The Waking Cosmos Podcast

We live in a unique time in history, when humanity's growing technological power risks destroying our vast potential in the universe. The philosopher Toby Ord calls our unique time, "the Precipice." Today Toby joins me on Waking Cosmos to discuss existential risk, artificial intelligence, consciousness, and the far future of life in the universe. Please Support Waking Cosmos on Patreon~ https://www.patreon.com/wakingcosmos Toby's Sites: Main Website~ https://tobyord.com The Precipice~ https://theprecipice.com Toby's Twitter~ https://twitter.com/tobyordoxford Toby's book, The Precipice is now available in hardback and audiobook. The paperback edition will be released in the UK on February 18, and March 23 in the US.

In today's episode of Waking Cosmos I'm joined by the philosopher and consciousness researcher Andrés Gómez Emilsson. He is the director of research at the Qualia Research Institute, and the cofounder and president of the Stanford Transhumanist Association. We discuss Andrés' views about consciousness, and how it could be a deep and fundamental part of the universe (panpsychism). We explore how shifting our perception of identity to consciousness may profoundly transform our civilization, and prepare us for an unimaginable future in the universe. We talk about the psychedelic renaissance and how it is opening us up to radical new perspectives about consciousness and identity, and we also discuss what truths if any, might be glimpsed through psychedelic and altered states. We also explore Andrés' extraordinary view that subjective states of wellbeing, also known as positive valence, disclose the utility function of the universe itself. Please consider supporting the continued existence of Waking Cosmos on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/wakingcosmos Thank you! Episode Links~ The Qualia Research Institute: https://www.qualiaresearchinstitute.org/ Qualia Computing: https://qualiacomputing.com/

For all of science's impressive advancements, one problem has stubbornly eluded us: Why do we have consciousness? How does inert unconscious matter give rise to the light of conscious experience? Neuroscientist Donald Hoffman has been pondering this question throughout his career. His thinking has gradually led him to a surprising possibility — that consciousness itself is fundamental to reality. Donald's theory, however, differs from that of the growing number of other scientists and philosophers now arriving at this conclusion. The fundamental nature of reality, Donald theorizes, is comprised of an infinite network of interacting conscious agents. Uniquely, Donald offers a precise mathematical definition of a conscious agent. He believes the theory may be used to reconstruct the universe and existing scientific discoveries purely through the interaction of these units of consciousness. As Donald has gradually become “a student of the math” his theory has led him to consider fantastic possibilities, including the existence of infinitely great minds which exist beyond our realm of perception. Among other possibilities, Donald believes “conscious realism” leaves the door open to life after death. In my conversation with Donald we explore the surprising implications of his theory, and what it suggests about our own place in reality. If you enjoy this podcast, please consider supporting Waking Cosmos on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/wakingcosmos Pick up Donald Hoffman's book “The Case Against Reality” (also on Audible) here: https://amzn.to/2T31Kes

Did the universe require the evolution of conscious life? How does our evolving picture of the universe impact human life? Cosmologist Brian Swimme joins Adrian on the Waking Cosmos podcast. Please consider supporting this podcast on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/wakingcosmos Watch Brian's Documentary, Journey of the Universe ~ https://www.journeyoftheuniverse.org/

Does the Universe have a Mind? My guest today is the philosopher Philip Goff, who has received attention for his defense of panpsychism, which is the idea that consciousness, —the distinctly subjective aspect of our minds, could be a fundamental element of reality. With growing support for panpsychism in academia, it is a view that Goff believes could do for the philosophy of mind what Darwin's theory of evolution did for biology. In our conversation today we discuss the reasons for believing that consciousness is an intrinsic part of reality, as well as the possible implications for both cosmology and life on this planet. We also consider how panpsychism, in conjunction with priority monism, could entail the existence of a cosmic mind. This is a view Philip has termed “Cosmopsychism.” If you enjoy Waking Cosmos and would like to support its continued existence, please visit my Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/wakingcosmos Preorder Philip's book Galileo's Error here: https://amzn.to/1FKUofO Philip's Twitter: @philip_goff Philip's website: http://www.philipgoffphilosophy.com

Patreon ~ https://www.patreon.com/wakingcosmos Psychologist David Luke is one of the new generation of psychedelics researchers, based at the University of Greenwich in the UK. One of the things that stands out about David is that while he takes a scientific approach to understanding the potential value of psychedelics, he keeps an open mind to what these experiences bring us into contact with, including what they might reveal about the nature of reality itself. One possibility for David is that psychedelic substances such as DMT override the “reducing valve” function of the brain — opening the floodgates between our ordinary sense of self, and a much greater transpersonal reality. In today's episode of Waking Cosmos (listen below) we talk about David's ideas and research into these substances, including his controversial experiments exploring whether psychedelics can serve as catalysts for psychic phenomena, like precognition and telepathy. To those unfamiliar with the evidence of such “psi” effects, this might seem bizarre, but as a past president of the Parapsychological Association, David is well versed in the significant body of evidence suggestive that these phenomena are real. I hope you enjoy this episode of Waking Cosmos! If you'd like to support the continued existence of this podcast, please consider visiting my Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/wakingcosmos David's latest book, DMT Dialogues https://amzn.to/2DgH5uB Breaking Convention Conference https://bit.ly/2GbmZWB

My guest today is David Pearce, a well known philosopher and transhumanist, yet his views about consciousness set him apart from other transhumanists you might be familiar with (listen below). David believes that the nature of consciousness goes much deeper than can be explained through classical physics or from within a materialist paradigm. He suspects that consciousness may reflect an intrinsic feature of reality. Whether or not this is the case, David is confident that the unity of consciousness is facilitated by a quantum unity occurring in the brain. As a result, David is skeptical about the possibility of classical computation-based “mind uploading” or truly conscious artificial intelligences arriving in the foreseeable future. But while our descendents will continue to be biological, they will however be dramatically different to us, not only with their indefinite lifespan, physical fortitude, and resilience to disease, but most significantly, in the structure of their minds. According to David, our great grandchildren will inhabit profoundly blissful mind spaces which exist exclusively “above hedonic zero”. They will have abandoned retributive emotions such as jealousy and anger, and their ordinary conscious states will be comparable to today's peak experiences. Most significantly for David, our descendants will set their sites on abolishing suffering in all sentient life on this planet, and finally, the entire reachable universe. If you find David's vision hard to believe, this will be an interesting episode! Next time on Waking Cosmos we'll compare the mechanistic view of the universe with the emerging organismic paradigm. Please consider supporting Waking Cosmos on Patreon here. https://www.patreon.com/wakingcosmos David Pearce's website https://www.hedweb.com

"There is a limitless horizon of possible mental experiences, pregnant with unimaginable value and significance." Please consider supporting Waking Cosmos on Patreon~ https://www.patreon.com/wakingcosmos The nature of consciousness is among the most profound mysteries humans have encountered. And yet, whether we think that consciousness reflects a fundamental feature of reality, or a mere illusion, we do know, at least in our case, that brains are involved. We also know that changes made to our brains correlate with dramatic changes in consciousness. As scientific and technological development continues, we're likely to gain much greater ability to retune this biological instrument, and potentially gain access to a much broader variety of possible conscious states. Future augmentation of brains could open us to a limitless horizon of mental experiences, pregnant with unimaginable value and significance. When mind itself is stretched across the canvas, what will we want to want? What values will guide such minds? One thinker who is exploring these questions is the philosopher Andrés Gómez Emilsson, who I was honored to interview on the Waking Cosmos podcast. In this conversation we discussed the universal drives of self-creating minds, the elusive nature of consciousness, the recent rise of panpsychist theories, and the power of psychedelics for exploring psychic space. Perhaps the issue that most animates Andrés is the nature of happiness and its relationship to suffering. Do we need the depths of suffering in order to experience the heights of ecstasy? Will it one day be possible to “engineer away” all suffering through technology? And if so, can we really be happy all the time “without going insane?” My conversation with Andres was truly mind-expanding for me, and I hope it will be the first of many. If you value open-minded philosophical conversations like this one, please consider supporting Waking Cosmos on Patreon~ https://www.patreon.com/wakingcosmos

How do we map the landscape of consciousness? What is the future for mind in the universe? And is consciousness an intrinsic part of reality? Today on Waking Cosmos I'm joined by Mike Johnson from the Qualia Research Institute, where they're working on a theory of consciousness which could have profound implications for society, including the development of what we might call a 21st century mood-ring, through which we begin to telegraph our phenomenology, and explore entirely new landscapes of experience. In the second half we discuss how any sufficiently "crisp" theory of consciousness can be directed to anything, including cosmological phenomena like black holes and even the Big Bang.  I hope you enjoy today's episode as much as I did. If you're enjoying these open-minded conversations about consciousness and reality, and would like to help me turn this into a full time project, please consider supporting Waking Cosmos on Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/wakingcosmos LINKS~ The Qualia Research Institute website - https://qualiaresearchinstitute.org Mike's blog - https://qualiaresearchinstitute.org/blog Qualia Computing - https://qualiacomputing.com Waking Cosmos Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/wakingcosmos