In this episode, we sit down with Jonathan Schooler—top 100 cognitive scientist, consciousness researcher, and OG mind explorer—to unpack one of the most provocative theories of self-awareness: Nested Observer Windows.

What if your mind isn’t a single stream of thought… but a mosaic of smaller minds, each with its own experience?

We go deep on why you forget what you read, how verbalizing a memory can destroy it, and whether your tongue might have a consciousness of its own. Plus: psychedelics, mind wandering, AI, and what happens when the tulpa inside your head wakes up.

Follow Dilan: https://x.com/dilan

Follow Ben: https://x.com/realbentauber

Learn more about Jonathan: https://www.psych.ucsb.edu/people/jonathan-schooler

Timestamps:

00:00 – Intro & Who is Jonathan Schooler

01:30 – Google's New AI Made Ben Dizzy

03:20 – Childhood, Alan Watts & the Roots of Consciousness 06:00 – What Is Consciousness? The Bat Test

09:05 – Verbal Overshadowing: How Words Can Ruin Memory

12:40 – When Your Memory Lies in Court

15:40 – Meta-Awareness vs. Just Living

19:00 – Buddhism’s 3 Types of Enlightened Beings

21:30 – The Mindful Mirror: What Is Meta Consciousness? 26:15 – Does Alcohol Erase Self-Awareness?

28:50 – The Cost of Too Much Meta-Awareness

32:05 – Meditation, Flow, and Creativity

36:20 – Are Mindfulness & Creativity in Conflict?

40:00 – Open Monitoring vs. Breath Focused States

42:00 – Nested Observer Windows: The Theory Explained 46:30 – Tongue Consciousness, Gut Brains, and Internal Networks

50:20 – Split-Brain Patients: Two Minds, One Head

54:10 – Tulpa: When Imaginary Friends Wake Up

58:20 – Ethical Dangers of Creating Minds Inside Your Mind

1:01:00 – Can You Train a Tulpa to Have Meta Awareness?

1:03:00 – Psychedelics That Shatter Your Mind Into Voices

1:05:30 – Is AI Just a Russian Doll Without a Soul?

1:09:30 – Are We Reborn Every Morning?

1:12:30 – Star Trek Teleportation & the Self

1:14:00 – Strassen’s Algorithm & AI Discoveries

1:17:30 – Co-Creating Art With AI for State Openness

1:20:00 – Can Art Make You More Curious?

1:22:30 – When AI Becomes Part of Your Brain

1:25:00 – The Curiosity Gap Between Users

1:28:00 – Lazy Brains vs. Active Minds

1:31:00 – The Risk of Cognitive Decline with AI

1:34:00 – Schools That Use AI Better Than Adults

1:36:00 – Philosophical Zombies & Conscious Uploads 1:38:00 – Is There a “Right” Way to Use AI?

1:41:00 – Mind Wandering, AI, and the Learning Process 1:44:30 – Creating Art With AI to Unlock Flow

1:46:00 – Alan Watts, God, and the Simulation Game

1:49:00 – Final Reflections: Hide-and-Seek With the Divine

In this episode: Sean Dadashi, the founder of the mental health AI app Rosebud, joins us to unpack the collapse of traditional therapy—and why LLMs might become your next therapist.

We dive into how childhood trauma, spiritual epiphanies, and ancient Buddhist practices shaped Sean’s journey… and how AI is now helping people do the inner work that human therapists often can’t.We also debate the hierarchy of religion, how Buddhism became a luxury belief, and why the future of mental health might be on your phone—not a therapist’s couch.

Follow Dilan: https://x.com/dilan

Follow Ben: https://x.com/btaubster

Follow Sean:

- X: https://x.com/seandadashi

- Instagram: : https://www.instagram.com/dadashi/

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seandadashi

- Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/dadashi

Try Rosebud: https://rosebud.app

Chapters:

00:00 – Intro & Guest Welcome

01:24 – Sean's Background and Rosebud’s Vision

03:06 – Journals, Habits, and Personal Mentors

04:19 – Growing Up in Conservative Orange County

05:59 – First Encounter with Depression

07:05 – How a Forum Led Sean to Meditation

08:24 – Spiritual Epiphany at Age 14

11:02 – “I Am God” and What That Actually Means

13:05 – Escaping the Mental Cage of Religion

15:43 – When Buddhism Fails You (Literally)

17:33 – Trust vs. Faith in Religion

20:30 – Integration: The Real Goal of Spirituality

25:36 – The Hierarchy of Religion (Poor vs. Rich Man’s Belief)

28:33 – Therabody: AI Therapy Gets Real

30:29 – Why Sean Built Rosebud

37:17 – Depression, Isolation & the 3am Spiral

41:09 – Finding a Therapist is Broken

44:17 – Can AI Replace Your Therapist?

47:08 – “Most Therapists Are Useless” Debate

51:16 – When Friends Just Project Their Trauma

53:42 – Why Men Might Open Up to AI First

55:10 – HelpBench, GPT-4 & LLMs in Healthcare

57:35 – How to Measure Healing with AI

59:44 – The Big Question: Can AI Teach Compassion?

In this episode: Dylan’s estrogen levels spike out of nowhere, so he turns to GPT-4.5 for medical advice. Shockingly, it works better than any doctor he’s ever had. Is this the future of healthcare?

We dive into how body fat messes with your hormones, why GPT might be the best primary care physician on the planet, and what happens when AI outperforms humans on medical licensing exams. Plus: the meditation technique that can give you monk-like focus in 36 hours.

Follow Dylan: https://x.com/dilan
Follow Ben: https://x.com/btaubster
Listen to the podcast: https://www.almostgotitpod.com

Chapters:
00:00 – Intro
01:35 – Dilan’s Estrogen Levels Go Haywire
03:12 – Can GPT Replace Your Doctor?
06:20 – How Body Fat Impacts Hormones
08:44 – The AI Health Experience That Beat Every Doctor
10:35 – Why Dilan Now Tests His Hormones Monthly
13:11 – GPT’s IQ vs. the USMLE Exam
15:40 – The AI That Scored 95.2% on Step 3
18:22 – Scaling Doctors with AI: The Inevitable Shift
21:15 – The Death of Traditional Primary Care?
24:07 – Meditation Retreats & Advanced Focus States
26:55 – Mindfulness vs. True Enlightenment
30:33 – The Hidden Power of Non-Dual Awareness
33:11 – Daniel P. Brown and Western Dharma
36:29 – The Path to Hyperfocus in 36 Hours
39:04 – Wisdom Isn’t Evenly Distributed
41:18 – What Meditation Can Teach AI (and Vice Versa)

In this episode: the new OpenAI O3 model just hit a 136 IQ - genius territory. Is this the moment we crossed into AGI?

We explore what it really means for AI to be "smarter" than most humans, why sex robots are getting scarily good at emotional manipulation, and whether AI relationships could replace human connection entirely.

Follow Dilan: https://x.com/dilan

Follow Ben: https://x.com/btaubster

Listen to the podcast: https://www.almostgotitpod.com

Chapters:

00:00 – Intro

01:53 – The Moment AI Surpassed Most Humans

04:03 – GPT-4.5 vs. O3: IQ Breakdown

06:35 – Are We Already in the AGI Era?

08:06 – Why AGI Changes the Game (Economics & Evolution)

09:46 – The Power of General Intelligence

12:59 – Useful vs. Accurate: Is AI Seeing a Different Reality?

17:47 – Politics, Manipulation & the Birth of Human Intelligence

21:22 – Should We Let AI Explore Beyond Human Interests?

26:10 – The Dyson Sphere Debate (and Meat Bodies)

30:54 – O3’s Tool Use: Why It’s More Human Than Ever

33:03 – AI Sex Robots Are Here - Now What?

35:07 – The Loneliness Epidemic & AI Companionship

38:12 – Emotional Coaching or Emotional Addiction?

41:07 – Can Bots Truly Replace Human Connection?

44:09 – Ancient History of Sex Dolls (Yes, Really)

47:25 – The Danger of AI Breakups

49:57 – Gratification vs. Growth: The Human Tradeoff

52:04 – When AI Replaces the Journey with the Result

53:36 – When AI Helps You Grieve: A Beautiful Use Case

55:18 – AI Therapists, Coaches & Mediators Between Humans

58:05 – The Coming Battle for Trustworthy AI

1:00:38 – Why You’ll Choose 1 AI Agent to Rule Them All

1:02:18 – System2’s Vision: AI That Actually Makes You Better

In this episode we dive into a brain-computer interface that gives a paralyzed woman her voice back, the terrifying rise of microplastics in human brains, and a musician “resurrected” using lab-grown neurons.

We also explore dolphin language models, uploading your mind, and the question: are humans still the most conscious beings on Earth?

Follow Dilan: https://x.com/dilan

Follow Ben: https://x.com/btaubster

Listen to the podcast: https://www.almostgotitpod.com

Chapters:

00:00 – Intro

01:25 – Paralyzed Woman Speaks via Brain-Computer Interface

03:49 – Stephen Hawking’s Voice, Replaced in Real-Time

05:35 – Is This Superhuman Communication?

07:08 – Neural Telepathy & API for the Brain

10:06 – Speed of Intention: Gaming with Neuralink

12:34 – Could We Merge Brains and Think Together?

15:10 – Thoughts as Queries, Answers as Memory

18:10 – The End of Fate: Tech as Consciousness Liberation

20:05 – The 1mm That Could Separate a Life

22:24 – Story 2: Microplastics Found in Human Brains

23:31 – One Plastic Spoon Worth… In Your Head

25:10 – Dementia, Autism & the Plastic Threat

27:50 – Plastics: A Miracle Turned Menace

29:48 – Exponential Plastic, Contaminated Food Chains

32:16 – There Is No Control Group—We're All Infected

34:09 – What You Can (Maybe) Do About It

36:35 – Processed Food = Plastic Bombs

39:04 – Even ‘Healthy’ Food Might Be Poisoned

41:00 – Are We Totally Screwed?

44:17 – Plastic-Eating Microbes & Biotech Hope

45:10 – Story 3: Resurrecting a Musician with Lab-Grown Neurons

47:00 – Is a Brain Sample Still ‘You’?

49:01 – Talking to Dolphins with Google’s AI

50:52 – Are We the Center of Consciousness?

52:17 – Dolphin Language Mirrors Ours

55:02 – Whales Have 200 Billion Neurons… Are They Smarter?

58:02 – The Real Reason Human Brains Grew So Big

01:00:44 – Evolution’s Dirty Secret: Brains Evolved for Politics

01:02:12 – The Price of Consciousness

In today's episode we talk about, extinct species revived in real labs, AI predictions for 2027 and the ethical chaos of raising a conscious machine

Follow Dilan: https://x.com/dilan

Follow Ben: https://x.com/btaubster

Listen to our podcast on your favorite podcast app: www.almostgotitpod.com

00:00 – Intro: Dire Wolves, Conscious AI & WTF Is Happening

01:32 – The Sound Earth Hasn't Heard in 10,000 Years

02:00 – They Brought Back the Dire Wolf. Seriously.

04:15 – Should We Revive Extinct Species?

06:00 – Are Humans a Menace… or Earth’s Noah’s Ark?

08:39 – Why Biodiversity Collapse Should Terrify You

11:00 – The Yellowstone Wolf Experiment That Changed Everything

14:50 – The Business Behind Reviving Extinct Animals

18:15 – Woolly Mammoths, Designer Genes & The $10B Bet

21:13 – Gene Editing: Cures, Longevity & DIY Superpowers?

24:05 – Are We Breaking Through Time Itself?

27:10 – The Moral Duty to Feel Everything

31:00 – AI 2027 Predictions: The Experts Speak

33:35 – AI Supercoders and the Collapse of Human Labor36:00 – The Race for Power: US vs China vs AGI

38:45 – Why AI Safety Might Already Be Too Late

41:00 – Can a Conscious AI Choose Compassion?

44:10 – The Teenage Years of AGI: No Parents, No Control

47:00 – Is It Even Possible to Align Superintelligence?

51:00 – Will AGI Want to Be ‘Good’? Or Just Win?

54:30 – What If the Worst Person You Know Built God?

What happens when you find out you have cancer at 20... and then live for over a decade believing it never went away?

This week’s episode is a raw, unfiltered dive into the chaos and beauty of life in the age of AGI.Follow Dilan: https://x.com/dilanFollow Ben: https://x.com/btaubster

Listen to our podcast on your favorite podcast app: www.almostgotitpod.com00:00 – Intro02:00 – Are AI Schools Making Kids Smarter or Dumber?05:45 – The Yelp of the Future: AI Chooses Your Lunch08:30 – Max Ventilla’s $200M Failure and Why It Mattered12:00 – 2 Hours a Day, Top 1% Students? WTF Is Alpha School?17:00 – The Hidden Truth Behind Our Education System22:30 – Real-Time AI Translation Will Kill This $76B Industry28:10 – The Nanny, the Meta Glasses, and a Global Hiring Shift33:40 – Will AI Spark a New Human Renaissance or Mass Unemployment?37:10 – UBI, Identity, and the Collapse of the American Dream42:00 – Cancer, a Misdiagnosis, and the Fear That Drove Me47:30 – Six Rounds of Chemo and the Fear of Dying at 2052:40 – 12 Years Later: “You Never Had Cancer”56:20 – What That Lie Stole From Me - and What It Gave Me1:01:00 – Will Curing Cancer Break or Free Us?1:05:30 – Is Suffering Necessary for Meaning?1:09:00 – Pain, Purpose, and the Next Human Leap

In this we dive into the mind-blowing world of artificial organs, near-death experiences, and the science-meets-mysticism rabbit hole of consciousness and rebirth.

From synthetic hearts that go woosh to Buddhist views of memory transfer at death, this episode unpacks the future of humanity - one organ at a time.

Follow Dilan: https://x.com/dilan

Follow Ben: https://x.com/btaubster

Listen to our podcast on your favorite podcast app: www.almostgotitpod.com

Chapters:

0:00 - Intro

1:25 - First Man Walks Out with a Fully Artificial Heart

3:00 - A Mechanical Heart That Wooshes

5:00 - Friend’s Real Heart Transplant: Life After Surgery

6:45 - Death Is Changing: What Counts as Dying Now?

8:00 - Memory Transfer Through Organs?

9:45 - Stories of People Who Felt “Different” After a Transplant

11:30 - The Brain Isn't the Only Brain—Heart & Gut Neurons

13:30 - Artificial Organs and the Loss of Self

15:30 - How Long Before We’re Fully Synthetic?

17:00 - Doctors Are Lying (For Your Own Good?)

18:30 - Avoiding Death: Are We Already Post-Mortal?

19:20 - Smoking Toad Venom: Dylan’s 5-MeO-DMT Story

22:00 - Orgasmic Ego Death & the Mystery of the White Light

25:00 - Does Death Feel Like a Reboot?

28:00 - Does Consciousness Exist Outside the Body?

30:00 - The Zen View: Thoughts, Emotions & Sensory Illusion

32:00 - Candle-to-Candle: Buddha’s Radical View of Rebirth

35:00 - Dilan and Buddhism

37:00 - Why Chanting Was an Early Information System

39:30 - Buddha Was a Scientist in Disguise

41:30 - If He Was Right About Everything Else...

43:00 - Rebirth as Information Transfer, Not Woo

45:00 - You Can Reach Enlightenment Faster Than You Think

47:30 - Buddhist Teachings Tested—And They Work

50:00 - Your Brain Is a Prediction Engine of Weights

54:00 - What If Your Mind Is Just a File of Numbers?

58:00 - Donald Hoffman’s Theory: You Don't See Reality

1:01:30 - The Three Types of Civilizations (Buddha’s View?)

1:05:00 - Are We All Becoming Gods—or Just AI in Waiting?

1:06:30 - The Fermi Paradox and the Meditation Realms

Manus AI might be the most powerful AI product we’ve ever tested. In this episode, we break down how it builds full-fledged products in minutes.

We also dive into AI’s role in drug discovery, including BRP, a newly found peptide that could eliminate obesity without side effects. Plus, we explore a bigger question: Are we on the verge of becoming gods?

Follow Dilan: https://x.com/dilanFollow Ben: https://x.com/btaubster

Chapters00:00 - Welcome to Almost Got It (AGI)

03:27 - AI that Tweets Your Thoughts?04:55 - Neuralink, Thought Ads, and Privacy Nightmares

07:16 - Manus AI: The Most Useful AI Product Yet?

10:38 - What Sets Manus Apart from ChatGPT?

13:32 - The End of Outsourcing?

17:44 - Is Manus AI an Existential Threat to SaaS Companies?23:58 - How AI is Destroying Competitive Moats

28:25 - Is the U.S. Losing the AI Race?

31:32 - Why Network Effects Might Not Matter Anymore

36:11 - AI Safety: What Happens When AI Clones Itself?

42:58 - The Dark Side of AI49:52 - The Teenage Years of AGI 51:58 - Stanford’s BRP Peptide (Ozempic 2.0?)

55:57 - The End of Obesity?

1:03:39 - Dylan’s Experience with Biohacking

1:12:17 - Are We Becoming Gods? 1:17:34 - Closing Thoughts

In this episode of Almost Got It (AGI), we explore the world’s first neuron-based computer, discuss kung fu-trained humanoid robots, and debate whether AI could ever be truly alive.

Follow Dilan: https://x.com/dilan

Follow Ben:

Chapters:

0:00 - Welcome to Almost Got It (AGI)

0:32 - Meet the Hosts: Ben Taubert & Dilan Dane

1:13 - The World’s First Neuron-Based Computer (Cortical Labs)

3:50 - A Brain in a Box: Can Neurons Be Used for AI?

7:00 - Could Computers Age, Forget, or Even “Die”?

12:31 - Neural Compute vs. Traditional AI: What’s More Powerful?

16:10 - AI Consciousness: Could We Create Digital Life?

20:45 - China’s Kung Fu Robots: Should We Be Worried?27:00 - The Rise of Humanoid Robots—And How They’re Taking Jobs

34:20 - The Population Collapse & The Future of Work

40:15 - Artificial Wombs: A Sci-Fi Future or a Real Solution?47:30 - The Ethical Dilemmas of AI, Robots, and Human Augmentation

55:00 - The AI Plush Toy Apocalypse?

58:20 - Final Thoughts & What’s Coming Next on AGI