Philosopher of mind Peter Sjöstedt-H discusses the hidden impact psychedelics have had on philosophy and asks if such extreme, altered modes of mind could help give us answers to some of the big questions facing the philosophers and scientists of today. Peter is an Anglo-Scandinavian philosopher of mind and author. He lives in West Cornwall and is engaged in his PhD with the University of Exeter, where he also teaches philosophy modules and writing skills. Peter is the inspiration behind the inhuman philosopher Marvel Superhero, Karnak. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
Tag: philosophy
Joscha Bach – Why Your Thoughts Aren’t Yours.
Dr. Joscha Bach discusses advanced AI, consciousness, and cognitive modeling. He presents consciousness as a virtual property emerging from self-organizing software patterns, challenging panpsychism and materialism. Bach introduces “Cyberanima,” reinterpreting animism through information processing, viewing spirits as self-organizing software agents. He addresses limitations of current large language models and advocates for smaller, more efficient AI models capable of reasoning from first principles. Bach describes his work with Liquid AI on novel neural network architectures for improved expressiveness and efficiency. The interview covers AI’s societal implications, including regulation challenges and impact on innovation. Bach argues for balancing oversight with technological progress, warning against overly restrictive regulations. Throughout, Bach frames consciousness, intelligence, and agency as emergent properties of complex information processing systems, proposing a computational framework for cognitive phenomena and reality.
What Came Before the Big Bang? | Theory of Embedded Intelligence, Bill Mensch & Bernardo Kastrup
Could it be a coincidence that two founding fathers of modern day computing, independently from each other, are both coming with theories of consciousness that are idealist in nature? Or does a deep understanding of what computation is—and what it is not—inevitably lead away from physicalist ideas on consciousness? Previously Essentia Foundation presented the work of Federico Faggin, and now a legendary contemporary of his, computer engineer Bill Mensch, presents his Theory of Embedded Intelligence (TEI) to us. Mensch was a major contributor to the Motorola 6800 and became famous for his work on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU, a chip that, because of it’s efficiency, completely revolutionized computing in the 80’s. From Arcade halls to the Apple II and Nintendo 8 bit consoles, 6502s could be found everywhere. Even to this day the chip is still used in children’s toys and even in pacemakers and satellites. Looking back at his career, Mensch realizes that building computer chips is in essence a form of ‘embedding’ intelligence in technology, just as nature has embedded intelligence in biological systems, like humans. In his TEI model intelligence is fundamental. This raises the philosophical question of how consciousness relates to intelligence, and for this reason Bernardo Kastrup joined in on the conversation Mensch and Hans Busstra had. The value of a theory like Mensch’s is perhaps exactly that it is not philosophically fine-tuned to the terminology commonly used in philosophy of mind. By not taking the human mind and phenomenal consciousness as its departure point, but intelligence instead, Mensch arrives at a position in which the distinction between living beings and abiotic systems is less distinct. Mensch’s slides can be downloaded here: https://www.essentiafoundation.o…
Will AI produce a state of deep utopia? (w/ Nick Bostrom, Future of Humanity Institute)
In his new book “Deep Utopia: Life and Meaning in a Solved World,” philosopher Nick Bostrom ponders what life could be like in a “solved world” – a world where everything works and works better than if human hands got in the way. “What then?” asks Bostrom, is the reason to work? “Is it to earn extra income or because working is an intrinsically valued activity?” Bostrom is the head of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford and a philosopher with a background in theoretical physics, computational neuroscience, logic, and artificial intelligence. He has been called the “Superintelligent Swede” because of the deep philosophical work he undertakes as he examines the trajectory of human life at the intersection of destruction and possibility. Bostrom says, “If artificial intelligence can be achieved, it would be an event of unparalleled consequence – perhaps even a rupture to the fabric of history” – a rupture, Bostrom says, “will change the course of human history but is it the end of human history?” We invited Nick Bostrom to join us for a Conversation That Matters about our flirtatious and tempestuous relationship with the evolution of intelligence.
A Conversation Between Iain McGilchrist and David Bentley Hart
On the mind, the structure of the brain, the structure of life, the arts, perceptions of reality, the pervasiveness of consciousness… Scientist, physician, psychiatrist, writer, literary scholar, and philosopher Iain McGilchrist is as genial as his work is fascinating. As anyone familiar with his books could attest, this conversation no more than grazes the surface of his thought; but it was, to my mind, a rich and absorbing conversation nevertheless. He is, moreover, almost aggressively sane. https://davidbentleyhart.substac…
Groundbreaking Consciousness Theory By CPU inventor Federico Faggin & Bernardo Kastrup
A new theory of consciousness proposes that qualia — for instance, the scent of a rose — reside in quantum fields. Federico Faggin is one of the greatest luminaries of high technology alive today. A physicist by education, he is the inventor of the microprocessor and the MOS silicon gate technology, both of which underlie the modern world’s entire information technology. With the knowledge and experience of a lifetime in cutting-edge fields, Federico now turns his attention to consciousness and the nature of reality, sharing with us his profound insights on the classical and quantum worlds, artificial intelligence, life and the human mind. In this discussion, he elaborates on an idealist model of reality, produced after years of careful thought and direct experience, according to which nature’s most fundamental level is that of consciousness as a quantum phenomenon, while the classical physical world consists merely of evocative symbols of a deeper reality.
THE UNIVERSAL ONE – WALTER RUSSEL – Part One – In The One Move the Opposites – Audiobook – lomakayu
“An exact science of the One visible and invisible universe of Mind and the registration of all idea of thinking Mind in light, which is matter and also energy.” In the beginning, God. There is but one God. There is but one universe. God is the universe. God is not one and the universe another. The universe is not a separate creation of God’s. It is God. There is no created-universe. Nothing is which has not always been.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/261186/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=walter+russell
Padmasambhava – SELF-LIBERATION THROUGH SEEING WITH NAKED AWARENESS – Dzogchen (Audiobook)
A text belonging to the same cycle as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, this instruction on the method of self-liberation presents the essence of Dzogchen, The Great Perfection, regarded in Tibet as the highest and most esoteric teaching of the Buddha. Teaching the attainment of Buddhahood in a single lifetime, this text was written and concealed by Guru Padmasambhava in the eighth century and rediscovered six centuries later by Karma Lingpa. Translated by John Reynolds.
The root text can be found here: http://www.buddhism.org/Sutras/2/Awar…
Nikola Tesla: “The Spirit of God is Not What You Think” (full explanation)
“The Frequency of GOD.” The full explanation of Nikola Tesla’s 369, the true nature of the Matrix and The Real da Vinci Code.”
Many thanks to Dr. Leonard Horowitz. Check out his work, you’ll be amazed – http://drlenhorowitz.com/
For more information about the topic of the video, read his book “The Real Da Vinci Code”