Donald Hoffman & Anil Seth - New Frontiers in the Science of Consciousness
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Published 2024-02-22
Prof. Donald Hoffman is Professor Emeritus of Cognitive Sciences at the University of California, and the author of over 100 scientific papers and three books, including Visual Intelligence, and The Case Against Reality.
Prof. Anil Seth is Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, where he is also Director of the Sussex Centre for Consciousness Science. His new book: Being You has won several awards and was a Sunday Times Bestseller.
This conversation explores parallels in their theories of consciousness but also the areas where their thinking diverges.
The topics covered include:
— How the reality we experience every day is an illusion
— Whether or not artificial intelligence will ever become conscious
— Mathematical proof that the space-time paradigm is doomed and the early research investigating what might be underneath.
— The practical implications of Donald’s and Anil’s theories - both for society and for every day life.
And more.
You can learn more about Anil’s work at anilseth.com/ and follow Donald on X at @donalddhoffman.
Anil’s book: bit.ly/3Sw0Ogp
Donald’s book: bit.ly/3SCwTTA
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Prof. Donald Hoffman, PhD received his PhD from MIT, and joined the faculty of the University of California, Irvine in 1983, where he is a Professor Emeritus of Cognitive Sciences. He is an author of over 100 scientific papers and three books, including Visual Intelligence, and The Case Against Reality. He received a Distinguished Scientific Award from the American Psychological Association for early career research, the Rustum Roy Award of the Chopra Foundation, and the Troland Research Award of the US National Academy of Sciences. His writing has appeared in Edge, New Scientist, LA Review of Books, and Scientific American and his work has been featured in Wired, Quanta, The Atlantic, and Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman. You can watch his TED Talk titled “Do we see reality as it is?” and you can follow him on Twitter @donalddhoffman.
Anil Seth is Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, and the Co-Director of the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science. He is a Wellcome Trust Engagement Fellow, and a Senior Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. Professor Seth is Editor-in-Chief of Neuroscience of Consciousness, sits on the steering group and advisory board of the Human Mind Project, and was President of the British Science Association Psychology Section in 2017.
He is the author of 'Being You" (amzn.to/3E4PI8K), the co-author of the ‘30 Second Brain’, and contributes regularly to a variety of media including New Scientist, The Guardian, and the BBC. His 2017 TED talk has been viewed more than 9 million times. Professor Seth’s research bridges neuroscience, mathematics, artificial intelligence, computer science, psychology, philosophy and psychiatry. He has also worked extensively with playwrights, dancers and other artists to shape a truly humanistic view of consciousness and self.
You can keep up to date with his work at www.anilseth.com/.
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Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:33 - Understanding Consciousness
08:57 - Prof. Seth on Consciousness
17:07 - Exploring Consciousness
21:08 - Theories on Consciousness
27:19 - Beyond Space-time Perspectives
31:41 - Emergence and Scientific Explanation
37:58 - Consciousness in AI
51:30 - Death in a Conscious Universe
58:16 - Consciousness and Existential Perspectives
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Interview Links:
— Prof Hoffman’s profile: www.cogsci.uci.edu/~ddhoff
— Prof Hoffman’s book: bit.ly/3SCwTTA
— Prof Seth’s website: www.anilseth.com/
— Prof Seth’s book: bit.ly/3Sw0Ogp
All Comments (21)
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Think my money is on Hoffman's approach. Seth's responses on the big questions (hard problem of consciousness, trying to justify reductionism etc) did not, to me, seem convincing (but I'm no expert). Hoffman's ideas of consciousness being fundamental seems to ring so true. Be great to see how the research continues by these brilliant scientists.
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I love these two guys. Anil is so constrained while being very open to new idea’s about perception and construction, and Don is way out there with radical, and fascinating ideas. Both guys are humble, respectful, kind and wise. Gives me faith
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Beautiful conversation. Learned about new a perspective in modern cognitive neroscience that I previously saw in the Upanishads (Hoffman's view). It's also great to see how Anil illustrates the importance of existing fundamental structures as they have been working well so far, and how analysis on different fundamental levels is important. Absolutely brilliant on both sides, lucky to be hearing a conversation of this level for free and with such ease.
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10 Minutes into this I realized that I HAVE to subscribe to TWU yearly subscription. Such interesting and engaging content! Great work!
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Hard to let go of the materialist paradigm if you’ve built your career and identity within it.
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Hoffman is 100% sure of the approach to his results but totally humble & open to others finding valid holes in his theory, which they haven't been able to do yet
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I loved Anil's comments around psyche traits, how we "see" things, and echo chamber awareness.
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Hoffman has a rare virtue that most do not and it's humility. Being able to have ego death, realise it and move forward with even wider eyes is nice to see.
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Love these conversations. Thank you.
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Great to see these two together but if it had been a much longer conversation and if the questions hadn't so quickly jumped from one topic to another, I think Don might have converted Anil to Idealism... well, not really. But, eventually, I believe all open-minded materialists will be converted.
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It’s astonishing how scientists like Seth seem content to wait for the hard problem to dissolve at some unknown future point- rather than abandon the materialist paradigm for a more rational ontology
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I loved the humility and respect for your opposing and agreeing meaning - decently like the wisdom of the golden ratio between the greater and lesser mediated by the “mean “ balance -monad or as manly hall says - the coordinator - awesome
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Donald sir has it. I feel he is able to point to fundamental reality. Seth though agnostic still is immersed in materialism.
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Donald's ideas are so radical that I dont think Anil or the host "get it".
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Wonderful. Thank you both sincerely.
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Hoffman is interested in the question " what is Reality"? Seth is interested in the question " what ordinary things can we explain ? To me its a no brainer : reductionism is just interested in less and nonlocalism is interested in where the less interfaces with the beyond to integrate our understanding of reality. In a Venn diagram Seth is inside the Hoffman circle. How can Seth's approach be SUFFICIENT? This is not worth discussing.
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The 10 second clip at the beginning immediately reveals that Anil misunderstands the idealistic argument.
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Fabulous discussion. As a Zen meditator, I KNOW that Donald sees it. Anil, clearly an excellent thinker, doesn’t, I think really understand what the former is explaining. Admittedly to most people, it is a hard sell. But I am delighted that after thousands of years consciousness as minutely detailed by the leading Zen Buddhist scholars/philosophers (particularly those of the Chan school) is being supported by theoretical physics. Thank you for sharing this.
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Excellent discussion. Good work guys 👍
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The discussion I'm waiting for is Don Hoffman, Anil Seth, Hilary Lawson and Philip Goff. Together, I think they're on to something!
