Listen now. In The Hard Problem of Consciousness, Sam Harris speaks with Michael Pollan about consciousness, the mind, and the self. They discuss Pollan’s new book, the relationship between consciousness and intelligence, whether consciousness is a product of evolution, the role of psychedelics in consciousness research, AI and the question of machine consciousness, the illusion of the self, and other topics.
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New Conversation: Michael Pollan
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with Sam Harris
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Portrait by Jason Chatfield
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The Hard Problem of Consciousness
with Michael Pollan & Sam Harris
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Join to Listen
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In The Hard Problem of Consciousness, Sam Harris speaks with Michael Pollan about consciousness, the mind, and the self. They discuss Pollan’s new book, the relationship between consciousness and intelligence, whether consciousness is a product of evolution, the role of psychedelics in consciousness research, AI and the question of machine consciousness, the illusion of the self, and other topics.
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About the Teacher
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Michael Pollan is the John S. and James L. Knight Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley and the author of eight books, including How to Change Your Mind, his 2018 account of the renaissance of scientific research into psychedelics. In July 2022, Netflix released a docuseries based on How to Change Your Mind, exploring the history and uses of substances including LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, and mescaline. His latest, A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness, explores consciousness—what it is, who has it, and why.
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