Mind & Life

Anil Seth - How Our Minds Predict Our Reality

 

In this episode, Wendy speaks with cognitive scientist Anil Seth about his work on consciousness and the mind. They discuss:

• the idea of the brain as a prediction machine;
• how perception is a kind of "controlled" hallucination;
• the self as a construction and implications for psychiatric disorders;
• connections between this view of the mind and Buddhist ideas;
• how these views might inform our subjective experience;
• the important role of the body in perception;
• the connection between life and mind (and Anil's views on panpsychism);
• emotions as prediction and interoception;
• the question of free will;
• communicating science to a public audience, and other topics.

Full show notes and resources

Thupten Jinpa - Cultivating Compassion

In this inaugural episode, Wendy speaks with Buddhist scholar, author, and longtime translator for the Dalai Lama, Thupten Jinpa. Their conversation covers many topics, including:

• how he met and started working with the Dalai Lama, and insights from 35 years of translating for him;
• the relationship of language and mind;
• how to deal with self-consciousness;
• the dialogue between Buddhism and science;
• first- and third-person ways of investigating the mind that are central to the science of meditation;
• sources of valid evidence and knowledge;
• the mind as more than the brain;
• the relevance of compassion for well-being and a program he developed to cultivate it;
• the value of mental training in the time of COVID, and other topics.

Full show notes and resources

Mind & Life Trailer

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Read more about the show in this interview with host Wendy Hasenkamp.