Consciousness

Resources for A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness

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Intro

David Chalmers: The Hard Problem of Consciousness, 1994

Resource list

  1. Watch David Chalmers on the Hard Problem of Consciousness (Tucson 1994)
  2. Watch The scientific pursuit of consciousness: Christof Koch (TEDxRainier, 2013)
  3. Watch The Wager: 25 Years of Consciousness | (ASSC 26 June 2023)

Chapter One: Sentience

Resource list

  1. Watch tendrils of pea plant without anesthesia showing intelligence (opposite)
  2. Watch a plant showing intelligence by navigating a maze (video download)
  3. Visit Michael Levin’s blog, thoughtforms.life
  4. What’s it like to be a plant?
Tendrils of pea plant without anesthesia

Chapter Two: Feeling

Resource list

  1. Watch Consciousness and the Mind Body Connection – Professor Mark Solms
  2. Watch The brain is a servant of the body — Antonio Damasio
  3. Consciousness in Artificial Intelligence: Insights from the Science of Consciousness
  4. Visit the Landscape of consciousness website
  5. Read A Landscape of Consciousness: Toward a Taxonomy of Explanations and Implications — a paper by Robert Lawrence Kuhn
  6. Read Theories of consciousness — a paper by Anil Seth and Tim Bayne

Chapter Three: Thought

Resource list

  1. Explore the full videos and read the transcripts of my interviews with Russ Hurlburt on his website.
  2. Listen to the audio book by Lucy Ellmann: Ducks, Newburyport (excerpt opposite)
  3. Watch Kalina Christoff on spontaneous thought
  4. Hurlburt’s response to the account in the book
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann

Audio sample of Ducks, Newburyport. Narrated by Stephanie Ellyne. Clip used with permission from W.F. Howes Ltd. 

Chapter Four: Self

Anil Seth: Your brain hallucinates your conscious reality, 2017

Resource list

  1. Watch Anil Seth — Your brain hallucinates your conscious reality 2017
  2. Watch a guided meditation by Michael Taft
  3. Download Reveri, a meditation app by David Spiegel
  4. Watch Dr. Matthieu Ricard — Change yourself to change the world

CODA: The Cave

Resource list

  1. Explore Upaya Zen Center: a Zen Buddhist practice, service, and training center.
  2. Watch a Dharma Talk with Roshi Joan Halifax