman

    @TheMagnificentGman

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@Bassotronics 😂

  • @therougesage7466

    @therougesage7466

    2 жыл бұрын

    Dude captions

  • @MH25

    @MH25

    2 жыл бұрын

    What’s the purpose of doing a video if we can’t hear it or stand the background noise.really just obnoxious. Unless you’re trying to study see how many people can watch it even though they don’t like to hear the noise.

  • @browngreen933
    @browngreen9332 жыл бұрын

    Loud music trumps consciousness.

  • @peterwalsh4579
    @peterwalsh45792 жыл бұрын

    Most interesting video unfortunately the voiceover is virtually inaudible....still much of value to be inferred!

  • @Kyanzes

    @Kyanzes

    2 жыл бұрын

    Yeah, some of the videos are very hard to hear. Damn, such good content otherwise!

  • @tylerreed701

    @tylerreed701

    2 жыл бұрын

    Subtitles

  • @therougesage7466

    @therougesage7466

    2 жыл бұрын

    Captions my guy same problem here lol

  • @simesaid

    @simesaid

    2 жыл бұрын

    Yes, I inferred that they should have mixed the audio properly!

  • @simesaid

    @simesaid

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@shane7969 no, these are old videos, they cut interviews up and release these little grab-bags at the rate of 20 per hour or so. Bizarrely, the _old_ footage here is the quite sections. So?????

  • @SkrollrBeats
    @SkrollrBeats2 жыл бұрын

    Why's the background sounds so loud

  • @studiomodoki
    @studiomodoki2 жыл бұрын

    The audio makes this an incredibly frustrating experience...

  • @therougesage7466

    @therougesage7466

    2 жыл бұрын

    Captions

  • @ItsEverythingElse
    @ItsEverythingElse2 жыл бұрын

    Even if consciousness is just an emergent phenomena it's still fascinating and remarkable that a collection of matter could be self-aware.

  • @jamescollier3

    @jamescollier3

    2 жыл бұрын

    we are meat machines

  • @Bassotronics

    @Bassotronics

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@jamescollier3 Biochemical Robots

  • @nolan412

    @nolan412

    2 жыл бұрын

    We can see our feet and memory systems aren't too magical: buckets of water and pumps could do it.

  • @rizwanrafeek3811

    @rizwanrafeek3811

    2 жыл бұрын

    @myantispambox Here is a video posted by a young British former Christian, who stated in the video interview this "something was eating me inside" he was talking about his own consciousness which happened after watching a few Islamic videos on youtube. Prior to watching Islamic video he wanted to end his life due to depression. kzread.info/dash/bejne/mK6Mt5SYlK3eipc.html Here is another video posted by a popular youtuber, an American who stated in this video, his conscience was bothering him, just to shut up his own conscience, he decided to read the Quran. kzread.info/dash/bejne/kXh6wcuYe86spqg.html

  • @rizwanrafeek3811

    @rizwanrafeek3811

    2 жыл бұрын

    Quran 41:53 We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth. But is it not sufficient concerning your Lord that He is, over all things, a Witness?

  • @Meats_Potatoes
    @Meats_Potatoes2 жыл бұрын

    Good episode...EXCEPT, the audio of the non-interview segments is way too low for Dr. Kuhn with the background music being much louder than his audio and the interview segments are louder still. The audio mixer was mixed up. Also, as another commenter pointed out interview, dates would help as some episodes are rather dated.

  • @apemanblunder
    @apemanblunder2 жыл бұрын

    The audio, in the last several installments, has been poor. Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon, or is it just my computer?

  • @craigbowers4016

    @craigbowers4016

    2 жыл бұрын

    Nope, I experienced this too and it is why I haven't been sharing the videos.

  • @moisespramirez
    @moisespramirez2 жыл бұрын

    Robert, the sound of your voice when coming simultaneously with music is almost superseded completely by music’s volume

  • @windycityspecialties
    @windycityspecialties2 жыл бұрын

    I love listening to this channel, I just wish they would get their sound fixed. So much background noise or music louder than the actual interviews.

  • @richardedward123
    @richardedward1232 жыл бұрын

    I don't claim to fully understand John Searle's take, but his makes the most sense to me. My favorite topic.

  • @jeffforsythe9514

    @jeffforsythe9514

    2 жыл бұрын

    The brain is like the cockpit of an airplane and the soul is the pilot. Our soul is our consciousness, just my opinion.

  • @shadowoffire4307

    @shadowoffire4307

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@jeffforsythe9514 is that soul has license to fly the plane like brain?

  • @jeffforsythe9514

    @jeffforsythe9514

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@shadowoffire4307 The brain does nothing without the energy and direction of the soul(the mind)

  • 2 жыл бұрын

    Tip: turn on subtitles to be able to understand the inaudible commentary.

  • @spaceexplorer3690

    @spaceexplorer3690

    2 жыл бұрын

    Pa i titlovi su sranje

  • @The1KovacsAttila1
    @The1KovacsAttila12 жыл бұрын

    Very interesting topic, I am following this channel since 2 or 3 years now! Very good content, I would say Unique! Unfortunately this video is so hard to hear! The music is too loud, and the voice over is also badly mastered. But I will re-watch it, with subtitles next time (later today). Again, very good content! Thank you for the channel Mr. Kuhn!

  • @audioartisan

    @audioartisan

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for mentioning the unbalanced audio mix. I thought I was having a browser audio issue.

  • @Robinson8491
    @Robinson84912 жыл бұрын

    Great episode, the editing has certainly improved storywise. I don't mind the low commentary voice volume, but can be increased certainly a notch. But having a difference between interviewer and narrater function is applauded by me, it's good that you're trying. I've found these last episodes very watchable I noticed :) relaxing Also John Searle is making a lot of sense and resonating with me, that the focus is a biological one and not a physical quantum mechanical superuniverse one, I like listening to him as the voice of the 'normal majority' of reason However since I've seen the electrical effect of cells on each other in Michael Levin's work all bets are off right now for me. It could be waves, electromagnetical interactions, who knows: and not magical woowoo, but just interactions between biological matter and fields in a communicating way we don't yet understand. Fascinating stuff

  • @dare-er7sw

    @dare-er7sw

    2 жыл бұрын

    Consciousness is intimately yours. I believe it's the only changeless reality against which all changes (even space and time) are perceived. The circumstantial evidence from NDEs is out there.

  • @winstonsmith8240
    @winstonsmith82402 жыл бұрын

    What's happened to the audio?

  • @johnsullivan2449
    @johnsullivan24492 жыл бұрын

    Consciousness permeates the universe and is expressed through the material world in all its forms. Humans, animals, plants, the matter of the universe is all a manifestation of creative intelligence.

  • @simesaid
    @simesaid2 жыл бұрын

    This is ep. 103, and CTT is up to well over one thousand now, I just wish they would put the actual interview dates in them to gain context.

  • @redmed10

    @redmed10

    2 жыл бұрын

    The logistics of this series astounds me. It is so well edited together. It just flows so well.

  • @DestroManiak

    @DestroManiak

    2 жыл бұрын

    There arent 1000 episodes. first two digits is the season, second two digits are the episodes. so episode 1915 means season 19 episode 15. there are about 400 episodes total. 20 seasons and 20 eps each

  • @simesaid

    @simesaid

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@DestroManiak Ah, thank you. They could, perhaps, have been a little clearer on the designations. So the above is ep 3. of the first season, I take it? In any case, the chopping up of whole interviews into sound-bites, and that some episodes of CTT double up, or overlap, them, still calls for proper titling.

  • @DestroManiak

    @DestroManiak

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@simesaid This is a somewhat common naming convention for tv series.

  • @simesaid

    @simesaid

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@DestroManiak Again, this may well be so, however, the fact remains that most TV shows _don't_ present such completely disjointed interviews, but nevertheless still _do_ provide appropriate titling as context for their audience .

  • @Soapandwater6
    @Soapandwater62 жыл бұрын

    Daniel Dennett's view makes the most sense.

  • @surendrakverma555
    @surendrakverma5552 жыл бұрын

    Very good discussion. Thanks 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

  • @innocentheart1031
    @innocentheart10312 жыл бұрын

    It is an amazing video but the music competes with your voice in the background! Thank you for your efforts.

  • @rtk3543
    @rtk35432 жыл бұрын

    Its funny how I agree with the first explanation of consciousness until I hear the second explanation of consciousness 🤔 Love this channel.

  • @jeffforsythe9514

    @jeffforsythe9514

    2 жыл бұрын

    The brain is like the cockpit of an airplane and the soul is the pilot. Our soul is our consciousness, just my opinion.

  • @crownhic6827
    @crownhic68272 жыл бұрын

    Hello. Is there anybody out there?

  • @safaaismail5416

    @safaaismail5416

    2 жыл бұрын

    I see closer to truth in the notifications , i immediately press

  • @EmdrGreg
    @EmdrGreg2 жыл бұрын

    This is one of the best episodes of CTT so far. Thanks, Robert.

  • @adamburling9551
    @adamburling95512 жыл бұрын

    Good video Robert 👍

  • @Bassotronics
    @Bassotronics2 жыл бұрын

    Who edits the audio of some of these videos? Music is too loud!

  • @orangetwingo
    @orangetwingo2 жыл бұрын

    Please repost with corrected audio. Thank you!

  • @ozzylogano6732
    @ozzylogano67322 жыл бұрын

    I hope in future we will explore consciousness more and have welcoming communities

  • @TreeBreezeL
    @TreeBreezeL2 жыл бұрын

    fantastic video

  • @protector808
    @protector8082 жыл бұрын

    Another great one. What is the Celtic sounding soundtrack at the end around 24:40? Beautiful!

  • @thomassoliton1482
    @thomassoliton14822 жыл бұрын

    The Buddhist concept of consciousness vs. karma is very interesting. Typically karma is described as including past experiences in the present as well as former lives. At it’s simplest, even if only one’s present lifetime is included, consciousness comprises the moment-to-moment experience of reality, with “karma” being the “embodiment” of those experiences into memory,. Consciousness then is both current experience of external reality, or experience of past memories, including our actions and reactions to past situations, including emotional reactions. Karma could also be extended to include our genetic predisposition to react in certain ways - e.g. by “ancestry” and evolution. IMO past “personal” lives do not exist, because personal conscious dies with our brains. On the other hand, our experiences also live on in many ways in the minds of other conscious and reflective “sentient” beings.

  • @jeffforsythe9514

    @jeffforsythe9514

    2 жыл бұрын

    The brain is like the cockpit of an airplane and the soul is the pilot. Our soul is our consciousness, just my opinion.

  • @tonycoz2309
    @tonycoz23092 жыл бұрын

    Loving these insights but please can the audio be one consistent level right through.

  • @david.thomas.108
    @david.thomas.1082 жыл бұрын

    David Chalmers is the best

  • @louisstatham1120
    @louisstatham11202 жыл бұрын

    The problem as I see it is in the use of the word 'exist'. We are so attached to the 'thingyness' of reality that we that we dismiss as unreal that that is not objectively real. One way to put this is 'consiousness is real but it does not exist'. If we cannot get our heads around this we will forever be stuck with the 'problem' of consciousness. The following is an analogy, or really an example, that we can all understand. A tune is greater than the sum of its constitiuent notes, but is not accessable to reductionism. The tune is not quantitatively greater but qualitatively greater than its notes. The tune only 'exists' as a conscious experience. The reductionist reply to this would be to point to the detectable NCCs and state that that this IS the experience. To understand this we have to go in the opposite direction of reductionism, that is, synthesis where we will find 'wholes' that are qualitatively greater than the sum their parts. Consciousness and biology are interdependent and co-emergent. Which means...no biology - no consciousness and no consciousness - no biology. Most will see this as dualistic but they would be mistaken . 2:3, 1:2, 3.1415 : 1 are ratios, and therefore dual. But 0:1 or infinity: 1 are not because there is no-'thing on the left side of the :. This error or seeming limitation is understandable as we have evolved to operate in a world of 'things'. But the time has come for us to see through this limitation.

  • @dare-er7sw

    @dare-er7sw

    2 жыл бұрын

    Have you read nisargadatta?

  • @louisstatham1120

    @louisstatham1120

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@dare-er7sw hi. The little I know of his wisdom I totally agree with. We don't need to attain Love/Unity, we just need to let go of the self imposed impediments. Easier said than done though, but we must be disciplined and continue to wake up.

  • @dare-er7sw

    @dare-er7sw

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@louisstatham1120 I was watching an interview where the man claimed to have horrible memories of the Holocaust. He saw himself thrown off a cliff and shot by the nazis in his past life including his mother and young sister. Now what do you make of such accounts? Why did the soul underwent tragedy in Holocaust and was born again just 9 years later? It's all senseless. In NDEs God told a woman that it's all perfect and there is a plan/purpose and reason for all the evil, pain, and suffering that exists in the world. What? It's all an illusion where the seperate self has gone on s dream like journey bound by karma and causation. It doesn't make any sense. Nisargadatta in his experience of enlightenment saw that there were innumerable universes each with their own gods. This mysterious power, call it God, life, or the self looked after the worlds. He saw himself as the witness only and the absolute reality. He saw that waves of consciousness arising and falling beginlessly and endless on the ocean of the Absolute reality which he was/we are.

  • @louisstatham1120

    @louisstatham1120

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@dare-er7sw Hi Joy I don't know about that sort of thinking. I have a simple view. It is that we suffer from the illusion that we are separate and finite. We have forgotten that we are the sea and not just a wave. We feel we are just a flower and have forgotten that we are the garden. We have not understood the wise of the past who said... The Atman and Brahman are the same. I and the father are one. The spokes and the wheel are one. We are still asleep.

  • @dare-er7sw

    @dare-er7sw

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@louisstatham1120 You're right.

  • @MH25
    @MH252 жыл бұрын

    Please lower the music volume so you can hear you.

  • @stephencarlsbad
    @stephencarlsbad2 жыл бұрын

    Consciousness is absolutely reducible. It starts off with awareness, then collides with abstract subjectivity and the physical world (space-time) to produce personal experience in thought and action/inaction. Consciousness is enmeshed with spacetime and physical matter making it the 5th dimension.

  • @ispamforfood
    @ispamforfood2 жыл бұрын

    Love your videos, but I do have to say that lately, your background audio is turned up enough to drown out Mr Kuhn's voiceover too much. Turn that background audio down more (or the voiceover UP more) please. :-)

  • @elgs1980
    @elgs19802 жыл бұрын

    "The reality we perceive is the function of the consciousness we are.". Very well said. I have the same conviction, too.Somehow I think all other people don't exist at all. They, including their consciousness are just part of my consciousness. This can be applied to anyone.

  • @Nakji92
    @Nakji922 жыл бұрын

    Recently, I can't hear what's being said between the interviews because the background sound is muffling the voices. Can it be fixed?

  • @Sameer-er3wz
    @Sameer-er3wz2 жыл бұрын

    I am reminded of Sri Nisrgadatta Maharaj - Can fire ever know heat? Can water ever know dampness? You cannot know it (consciousness), you can only be it.

  • @jeffforsythe9514

    @jeffforsythe9514

    2 жыл бұрын

    Sorry, The brain is like the cockpit of an airplane and the soul is the pilot. Our soul is our consciousness, just my opinion.

  • @agar1974
    @agar19742 жыл бұрын

    Knowing, understanding and experiencing of TOTALITY is Consciousness…

  • @shadowoffire4307

    @shadowoffire4307

    2 жыл бұрын

    Shut up mostafa

  • @agar1974

    @agar1974

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@shadowoffire4307 What do you mean?

  • @shadowoffire4307

    @shadowoffire4307

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@agar1974 you know what I mean.

  • @agar1974

    @agar1974

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@shadowoffire4307 No, I don’t know what you mean.

  • @ingenuity168
    @ingenuity1682 жыл бұрын

    I love David's hair, so unruly and carefree. 🤣👍🏻😆

  • @godthecreatoryhvh681
    @godthecreatoryhvh6812 жыл бұрын

    You becoming up date, it took exacly 2 decay boosting intelligence and bring intense feeling= love 😎

  • @worldnotworld
    @worldnotworld2 жыл бұрын

    Consciousness is no more mysterious than any other brute fact. In other words, it is deeply mysterious.

  • @jeffforsythe9514

    @jeffforsythe9514

    2 жыл бұрын

    Brute fact? Consciousness is your soul when you are awake, that's all folks.

  • @Adm_Guirk
    @Adm_Guirk2 жыл бұрын

    Closer to truth but further from a good audio mix

  • @Northwind82
    @Northwind822 жыл бұрын

    It Would be nice if the audio could be redone. Cc couldn't even catch everything that was said because it's so quiet

  • @anirudhadhote
    @anirudhadhoteАй бұрын

    ❤ Very good 👍🏼

  • @OODeagleOO
    @OODeagleOO2 жыл бұрын

    Every great puzzle takes time

  • @OODeagleOO

    @OODeagleOO

    2 жыл бұрын

    I’m sure there are scenarios where we could force the answers out (simulations, genetic engineering, etc). My inclination would be towards doing nothing other than observing. It’s kept us going so far.. scientists largest issue will always be their own patience haha

  • @nyworker
    @nyworker2 жыл бұрын

    I think each one of these people he interviews make great points. Chalmers puts it most succinctly philosophically; his zombie conjecture underscores the epistemic. As an engineer I can better see where they all miss it.

  • @keklord

    @keklord

    2 жыл бұрын

    The philosophical zombie is not imaginable in the way charmers wants to use it. If all of the system is present in a zombie that is identically in you or me then there is no way to assume that a zombie is at all possible. Consciousness is reducible and Dennett has the most plausible argument.

  • @kerrynicholls3435
    @kerrynicholls34352 жыл бұрын

    Please next time lower the volume on the background music and voices and raise the volume of the narrator so it is easier to hear and understand without distracting noise.

  • @bilal6719
    @bilal67192 жыл бұрын

    I don't know what conciousness is but there is some real truth that we don't know.

  • @NothingMaster
    @NothingMaster2 жыл бұрын

    Ultimately because we seem to be conscious of something that we don’t know what it is, where it came from, and why not Nothing.

  • @tomdi-grazia5243
    @tomdi-grazia52432 жыл бұрын

    @ Daniel Dennett : CONSCIOUSNESS EXPLAINED ? ! WOW . . . . . PLEASE EXPLAIN IT TO ME, DANIEL. I Have Been Wanting To Know Since I Was 7 Years Young In MINEO / SICILY / ITALY. I Am Now 77 Years OLD In Melbourne / Australia. Thank You, Daniel. I Can't Hardly Wait To Hear From You.

  • @nessieness5433
    @nessieness5433 Жыл бұрын

    The background music should be kept at a lower level, it interferes with what Kuhn is saying.

  • @captainphil2023
    @captainphil20232 жыл бұрын

    I just wonder if you realise that the music is too loud sometimes, and I can't hear the presenters voice?

  • @breno2024
    @breno20242 жыл бұрын

    Mr. Kuhn, I am enjoying these videos very much. May I make a production suggestion? Pay more attention to the audio quality, as many KZreadrs say it is even more important than the video. E.g. 0:40 the bell seems to be as loud the word 'commonplace', which means your background music is too loud.

  • @kabootarkhoob
    @kabootarkhoob2 жыл бұрын

    The music is louder than the voice!

  • @hannas4486
    @hannas4486 Жыл бұрын

    The background music is louder than the narrative throughout the video, can you please fix the audio and upload the corrected video? Thanks!

  • @godthecreatoryhvh681
    @godthecreatoryhvh6812 жыл бұрын

    All this before freewill as been finaly given😎

  • @ibinfo-tube5063
    @ibinfo-tube50632 жыл бұрын

    👉📣 Consciousness driving us in the days at it's will and treating our souls in the same manner when we sleep = Closer to the Truth 🤔

  • @jeffforsythe9514

    @jeffforsythe9514

    2 жыл бұрын

    The brain is like the cockpit of an airplane and the soul is the pilot. Our soul is our consciousness, just my opinion.

  • @ibinfo-tube5063

    @ibinfo-tube5063

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@jeffforsythe9514 I think so too

  • @marcosbatista1029
    @marcosbatista10292 жыл бұрын

    conscioness is everything , all reality is informational .

  • @bumandy
    @bumandy2 жыл бұрын

    narration volume low compared to interviews. need to adjust volume throughout the video to hear everything. please fix

  • @tomdi-grazia5243
    @tomdi-grazia52432 жыл бұрын

    @ Lawrence Kuhn : When It Comes To NEUROSCIENCE MATTERS, John Searle Is My Hero. I Place Him ABOVE ALL OTHERS, Including Baroness Susan Greenfield. tom di-grazia / Doncaster / Melbourne / Australia.

  • @DavidG2P
    @DavidG2P2 жыл бұрын

    In the following, I'll give a definition of consciousness. Consciousness is what always emerges whenever an autopoietic system (which is the definition of a living organism) exists embedded in an environment that provides the resources for that autopoietic system to continue to exist (the latter being the definition of life). Consciousness is the result of a complexity reduction (of the arbitrary complex environment) that the autopoietic system generates by interacting with and filtering the environment using its internal processes. In other words, consciousness is a simplified reproduction/simulation of the arbitrary complex environment/reality (that includes the autopoietic system itself), simplified in a sense that the simulation only contains those aspects of the environment/reality that are relevant for the survival of the autopoietic system. In this sense, any autopoietic system of any size or complexity has consciousness, be it a biological cell, a society, an anthill, an ant, a brain, or a Bénard cell. There you have it, this is the definition of consciousness.

  • @WhatYouSeeIsAllThereIs

    @WhatYouSeeIsAllThereIs

    2 жыл бұрын

    Ask why for every system or science that you just stated and it will break down to the unknown… it’s an uncomfortable truth but you trying to make sense of what consciousness is is hilarious. Just like using is twice in a row.

  • @WhatYouSeeIsAllThereIs

    @WhatYouSeeIsAllThereIs

    2 жыл бұрын

    You always have to generalize and make sense of a generality to come to your “truth” of what it is… why can’t it just be without science

  • @jeffforsythe9514

    @jeffforsythe9514

    2 жыл бұрын

    The brain is like the cockpit of an airplane and the soul is the pilot. Our soul is our consciousness, just my opinion.

  • @stephencarlsbad
    @stephencarlsbad2 жыл бұрын

    What if we've got the dimensions wrong and the 1st dimension is consciousness(awareness, abstract subjectivity, free will all interacting with the physical world) the 2nd is a dot, the 3rd is a line, the 4th is a depth/volume, the 5th is space-time and they are all relative to each other?

  • @nietzschescodes
    @nietzschescodes2 жыл бұрын

    recently the sound is awful on the recent uploads of Closer to Truth. it is hard to concentrate...

  • @jayadasd
    @jayadasd2 жыл бұрын

    @RobertKuhn just curious if you could find some answers from South Indian Vedic astrology. It has such great predictive power and accuracy that would make you rethink some of these assumptions about the physical world

  • @popgeddy
    @popgeddy2 жыл бұрын

    Please turn the volume down on the music and VT’s and turn the voiceover volume up, thank you. Great content otherwise 👍😊

  • @BennettP1824
    @BennettP18242 жыл бұрын

    Could not hear Robert’s summation because of sound problems.

  • @universalscience360
    @universalscience3602 жыл бұрын

    Topic is interesting but background music is some time too loud than commentary.

  • @Self-Duality
    @Self-Duality2 жыл бұрын

    Mystery (i.e., undecidability) forms the “transformational structure” of the universe.

  • @enoughofthis
    @enoughofthis2 жыл бұрын

    Is consciousness immortal?

  • @Soapandwater6

    @Soapandwater6

    2 жыл бұрын

    It seems like consciousness is immortal, but that doesn't make it so. Since we can't see consciousness and it doesn't feel like it's attached to the physical body, we like to imagine that it will never die and enjoy the comfort in that.

  • @08wolfeyes
    @08wolfeyes2 жыл бұрын

    I think the problem is that we look for consciousness in one place as if we can point and say ' There it is ' but i don't think that's the case. Now i'm not saying that i believe that it's something magical or outside of the mind because i simply don't see that as something possible or that makes sense from an evolutionary point of view. If i think about myself, my thoughts what do i think and feel? I can see things, describe them, my hands can feel them. I can hear things around me, the wind, people talking etc. I also have feelings within which i know is chemical in nature but also interpreted in the brain. These things happen in a very short amount of time and we can only consciously focus on one at a time, one after another. I wonder if because of the speed of such things and the feelings that connect to those moments, if we maybe view it as a single thing that we call consciousness rather than it being many different things, including but not limited to, feelings, emotions, chemical interactions etc. I guess you could say that consciousness is what's left after the brain has filtered out our senses so that we aren't overloaded with information. We know the brain filters much of the information it receives every second of every day and what's left is what we perceive as consciousness,

  • @caricue

    @caricue

    2 жыл бұрын

    No offense, but you had an awful lot of "I's" in there. If you look at yourself from the outside, everything looks very different.

  • @rusdayatiidrus5401
    @rusdayatiidrus54012 жыл бұрын

    Unlike in Mainland China, In USA all religions flourish to the ultimate point. These clerics from different faiths come up with interesting n illuminating explanations to the questions on what consciousness is in their faiths.

  • @lorettawatkins5024
    @lorettawatkins50242 жыл бұрын

    Hard to hear first Pat Volume varies too much

  • @allenheart582
    @allenheart582 Жыл бұрын

    It's been a conundrum for nearly a century, but only for materialists who insist that metaphysics is a quaint way of looking at things. Eben Alexander, MD survived an attack by bacteria on his brain, putting him in a coma for a week, providing this trained scientist with his own experience of life after death. On recovery he sat in on the medical discussion about what had happened to him in which he could analyze the consciousness he had experienced in view of what medical science understands. All explanations required a functioning brain, especially a neocortex, which, in his case was being eaten by microbes. He wrote "Proof of Heaven" to share what he had learned from his Near-Death Experience. "I understood how blind to the full nature of the spiritual universe...I had been, who had believed that matter was the core reality. p. 57. I explored this revelation in "Surviving the Micronova."

  • @rscottadams7082
    @rscottadams70822 жыл бұрын

    The "between the interviews" commentary audio volume is way too low on this otherwise excellent episode.

  • @jamesruscheinski8602
    @jamesruscheinski86022 жыл бұрын

    Is there a way to measure how time effects the brain? Some things people say about consciousness sounds like could have to do with time

  • @rizwanrafeek3811

    @rizwanrafeek3811

    2 жыл бұрын

    Here is a video posted by a young British former Christian, who stated in the video interview this "something was eating me inside" he was talking about his own consciousness which happened after watching a few Islamic videos on youtube. Prior to watching Islamic video he wanted to end his life due to depression. kzread.info/dash/bejne/mK6Mt5SYlK3eipc.html Here is another video posted by a popular youtuber, an American who stated in this video, his conscience was bothering him, just to shut up his own conscience, he decided to read the Quran. kzread.info/dash/bejne/kXh6wcuYe86spqg.html

  • @brettsokoloski3772

    @brettsokoloski3772

    2 жыл бұрын

    Quantum tubular engrams overlapping through time give rises to timeless consciousness, me entrails.

  • @ericsmith1801

    @ericsmith1801

    2 жыл бұрын

    The Flow Experience is worth learning about: "The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost," Csíkszentmihályi said in an interview with Wired magazine.

  • @jeffforsythe9514

    @jeffforsythe9514

    2 жыл бұрын

    The brain is like the cockpit of an airplane and the soul is the pilot. Our soul is our consciousness, just my opinion.

  • @skybellau
    @skybellau2 жыл бұрын

    Possibly a new digital editor who accidently made the background sound effects more dominant than the narrator's voice and hasnt had time to do a fix before upload time :D

  • @galaxymetta5974
    @galaxymetta59742 жыл бұрын

    Consciousness seems to operate on the level of quantum mechanics. Modern research on Near Death Experience by Raymond moody, reincarnation memories by Ian Stevenson/Jim trucker and past lives regression by Brian Weiss all independently but coincidentally show that our consciousness survive death, we live many lives and our thoughts and actions matter in the hereafter. So be kind and helpful to others, be virtuous, meditate and cultivate ourselves to higher spiritual levels. Cheers.

  • @iramnabj2928
    @iramnabj29282 жыл бұрын

    Music louder than speech which is annoying in such an interesting topic. My consciousness requires lots of attention and focus to understand the minute details explained in the talk...😁🥺

  • @LightningBoltJpS
    @LightningBoltJpS2 жыл бұрын

    This audio needs to be remixed for this video. The narrative parts aren’t loud enough.

  • @agentsmithisalive
    @agentsmithisalive2 жыл бұрын

    Such a shame the audio mix is so poor. A version without the music would be much appreciated.

  • @bumandy
    @bumandy2 жыл бұрын

    but very informative video

  • @edgonzalez9797
    @edgonzalez97972 жыл бұрын

    Make counciousness in the lab and lots of these questions will be answered !! In my opinion !!

  • @redmed10
    @redmed102 жыл бұрын

    Lawrence must be virtually constantly on a plane.

  • @DaGrybo
    @DaGrybo2 жыл бұрын

    Susanne Blackmore is very ignorant to both consciousness and materialism, yet wants to speak about it so loudly. She has proven to be nihilistic in many ways, sending her much love.

  • @joegeorge3889
    @joegeorge38892 жыл бұрын

    I'm hearing two voices and music at the beginning

  • @FarFromZero
    @FarFromZero2 жыл бұрын

    This is what you do. While thinking about consciousness you always reach the same wayside cross. There you always chose the same path. After ending lost somewhere deeply in the woods you return to your starting point and repeat. Like it's groundhog day. As long as you always think about the brain you will never be able to ... "get closer to truth".

  • @Gotenham
    @Gotenham2 жыл бұрын

    Audio is stuffed between the interviews, can't hear anything thing

  • @frankcolumbus3330
    @frankcolumbus33302 жыл бұрын

    Without a soul we are nothing.

  • @robertsterler7091
    @robertsterler70912 жыл бұрын

    audio problems

  • @erinm1218
    @erinm12182 жыл бұрын

    Maybe consciousness as we experience it is a material, smoothing-out function in the brain that makes our sense perceptions seem continuous and fills in the gaps when there are some (like optical illusions). The interruptions we could "experience" would be anesthesia, coma, and to a lesser extent , sleep disorders. Also the realm of severe mental illness where a medication or electric shock can in some cases provide immediate reversal.

  • @hgnmkik5367
    @hgnmkik53672 жыл бұрын

    A bit off topic: about the editing. Why is the background music so much in the forefront? It distracts from the content. My hearing is fine btw.

  • @buddhanature7
    @buddhanature72 жыл бұрын

    Light(Electromagnetic waves) is consciousness. Light(Electricity,Electromagnetic) is fundamental.

  • @watarikeito
    @watarikeito2 жыл бұрын

    Please fix s as audio and re upload it. Thanks

  • @kennethhamilton817
    @kennethhamilton8172 жыл бұрын

    Very interesting but I cannot hear above the music and background noise. I totally missed at least 20%. Of the words.

  • @carlos.tato.garcia4870
    @carlos.tato.garcia48702 жыл бұрын

    The audio mix is less that optimum , if you need help I am an audio post engineer . Cheers

  • @PATRICKJLM
    @PATRICKJLM2 жыл бұрын

    With all due respect but has the person responsible for the sound hearing issues? The sound as always is so bad. Not the quality, but the level and the mix. The music is higher than the voice, and as always, the level on Mr. Kuhn's voice changes a lot from interview to interview. I have stopped watching because it is frustrating to have to adjust the volume several times during a video. Is it so difficult to have the same level of volume from the beginning to the end of a video? (Rhetorical question - I know it is very easy).