Riccardo Manzotti is the author of "The Spread Mind: Why Consciousness and the World Are One." Riccardo teaches Psychology of Perception at IULM University, Milan (Italy), and has specialized in AI, artificial vision, perception, and the philosophy and science of consciousness.

The discussion you will hear in this episode deals with a few different subjects brought up in Riccardo's work, namely what the "Spread Mind" hypothesis is, and what its underlying premise means in regards to our understanding of what the "mind" really is, and how scientific exploration into the brain and neurological functioning will not lead to any answers regarding where our conscious experience comes from. Riccardo's new book "The Spread Mind" delves deeply into this fascinating subject and radically shifts our understanding of consciousness and points to another much needed and necessary way to frame our understanding of this subject.

"In The Spread Mind, Riccardo Manzotti convincingly argues that our bodies do not contain subjective experience. Yet consciousness is real, and, like any other real phenomenon, is physical. Where is it, then? Manzotti's radical hypothesis is that consciousness is one and the same as the physical world surrounding us.

Drawing on Einstein's theories of relativity, evidence about dreams and hallucination, and the geometry of light in perception, and using vivid, real-world examples to illustrate his ideas, Manzotti argues that consciousness is not a ''movie in the head.'' Experience is not in our head: it is the actual world we move in."

Episode Notes:

- Visit Riccardo's website to find out more about this work: http://www.consciousness.it

- Purchase "The Spread Mind: Why Consciousness and the World Are One" from the publisher's site: http://www.orbooks.com/catalog/the-spread-mind

- Or from Amazon (https://goo.gl/9yTmEH), or your local bookstore.

- Read Tim Parks and Riccardo's in-depth discussions on consciousness and the mind in The New York Review of Books: http://www.nybooks.com/contributors/riccardo-manzotti

- The song featured in this episode is "Come Down To Us" by Burial from the EP "Rival Dealer."

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