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Something is happening right now that no science can fully explain. Fall asleep to a complete exploration of the hardest unsolved question in philosophy and science.

There is a felt quality to seeing color, hearing sound, and simply existing. This is the problem of consciousness, and it remains one of the deepest unsolved questions in all of human thought.

This episode traces the mystery from Descartes and Leibniz through Thomas Nagel and David Chalmers, who gave it its modern name: the hard problem. We examine materialism, panpsychism, integrated information theory, and whether artificial intelligence could ever truly be conscious.

(0:00:00) What Is It Like to Be Alive

(0:22:01) The Ancient Puzzle and the Modern Explosion

(0:38:31) Thomas Nagel and the Bat

(0:55:03) David Chalmers and the Hard Problem

(1:11:07) The Easy Problems and Why They Matter

(1:28:42) Materialism and the Denial of Mystery

(1:44:26) Panpsychism, Consciousness All the Way Down

(2:01:02) Integrated Information Theory

(2:17:40) Is Artificial Intelligence Conscious

(2:34:36) Why Consciousness Is the Most Important Question

Suggested Reading:

The Conscious Mind by David Chalmers: https://amzn.to/4cz2CB4

Consciousness Explained by Daniel Dennett: https://amzn.to/4ukixtm

Galileo’s Error by Philip Goff: https://amzn.to/4ugzFAa

Conscious by Annaka Harris: https://amzn.to/4rhswgk

The Feeling of Life Itself by Christof Koch: https://amzn.to/3OR6WBO

The Feeling of What Happens by Antonio Damasio: https://amzn.to/4ratNFH

The Emperor’s New Mind by Roger Penrose: https://amzn.to/4leObnG

Consciousness: An Introduction by Susan Blackmore: https://amzn.to/40jib8x

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All research and writing is done personally. Subscribe to Sleepy Philosophy Radio for more longform philosophy.