Decoding the Self: Thomas Metzinger and Susan Blackmore

An entertaining and inspiring conversation with two influential thinkers in the fields of consciousness, the self (or self-model), and the phenomenology of altered states, including meditation, out of body experiences, and psychedelics. They bring imagination, clarity, but above all else, rigour and expertise to these challenging - and potentially disorientating - areas. What exactly is the human self? Is it the "real thing" or some sort of virtual representation of predictive-processing related information "foraged" from our environment? It was such a great pleasure to see Susan again, and with such great news (and a related question!) regarding her second-edition book green-light. Thomas brought his trademark incisiveness, smooth clarifications, and humour to this rich and informative double-header. Extremely privileged to speak with these internationally renowned scientist-philosophers about some of the most profound questions regarding the human experience and what it really means. Timestamps: 0:00:00 - 0:04:31 - Preamble 0:04:32 - 0:05:23 - Hello and Welcome 0:05:24 - 0:19:20 - Thomas' side of the Out of Body Experience (OBE) story. 0:19:21 - 0:27:22 - Can OBE's be induced? 0:27:23 - 0:31:08 - What actually is the self? 0:31:09 - 0:35:57 - "Take the top layers off" 0:35:58 - 0:41:18 - What is left? MPE and being a model. 0:41:19 - 0:51:10 - But is it a model? Really? OBE angle 0:51:11 - 0:57:30 - Full body illusions, Virtual identification and introception 0:57:31 - 1:10:34 - Mass Media, AI, and an age of confusion. European digital sovereignty 1:10:35 - 1:25:50 - Memes and cultural copying, selfish information. Irreversible AI? 1:25:51 - 1:30:45 - The Self as Information or socially constructed entity. Evolutionary approach and Dennett 1:30:46 - 1:36:40 - Suffering, Meditation and Ethics 1:36:41 - 1:38:54 - Psychedelics - What's going on? 1:38:55 - 1:40:53 - Goodbye and Cups of Tea #consciousness #meditation #chelsoph #mathgrayuk #philosophy #science #metaphysics #being #neuroscience #psychology #outofbodyexperience