ConCon: Consciousness Conversations

In this episode we discuss Days 4 & 5 (April 25-26) of The Science of Consciousness Conference 2024 in Tucson, Arizona. We cover hear about a panel with some of the biggest names in the field including David Chalmers, Susan Blackmore, Christof Koch and Stuart Hameroff. We also discuss Dataomes, or connected global networks as presented by NASA's Caleb Scharf, The Osiris Rex project which brought asteroid dust back from Bennu that was full of amino acids and other key elements that could have helped bootstrap life on earth and loads of other fun sessions. Full details on the conference here: https://consciousness.arizona.edu/
 
ConCon is Consciousness Conversations. A podcast where we delve into the nature of subjective experience, self-awareness, and the workings of the brain. Whether you're a skeptic or a seeker, you'll find something to ponder in each episode. Tune in and expand your understanding of what it means to be conscious. Visit us at www.concon.show for more!

In this episode we discuss Day 3 (April 24) of The Science of Consciousness Conference 2024 in Tucson, Arizona. We cover more incredible research into electromagnetic field consciousness signals from Andre Bastos. We learn about a new framework (NOW) for thinking about conscious hierarchies from Justin Riddle, and we discuss several sessions on AI from both doomers and boosters, including people who are building conscious AI. Full details on the conference here: https://consciousness.arizona.edu/
ConCon is Consciousness Conversations. A podcast where we delve into the nature of subjective experience, self-awareness, and the workings of the brain. Whether you're a skeptic or a seeker, you'll find something to ponder in each episode. Tune in and expand your understanding of what it means to be conscious. Visit us at www.concon.show for more!

ConCon is Consciousness Conversations, a podcast where we delve into the nature of subjective experience, self-awareness, and the workings of the brain. Whether you're a skeptic or a seeker, you'll find something to ponder in each episode. Tune in and expand your understanding of what it means to be conscious. Visit us at www.concon.show for more! In this episode we discuss Day 2 (April 23) of The Science of Consciousness Conference 2024 in Tucson, Arizona. We cover electromagnetic fields as a source of consciousness and talks by physician-turned-spiritual-author Deepak Chopra and reality skeptic Donald Hoffman. Full details on the conference here: https://consciousness.arizona.edu/
 
Consciousness theory voting results here: https://tsc2023-taormina.it/ConsciousnessChallenge.htm

ConCon is Consciousness Conversations. A podcast where we delve into the nature of subjective experience, self-awareness, and the workings of the brain. Whether you're a skeptic or a seeker, you'll find something to ponder in each episode. Tune in and expand your understanding of what it means to be conscious. Visit us at www.concon.show for more! In this episode we discuss Day 1 (April 22) of The Science of Consciousness Conference 2024 in Tucson, Arizona. We cover terminal lucidity, quantum consciousness mechanics and integrated information theory (IIT), which was discussed in a 3 hour evening session. Full details on the conference here: https://consciousness.arizona.edu/

ConCon is Consciousness Conversations. A podcast where we delve into the nature of subjective experience, self-awareness, and the workings of the brain. Whether you're a skeptic or a seeker, you'll find something to ponder in each episode. Tune in and expand your understanding of what it means to be conscious. Visit us at www.concon.show for more! In this episode we're joined by Ruth Vassilas. Ruth is a corporate lawyer turned consciousness researcher. Following her law degree from The University of Pennsylvania and several years of corporate practice, she began a sociology PhD at the University of York in England. Her research explores how people socially navigate the aftermath of intense altered states of consciousness, such as near-death experiences and psychedelic-occasioned mystical experiences. Through qualitative research, she investigates how people reflect on these events and the impact the experiences had on career decisions, health choices, social relationships, and spirituality overtime. Ruth is also on the board of the university's Drug Science Society, and she's a graduate teacher in both the law school and sociology department, where she'll soon teach on a new module called Spiritual Realities. You can connect with Ruth via LinkedIn (/rhvassilas), Instagram at @ruth0rdare (with a zero in the 'or'), or by email at ruth.vassilas@york.ac.uk

Join us for an exploration of the mysteries of the mind in our podcast about consciousness. We delve into the nature of subjective experience, self-awareness, and the workings of the brain. Whether you're a skeptic or a seeker, you'll find something to ponder in each episode. Tune in and expand your understanding of what it means to be conscious. Visit us at www.concon.show for more!
References:• The Singularity Is Near by Ray Kurzweil https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/83518.The_Singularity_is_Near?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=hHokdmXOED&rank=1• Consciousness in Artificial Intelligence: Insights from the Science of Consciousness https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.08708• The Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness as Pseudoscience https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/zsr78/• I Am A Strange Loop by Douglas Hofstadter https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123471.I_Am_a_Strange_Loop• The Meme Machine by Susan Blackmore https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/254502.The_Meme_Machine• Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Meaning• Men’s Social Circles are Shrinking https://www.americansurveycenter.org/why-mens-social-circles-are-shrinking/
00:00 How Jeff from Open AI Got Interested in Consciousness05:50 Neural Nets and Neuron are About Prediction15:05 How Do AIs Make Predictions25:00 Can AIs be Concsious27:45 AI and Emotions36:45 The Line of What's Conscious49:24 Building AC, Artifical Consciousness

Templeton Competition/Chalmers and Koch Bet: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/01/science/consciousness-theories.html DR's Levels of Consciousness Article: https://davidkellyrandall.medium.com/why-its-so-hard-to-talk-about-consciousness-and-how-to-make-it-easier-eef455fcc24c Doc and Biz,
Ben's Cats: https://photos.app.goo.gl/AEehBRtkSMudC3ey9
 
Technical Difficulties We realized after the record that's Ben's mic wasn't picking up. He was able to do some AI wizardry to boost his voice, but the quality is definitely noticeable. Fortunately we have this sorted out for the future.
00:00 Intro
02:10 Ben - The Spookiness of Consciousness
08:30 DR - Where Do Narratives Come From
11:10 Our Favorite Theories Pt. 1
15:08 Where are the Controversies?
22:10 Our Favorite Theories Pt. 2
35:38 Bringing Theories Together
46:20 Lightning Round
54:00 Worries about Conscious AI

Our Day 5 recap of The Science of Consciousness Conference 2023 in Taormina, Italy. Full program and details: https://tsc2023-taormina.it/
Show details at https://concon.show
Frans de Waal's Chimpanzee Politics (*actually came out in 1982) - https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/389530Giorgio Vallortigara (Baby Chick Researcher) - https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_VallortigaraDavid B Edelman - https://www.thethirdwayofevolution.com/people/view/david-b.-edelmanTam Hunt - https://labs.psych.ucsb.edu/schooler/jonathan/members/huntMichael Levin and Xenobots - https://youtu.be/p3lsYlod5OUMarco Fabus (Ketamine Researcher) - https://twitter.com/MarcoSFabus
00:00 Intro01:00 Frans de Waal and Animal Consciousness07:40 Baby Chicks Doing Math11:50 Conscious Octopuses14:29 Conscious EM Fields?21:15 Xenobots and Cellular Memory!23:40 Ketamine and Psychedelics

Our Day 4 recap of The Science of Consciousness Conference 2023 in Taormina, Italy. Full program and details: https://tsc2023-taormina.it/
Show details at https://concon.show
Manuel Blum - https://amturing.acm.org/award_winners/blum_4659082.cfmConscious Turing Machine Paper - https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2115934119David Chalmers on conscious LLMs - https://www.zdnet.com/article/ai-could-have-20-percent-chance-of-sentience-in-10-years-says-philosopher-david-chalmers/
00:00 Intro00:45 Conscious Turing Machines with the Blums14:45 Chalmers' 10% change that ChatGPT is conscious25:57 The Rest of The Day

Our Day 3 recap of The Science of Consciousness Conference 2023 in Taormina, Italy. Full program and details: https://tsc2023-taormina.it/
Show details at https://concon.show
• Radiolab Episode (not This American Life 😬) on TDCS - https://radiolab.org/podcast/9-volt-nirvana• Ultrasound Research - https://www.jaysanguinetti.com/transcranial-ultrasound• Childbirth altered consciousness - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1745691620901546• Giovanni Marsicano and environmental storytelling - https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2021-78947-001• Adam Eisen Propofol researcher https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=pEJ4yfIAAAAJ&hl=en (seems like the work he was discussing at the conference hasn't been published yet)• Mind blanking research - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36194631/
00:00 Intro03:08 Ultrasound consciousness modulating09:40 Childbirth altered consciousness12:36 Bad hallucination philosophy15:50 Bad naive realism philosophy21:40 Giovanni Marsicano and storytelling26:50 Propofol's impact on consciousness30:38 Mind blanking