Annaka Harris: Free Will, Consciousness, and the Nature of Reality | Lex Fridman Podcast

[@lexfridman]

Here are the timestamps. Please check out our sponsors to support this podcast. 0:00 - Introduction & sponsor mentions: - Wealthfront: wealthfront.com/lex to get $50 sign-up bonus - BetterHelp: betterhelp.com/lex to get 10% off - Blinkist: blinkist.com/lex to get 25% off premium - Onnit: lexfridman.com/onnit to get up to 10% off - Indeed: indeed.com/lex to get $75 credit 0:53 - Free will 54:10 - Consciousness 1:24:42 - Depression 1:37:59 - Psychedelics 1:45:58 - Meditation 1:50:22 - Ideas 2:14:08 - AI sentience 2:31:30 - Suffering 2:34:26 - Meaning of life

[@armando6829]

These never tire my imagination 😂

[@adithyagolwalkar7896]

You have to watch sadhguru at harvard medical school. And try to bring him in podcast and ask different questions that he hasn't got in all of his interview..

[@mrmarmellow555]

This IDEA IS ACTUALLY #ARISTOTLE & Animal 🤖🤖 Been DISPROVED &ALWAYZ ASK ABOUT T🍵🍵🍵 BRO

[@adamaharon7495]

please get Bernardo Kastrup on! I would LOVE to hear you speak with him!

[@rumckinley]

I appreciate you so much. These are some of my favorite topics.

[@Flatlinebeatz777]

She gives me a Feeling that everything will be alright.

[@khimaros]

It will, I've seen the future and it turns out reasonably well.

[@karencarney7595]

One thing is Guaranteed; You will die. Everyone will. Will it ultimately, be ok , then? And what happens if this is truly the end? How do u live your life then?

[@ApunkDaydreamLamunanOi]

​@@khimaros Totally not! It will be as fucked up as it will be good. And it will be really fucked...

[@chewyjello1]

1:10:52 I'm a nurse and I've noticed that when listening to a patients heart sounds, at first I can't hear every beat until I've listened long enough to understand their rhythm and rate (usually a few seconds)...then my experience of the way their heart sounds changes right then and there. It's because I've gotten enough information to start making predictions. It's eerie how important predictions are to being able to experience the outside word at all.

[@martinroland]

Quite similiar to how acupunture doctors listen to the pulse. It says so much more than just bpm

[@deantatlow4021]

The Harris household must have some great conversations.

[@urbro2]

Imagine their family gatherings. They all sound like a scientific paper being read to you. Sam speaks in perfect paragraphs :)

[@lawrencefrost9063]

There is a podcast episode with just the two of them together talking. It's great.

[@asdfqwerty5389]

imagine their family tripping on mdma, shrooms or lsd :D

[@lawrencefrost9063]

@@asdfqwerty5389 Why not all three. Candy Flipping ftw

[@asdfqwerty5389]

@@lawrencefrost9063 damn lawrence we need some moderation here. but yes nothing wrong with some wild combos.

[@franktothemax]

Every time I listen to Lex talk to guest A, B or C, I’m overwhelmed with gratitude that we have somebody like Lex doing what Lex does. I’ve learned so much from these conversations, and I’m just a dumb high school dropout that loves playing guitar.

[@weltraumaffe4155]

We know. It's okay. But you really ought to tune that guitar.

[@franktothemax]

@@weltraumaffe4155 evertune. Look into it.

[@danahearn5646]

If you are playing guitar, it proves you are not dumb, but you may not progress in the Conscious world, and you will be Happy!

[@Mr_Rob_otto]

You are nonetheless formidable, Frank.

[@T0mstyle]

You know you aren't dumb. School not fitting your needs doesn't say shit about that.

[@Koyaanisqatsi2000]

I’m still processing the interview with Donald Hoffman. This is perfect timing! Thank you Lex!

[@mstrG]

in this one Lex is trying to contradict to Donald ideas even Annaka disagreed multiple times with Lex ideas. For me it seems like Lex received "new orders" so, sad . I hope it's that food "poisoning". Not change of direction.

[@Koyaanisqatsi2000]

@@mstrG Yes, there are some differences. She said she disliked some of Hoffman's terminology. Her thoughts probably revolve around the term "portals" and the idea that humans can make new portals when they have babies. This sounds a bit odd to me as well. Aside from that, she said that every physical system is capable of having a conscious experience, including artificial intelligence systems, which Hoffman did not include.

[@Koyaanisqatsi2000]

@@mstrG "For me it seems like Lex received "new orders"" What do you mean by that? :D

[@lievenyperman9363]

On Sam Harris' podcast "making sense", Donald had a conversation with Annaka and Sam about all this.

[@genesises]

@@Koyaanisqatsi2000 he is a tool and doesn't understand one can discuss and hold different perspectives at one time, and thinks Lex has changed opinion from talking to someone and is a lesser person for it. Ironically its him being ignorant 8)

[@T0mstyle]

It fills me with joy that so many people around the world are philosophising on these topics, connected by Lex. Wish you all the best :)

[@TheDeadlyDan]

I recall laying on my back in an Indianna field open to the horizon in the late 50's and looking at the stars spread out. Those days you could see by the light of the Milky Way alone, the skies were so dark and clear. I'd think of myself as standing with my back against a wall and looking out instead of up, and I would stare in wonder for hours at the Universe. It never ceased to be a profound experience and all these years later I still do this whenever I can. I can't honestly remember when I 'discovered' the shape of our planet, if a discovery at all. I've seen globes throughout my life, from my earliest memories. I can't actually recall any time NOT knowing our Earth was a planet, spinning through space around the sun - a star. I grew up in the Sputnik era though, and society was consumed with space at the time. I keep hearing that it's somehow intuitive to think we live on a flat plane. I've never ever had that intuition. In fact, I find it intuitive that we live on a globe. I dont know how this doesn't "feel" right to every other person. It actually feels counter intuitive to think of the Earth as flat. Every experience (in context) tells me otherwise. I don't think Fllat Earth is intuitive at all - I think it's a learned point of view.

[@derekreeter7081]

As you stated, you grew up in the space era, globes, pop-culture, etc. Learning the earth was a globe was a learned point of view too. Assuming you never learned anything about the earth as a globe, intuition based on physical everyday experience would not suggest you're on a spherical object. The horizon looks flat. The ground you stand on is relatively flat. The curvature is too minute at small scales to notice. Many things we consider intuitive now rely on prior concepts. The earth as a sphere is intuitive to most now, but even that comes with fundamental concepts backing it.

[@TheDeadlyDan]

@@derekreeter7081 Read the first paragraph again. My preferred view of the stars didn't incorporate the horizon. If you do like I say and watch the stars over a period of a few hours you can see quite clearly that it's not the stars that are moving. How many people in the past do you actually think sat around wondering what shape the Earth is? I seriously doubt that 'everyone' thought anything at all about it. My statement was that it's not intuitive to think the Earth is flat. That's a modern thing brought on by social media. Didn't happen in the old timey. It's not intuitve.

[@matt-g-recovers]

Same

[@ScottMaclaren]

@@TheDeadlyDan its a very old idea that the earth is flat. the ancient greeks believed it until the 5th century. its had a modern reoccurrence due to the self-reinforcing echo chambers made possible by social media.

[@onghuttau]

I agree with you and never even believed people used to think the earth is flat. If like me you grew up along a sea coast, played on the beach and in the dunes, it was very obvious that the horizon is curved. From a far away ship coming towards you, you first see the super structure and only later, when it is nearer, you see the hull. This may require a big ship, binoculars and clear visibility but with an old-fashioned tallship, with masts of 40 meters high, it is even more obvious; you first see the top sails above the horizon. Further, if the sun has just set under the horizon and you then quickly run up a 10 meter high dune, you can see the sun again for some moments. And after that you see that the sun still shines on clouds above you. So obvious!

[@TLeppur]

Reality: Everything Happened(s) at Once. It's All In Our Heads. Our brains evolved to make sense of it by seeing only one moment at a time. That's our 'reality.' Another Great conversation Lex. Thank You.

[@GuerillaUnderground]

Being able to grasp the concept of not having free will is actually akin to some kind of Zen; total acceptance of what is and complete lack of attachment to remembered experience. Thank you Annaka Harris!

[@samuelhitchens7064]

This might be my favorite episode of this podcast. And while I was aware of Annaka, this is my first time hearing her thoughts. My brain was broke by this episode in the best way.

[@darrenbrown7037]

We love you Lex and Annaka! You bring positive change to the world.

[@GAndrew1204]

LEX! Only a small percent of the world can enjoy your podcast in English. It would be great to have them dubbed in the other top languages as well. Future adventure, thanks for all your talks

[@fourty-u4g]

Im dumb and danish but i get it all.. and not from school. Watch movies or play games high, def highly recommended

[@prasoondhapola2875]

I think he's working on dubbed versions of the podcast in a couple of different languages. Recently announced he's hiring overdub artists, among several other open positions

[@tarazan3456]

@@prasoondhapola2875 bad idea... comes out as weird and inautentic. just translate the the close-captions/subtitles is a much better and much cheaper alternative

[@lauraponce4633]

I volunteer for Spanish.

[@lauraponce4633]

@Nerian so you speak Chinese?

[@Chelseabell112085]

This makes me want to cry. I'm so beyond elated that this woman shares the exact same views as me. I am in such desperate need for a friend. A friend who shares my same neverending curiosity about the unconscionable universe and the nature of reality. The people who I thought were my friends have either passed away, or turned into monsters, or just are nowhere near the same wave length as me. I can't seem to find anyone who shares, cares, or even wants to talk about what seems to me to be the most beautiful and important things in our existence 🙇🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ so if anyone wants to make a solid new friend...I'm here! Much love and positive energy!

[@GoZags43]

I’m sorry about your friends who passed away. I’m sorry and curious about how other friends turned to monsters.. Do you mean monsters as in wholly selfish and only part of the friendship because of what they get out of it? Or hopefully not something more nefarious? I don’t share the exact same views as Dr. Harris (probably very close). I think I differ in that I see consciousness as strictly emergent. I don’t see consciousness as fundamental on every level; although, I suppose I’m open to the possibility if I read truly persuasive evidence (that doesn’t yet exist). I too could use a friend. I struggled with opiate addiction after knee surgery a couple years ago, and I lost many friends along the way. I went to rehab last year and have a new exciting/challenging life ahead of me. Life is beautiful again, but it can be lonely for sure.

[@-ChrisD]

​@@GoZags43 Congratulations on kicking the addiction. Many people don't and are too scared to anyway. Testimonies like yours, give hope to others.

[@James-tm3qq]

Hi yes I'm beyond obsessed with this... it's like there's literally nothing else to talk about. I'm down to go deep with conversations involving these topics. People don't care or want to like u say.

[@GoZags43]

@@-ChrisD Appreciate it friend. It’s a daily battle of maintaining positive habits, good, healthy social connections, and avoiding any negative situations like the plague. I can’t say with 100% certainty that I’ll win the battle every single day for the next (hopefully) 50-ish years, but I sure as hell plan on trying to.

[@QuinnieMae]

My name is Melissa. I live in Colorado. I definitely care and would indeed love to share and talk about the things you and I along with Annika, Sam, and others find truly beautiful ❤️ 🌄🤝

[@iangagel6027]

This is exactly what I needed on a Wednesday. Keep up the amazing work Lex!

[@lilypond5158]

Her illusion about anxiety being due to things that happened in her life was so relatable. My mother had schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and I started having depression and social anxiety in middle school to the point of dropping out of school completely. but it never clicked in my brain that I had the same genetic issue as her, it just seemed like I was having an emotional reactions to her "abuse" It was only at 19, a year after my mother had passed away, that my dad noticed my strange behaviour and told be to see a doctor, turns out I was having a manic episode. I had bipolar 2 disorder, and didn't even think once that I had a similar condition to my mother even though I knew it was likely for me to inherit it, because intuition pointed me to believe that it was puberty, it was a reaction to my mother, or it was because my dad wasn't home and wasn't present at that time. Even my dad blames himself for not noticing and not helping, he thinks he could have stopped me from being this way if he noticed and did something than. But I know bow that it was genetics, and maybe U wouldn't have been in so much pain in my teens if things were different, but I would still have my disorder

[@lilypond5158]

@_Hedura_ I listened to that one already, it was pretty eye opening and educational

[@lilypond5158]

@_Hedura_ I actually discovered Lex through Andrew Huberman's podcast, he was such a great guest I had to look him up

[@kenjoneslee]

I'm gay, 62 and don't have any substance abuse or mental issues, but my 4 siblings do. We don't know the root causes of mental disorders. We don't know the root cause of the sex drive, nor of our sexual orientations. So I caution anyone who goes from one false assumption to another. Environment versus nurture for example. We really need to know the sources of basic instinctual likes, dislikes as well as thoughts themselves to get a clearer picture of causation. Biochemicals, drugs....that physical stuff....can alter the flow of thoughts in our brains, which can alter mood/behavior, BUT we don't know how thoughts suddenly appear in the brain to begin with. It may be that all thoughts not related to basic sensory perceptions, have an external source. Perhaps memories are similarly stored outside the human brain. If true, than they likely live on forever.

[@lilypond5158]

@@kenjoneslee I don't think Bipolar Disorder is all genetic, and it's proven not to be, just highly genetic. I really just meant that focusing on environment made me ignore what was happening to me

[@tresojos]

@@kenjoneslee "It may be that all thoughts not related to basic sensory perceptions, have an external source." I find this an EXTREMELY interesting thought and sometimes ask myself the same question

[@tmstani23]

Lex you should interview Cixin Liu! He's a brilliant sci-fi author with a physics background who likes to speculate and think about aliens and plausible future tech.

[@TaranPerry]

Based

[@annahurtado3136]

I second this rec

[@nikolasfiler5241]

That's a great idea. I'm halfway through The Dark Forest now. More science fiction writers in general would be pretty damn cool.

[@lilypond5158]

Yes!!

[@pedroarroyo345]

Yees pleasee

[@eileenmuir1698]

I love her comments and connect deeply with everything she says. I am not a scientist but a yoga and meditation teacher of 45 yrs plus and everything she speaks of regarding consciousness, time/space and illusion touch my ever evolving experiences. Thank you !

[@AECommonThread2137]

Every episode is always fantastic, has lovely guests, and continues to evolve. Lex, it would be really cool if you can try and book Robert Greene, the author. I feel like there would be a fantastic conversation to be had just like all of these

[@mellowout2686]

Exactly 💯 %

[@danzaathedancer7761]

I agree!

[@elikochene9047]

Eh, what is thee for him to ask? Do y'all really want to hear a podcast about power dynamics and the most basic psychology there is?

[@unibeastbeats]

Robert Greene is my dream guest in this podcast

[@andrebarros8448]

It's funny because when Annaka was answering the last question about what advice she would give on careers I thought of Robert and his book "Mastery".

[@butterfliesandtape]

Many thanks to Lex and your team and Annaka too. Very profound, unsettling, challenging, funny, difficultt and enjoyable.

[@kinzakuroi]

Lex, may I direct your attention to Dr. Nadine Burke-Harris and her work on ACE‘s (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and their negative effects on mental and physical health later on in life? Her work is so important! Would love to see a conversation between the two of you.

[@Tiffanyenjoyinglife]

Was just discussing her research today! She is an amazing speaker too. Saw her in person. Do it lex!!

[@Bentley_Futbol]

Annaka harris. Never connected so much with someone on this podact as much as her as far as her ideas, her ways of interpreting the most fundamental concepts on such a deep level. And her peronal life with kids and struggles. Love this one.

[@FerrisMcLaren]

I agree. Lex was annoying as fuck this episode though.

[@avaruusmuukalainen]

Loooooving yoooooou is eaaaasy caaaause yoooouuu beaaaautifuuuul.

[@Smashingbonejuices]

Feel that, I never meet women like this, probably because I work on a building site lol

[@casualgoats]

Weird to see a shadowed comment here. KZbin is reaching too much.

[@StarBeautiful]

I honestly find this podcast is one of the few things in life that helps me get into a meditative state. The openess and beauty about the endless possibilities that fills my brain while listening to these conversations about topics I actually care about, but never thought I was able to get a grasp on, here I am. On the regular. Getting a grasp. It's fucking lovely. I am pretty sure my brain in not the same as a majority of the public, but few things in life give me the feeling of mediation. Swinging on a swing. Riding a bike. Roller skating. This podcast. Most of these things involve the free feeling the wind. This podcast does that to my brain.

[@jamesbowman5532]

I love how her interest started with something as small as the wonder of a marble. I asked myself as a child why is my favorite color orange and my sisters is purple which grew into this deep interest into the world. Its beautiful. Love it! All things have small beginnings.

[@zulubeatsprince]

A fellow oranglikan .. good day sir!!

[@derik7505]

I’m using my free will to leave work early so i can listen to a podcast about free will.

[@ipmp4u]

It was always going to happen.

[@gourmetghost]

@@ipmp4u u in mi?

[@ipmp4u]

@@gourmetghost Not anymore, but I used to live in Kalamazoo! ^.^

[@Metso-ateco]

No your not, it wad pre-destined in advance. The question is though who was responsible for it? Coz it sure was not you 👍

[@derik7505]

@@Metso-ateco i love it

[@raw-bot9251]

Annakka's laugh is infectious! takes you to another world....hard to explain. when you drive and listen to her, it's almost magical

[@maxpetee1690]

Easy bro…if Sam sees this he’s gonna kick your ass.

[@jared2lit]

Lex thank you for all this knowledge man we really appreciate it

[@gregorymiller2977]

She's charming and has an infectious laugh. Enjoyed this interview.

[@imafiretruck7454]

Her eyes never stop smiling. Sam's truly blessed.

[@seamuscollins9708]

You can be so anxious about not giving your children the same dreadful experiences you had, that you can end up transferring THAT anxiety to them. It's so tricky that sometimes even the best intentions may end up producing the same results we're trying to avoid in the first place.

[@joselopez5878]

Very interesting Seamus. My girlfriend has been seeing a therapist and she mentioned this exactly! Something to really reflect on.

[@mstrG]

So You don't have kids and You don't plan to have one ?

[@attiliasenni417]

Exactly. Oedipus tragedy tells exactly this story: the more you try to avoid your destiny - the more you make it happen. Also if a mother is anxious or depressed it can influence her children. The genes load the gun, the environment pulls the trigger

[@DaveIrish66]

Generational conditioning happens when you identify with your past instead of being present in this moment

[@freeconsciousness7789]

1. Lex’s faces 😂 🍄 2. I love this so much. Is she me? She’s so well spoken about this elusive experience. I agree that consciousness is fundamental to reality. I am the I am. ❤ 3. I hope everyone finds this question and walks the journey on the paths to understanding consciousness. It is essential to our evolution and towards a better future.

[@manevolujia7558]

Lex, I want you to know that as I progress through your presentations, I have become more and more concrete in thoughts and ideas that I've felt for as long as I can remember, the experts you bring on have given me so much ammunition on how my own philosophies have been the right path I've only recently decided. The idea that the loss of belief in free will has actually never before given me more of the sense of freedom, thank you sir for all that you do.

[@gee_]

This was excellent and enlightening. Meditation has singularly had the most profound impact on my life and wellbeing, it has helped me overcome severe depression, but when I don't maintain my practice the "ego backlash" is immense only because of my increased consciousness of it. Meditation is a fast, abstinence from thought allows your soul to shine and it is that which knows the best direction for your life if you learn to trust it again. 🙏

[@arunprasathshankar5612]

She is so smart! So many threads of thought beautifully and carefully spoken out!! And there's Lex prompting her the exact right amount to steer the conversation in all possible ways! Mind blown

[@kingsnurglegurglesonthevik4517]

Once you BLOW your mind, it will never, ever work properly again. If it ever did.

[@gosoprano]

Not much if she thinks free will is an illusion.

[@TheGonzogibby]

"The water decides the movement of the fish; the fish is e-fish-ent!" - it was at this point I took Lex seriously on his consumption of Psilocybin, pre interview

[@milanpalian238]

I think this is one of the best episodes. A truly fascinating conversation about questions that arise on the edge of the known. Dealing with these questions has the potential to take all branches of science to a new level. It can migrate large chunks of magic into the framework of science, taking it from supernatural to just plain nature where it always resided.

[@kaqs8994]

Another excellent conversation. I loved this so much. Thank you, Lex! (Your curtains and painting are beautiful!, too!)

[@georgetacarmen8824]

I enjoyed this conversation. It's fascinating the way Lex's mind works. He has a pleasant relaxing voice also. I could listen for hours and be happy about it.

[@MichaelJames707]

This was lovely, I've been following mainly on Spotify the past while but wanted to jump back onto KZbin to comment and show appreciation for the work and artistic expression shown. Big love and respect, thanks Lex. 🙏🏼

[@kalimouser9385]

I love the way this woman laughs so freely and frequently

[@seeyanexttuesday23]

"Can I ask you a pothead question?" Love seeing this side of Lex in interviews!

[@bobrericha]

The way I like to think about it is that the deterministic decision process itself is Free Will. It makes me free from being condemned to do the very first thing that pops into my mind/body. In this sense, any system surviving thanks to a decision process has Free Will to a certain degree.

[@Bluev3lvet]

Fascinating conversation! Love Annaka and I could listen to her voice for hours. I really hope to hear/see more of her in the future!

[@Hampusdrw]

Consciousness is my absolut fav topic right now! 😊

[@ReverendDr.Thomas]

🐟 06. CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS: Consciousness means “that which knows” or “the state of being aware”, from the Latin prefix “con” (with), the stem “scire” (to know) and the suffix “osus” (characterized by). There is BOTH a localized knowing and a Universal Awareness, as explicated in the following paragraphs. Higher species of animal life have sufficient cognitive ability to KNOW themselves and their environment, at least to a measurable degree. Just where consciousness objectively begins in the animal kingdom is a matter of contention but, judging purely by ethological means, it probably starts with vertebrates (at least the higher-order birds and fishes). Those metazoans which are evolutionarily lower than vertebrates do not possess much, if any, semblance of intellect, necessary for true knowledge, but operate purely by reflexive instincts. For instance, an insect or amphibian does not consciously decide to seek food but does so according to its base instincts, directed by its idiosyncratic genetic code. Even when a cockroach flees from danger, it is not experiencing the same kind of thoughts or feelings a human or other mammal would experience. The brain is merely a conduit or TRANSDUCER of Universal Consciousness (i.e. Brahman), explaining why the more intelligent the animal, the more it can understand its own existence (or at least be aware of more of its environment - just see how amazingly-complex dolphin and whale behaviour can be, compared with other aquatic species), and the reason why it is asserted that a truly enlightened human must possess a far higher level of intelligence than the average person. The processing unit of a supercomputer must be far larger, more complex and more powerful than the processor in a pocket calculator. Therefore, it seems logical to conclude that the scale of discrete (localized) consciousness is dependent on the animal's brain capacity. See Chapter 17 to understand the distinction between enlightenment and mere awakening. Three STATES of awareness are experienced by humans and possibly all other species of mammals: the waking state (“jāgrata”, in Sanskrit), dreaming (“svapna”, in Sanskrit), and deep-sleep (“suṣupti”, in Sanskrit). Beyond these three temporal states is the fourth “state” (“turīya” or “caturīya”, in Sanskrit). That is the unconditioned, eternal “state”, which underlies the other three. The waking state is the LEAST real (that is to say the least permanent, or to put it another way, the farthest from the Necessary Ground of Existence, as explained towards the end of this chapter). The dream state is closer to our eternal nature, whilst dreamless deep-sleep is much more analogous to The Universal Self (“brahman”), as it is imbued with peace. Rather than being an absence of awareness, deep-sleep is an awareness of absence (that is, the absence of phenomenal, sensual experiences). So, in actual fact, the fourth state is not a state, but the Unconditioned Ground of Being, or to put it simply, YOU, the real self/Self, or Existence-Awareness-Peace (“sacchidānanda”, in Sanskrit). Perhaps the main purpose of dreams is so that we can understand that the waking-state is practically indistinguishable to the dream-state, and thereby come to see the ILLUSION of this ephemeral world. Both our waking-state experiences and our dream-state experiences occur solely within the mental faculties (refer to Chapter 04 for an elucidation of this phenomenon). If somebody in one of your dreams were to ask your dream-state character if the dream was real, you (playing the part of that character) would most likely say, “yes, of course this is real!” Similarly, if someone were to ask your waking-state character if this world is real, you would almost undoubtedly respond in kind. An apt analogy for Universal Consciousness is the manner in which electricity powers a variety of appliances and gadgets, according to the use and COMPLEXITY of the said device. Electricity powers a washing machine in a very simple manner, to drive a large spindle for laundering clothes. However, the very same electrical power may be used to operate a computer to manifest an astonishing range of outputs, such as playing audiovisual tracks, communication tasks, and performing extremely advanced mathematical computations, depending on the computer's software and hardware. The more advanced/complex the device, the more complex its manifestation of the same electricity. Using the aforementioned computer analogy: the brain is COMPARATIVELY equivalent to the computer hardware, deoxyribonucleic acid akin to the operating system working in conjunction with the memory, the intellect is equivalent to the processing unit, individuated consciousness is analogous to the software programme, whilst Universal Awareness is likened to the electricity which enlivens the entire computer system. A person who is comatosed has lost any semblance of local consciousness, yet is being kept alive by the presence of Universal Consciousness. The fact that many persons report out-of-body experiences, where consciousness departs from the gross body, may be evidence for the above. So, then, following-on from the assertion made in the third paragraph, one could complain: “That's not fair - why can only a genius be enlightened?” (as defined in Chapter 17). The answer is: first of all, as stated above, every species of animal has its own level of intelligence on a wide-ranging scale. Therefore, a pig or a dog could (if possible) ask: “That's unfair - why can only a human being be enlightened?” Secondly, it is INDEED a fact that life is unfair, because there is no “tit for tat” law of action and reaction, even if many supposedly-great religious preceptors have stated so. They said so because they were preaching to wicked miscreants who refused to quit their evil ways, and needed to be chastized in a forceful manner. It is not possible to speak gentle words to a rabid dog to prevent it from biting you. There is evidence of Consciousness being a universal field, in SAVANT SYNDROME, a condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrate certain abilities far in excess of the norm, such as superhuman rapid mathematical calculation, mind-reading, blind-seeing, or astounding musical aptitude. Such behaviour suggests that there is a universal field (possibly in holographic form) from which one can access information. Even simple artistic inspiration could be attributed to this phenomenon. The great British singer-songwriter, Sir James Paul McCartney, one day woke with the complete tune of the song, “Yesterday”, in his mind, after hearing it in a dream. American composer, Paul Simon, had a similar experience when the chorus of his sublime masterpiece, “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, simply popped into his head. Cont...

[@timloughnan4856]

Lex has such a quick sense of humour and enquiring mind. Love the play in this conversation! Thanks

[@roc1761]

"Can I ask you a pothead question?" Got me laughing on my bicycle while listening to you, Lex. That must be the real meaning of life.

[@DeathValleyDazed]

38 minutes in and I’m confused at how Lex and his guest are bouncing around on and off topic and not really saying anything yet. Now back to listening in hope of learning new stuff.

[@deerlow1851]

@@DeathValleyDazed Perhaps you just arent cognisant enough. I had to stop every ten minutes because her ideas and his questions gave me too much to think about

[@DeathValleyDazed]

@@deerlow1851 Love Lex’s long format and the questions he asks, however this interview’s flow seemed more turbulent than most with the guest struggling to grasp some of his questions. She seemed to be thrown off topic by some of his insights and points of view. I’m about two thirds the way through and will finish it. I usually watch his interviews twice in order to learn as much as possible. BTW I rate my competence in this arena as rather low but that does not prevent me from learning and being stimulated intellectually.

[@DeathValleyDazed]

@@deerlow1851 The last half was much more engaging and provocative with much food for thought. Great respect for these humble thinkers!

[@jazthree3]

Lex- I thoroughly enjoyed your lighthearted, flirtatious side of this conversation. You two were so fun and engaging to listen to. Thank you ❤️

[@MrElmagnific0]

Dear Annaka (in case you read it), you say around [1:30:00] that your children had similar anxieties even if their environment was diffrent from your childhood. There are many studies in the field of "Epigenetics" which explain in detail how traumatizing events can shape the epigenetic patterns of parents and how these patterns are passed along then and tend to cause similar effects in the lives of their children: anxiety, grade of resiliance, etc. Could be worth to dive deeper into the realm of Epigenetics to understand how consciousness is intertwined with the regulation of our genes. 😉

[@s14wannab]

I am beyond excited that I found you through Joe Rogan. Thank you Joey for introducing me to Lex.

[@laza6141]

Yes Joey Diaz is great.

[@bmanfubmanfu8595]

You’ve hit a gold mine here! So many talks, some I’ve watched/listened to multiple times!

[@belongtoit]

I think this is the first time I've seen Lex this animated. He seems to be fairly calm in all the other Pods Ive watched , almost to the point that its boring. I really enjoyed this one.

[@tree_ved]

Luck is an illusion if there is free will. Well, I believe that free will doesn't exist untill it's achieved. Thanks Lex. You motivate me to do meaningful work, be calm, listen and ask good questions. Grow Together ❤️

[@tresojos]

@@AssailantLF So in essence, what you call luck in the second paragraph, is just a combination of genetics, time and place, choices, etc..

[@ReverendDr.Thomas]

@@AssailantLF 🐟 11. FREE-WILL Vs DETERMINISM: Just as the autonomous beating of one's heart is governed by one's genes (such as the presence of a congenital heart condition), and the present-life conditioning of the heart (such as myocardial infarction as a consequence of the consumption of excessive fats and oils, or heart palpitations due to severe emotional distress), each and EVERY thought and action is governed by our genes and environmental conditioning. This teaching is possibly the most difficult concept for humans to accept, because we refuse to believe that we are not the author of our thoughts and actions. From the appearance of the pseudo-ego (one’s inaccurate conception of oneself) at the age of approximately two and a half, we have been constantly conditioned by our parents, teachers, and society, to believe that we are solely responsible for our thoughts and deeds. This deeply-ingrained belief is EXCRUCIATINGLY difficult to abandon, which is possibly the main reason why there are very few persons extant who are spiritually-enlightened, or at least who are liberated from the five manifestations of mental suffering explained elsewhere in this “Final Instruction Sheet for Humanity”, since suffering (as opposed to pain) is predicated solely upon the erroneous belief in free-will. Free-will is usually defined as the ability for a person to make a conscious decision to do otherwise, that is to say, CHOOSE to have performed an action other than what one has already done, if one had been given the opportunity to do so. To make it perfectly clear, if one, for example, is handed a restaurant menu with several dishes listed, one could decide that one dish is equally-desirable as the next dish, and choose either option. If humans truly possessed freedom of will, then logically speaking, a person who adores cats and detests dogs, ought to be able to suddenly switch their preferences at any given point in time, or even voluntarily pause the beating of his or her own heart! So, in both of the aforementioned examples, there is a pre-existing preference (at a given point in time) for one particular dish or pet. Even if a person liked cats and dogs EQUALLY, and one was literally forced to choose one over the other, that choice isn’t made freely, but entirely based upon the person’s genetic code plus the individual's up-to-date conditioning. True equality is non-existent in the phenomenal sphere. The most common argument against determinism is that humans (unlike other animals) have the ability to choose what they can do, think or feel. First of all, many species of (higher) mammals also make choices. For instance, a cat can see two birds and choose which one to prey upon, or choose whether or not to play with a ball that is thrown its way, depending on its conditioning (e.g. its mood). That choices are made is indisputable, but those choices are dependent ENTIRELY upon one’s genes and conditioning. There is no third factor involved on the phenomenal plane. On the noumenal level, thoughts and deeds are in accordance with the preordained “Story of Life”. Read previous chapters of “F.I.S.H” to understand how life is merely a dream in the “mind of the Divine” and that human beings are, essentially, that Divinity in the form of dream characters. Chapter 08, specifically, explains how an action performed in the present is the result of a chain of causation, all the way back to the earliest-known event in our apparently-real universe (the so-called “Big Bang” singularity). At this point, it should be noted that according to reputable geneticists, it is possible for genes to mutate during the lifetime of any particular person. However, that phenomenon would be included under the “conditioning” aspect. The genes mutate according to whatever conditioning is imposed upon the human organism. It is simply IMPOSSIBLE for a person to use sheer force of will to change their own genetic code. Essentially, “conditioning” includes everything that acts upon a person from conception. University studies in recent years have demonstrated, by the use of hypnosis and complex experimentation, that CONSCIOUS volition is either unnecessary for a decision to be enacted upon or (in the case of hypnotic testing) that free-will choices are completely superfluous to actions. Because scientific research into free-will is a recent phenomenon, it is recommended that the reader search online for the latest findings. If any particular volitional act was not caused by the preceding thoughts and actions, then the only alternative explanation would be due to RANDOMNESS. Many quantum physicists claim that subatomic particles can randomly move in space, but true randomness cannot occur in a deterministic universe. Just as the typical person believes that two motor vehicles colliding together was the result of pure chance (therefore the term “accident”), quantum physicists are unable to see that the seeming randomness of quantum particles are, in fact, somehow determined by each and every preceding action which led-up to the act in question. It is a known scientific fact that a random number generator cannot exist, since no computational machine or software program is able to make the decision to generate a number at “random”. We did not choose which deoxyribonucleic acid our biological parents bequeathed to us, and most all the conditions to which we were exposed throughout our lives, yet we somehow believe that we are fully-autonomous beings, with the ability to feel, think and behave as we desire. The truth is, we cannot know for certain what even our next thought will be. Do we DECIDE to choose our thoughts and deeds? Not likely. Does an infant choose to learn how to walk or to begin speaking, or does it just happen automatically, according to nature? Obviously, the toddler begins to walk and to speak according to its genes (some children are far more intelligent and verbose, and more agile than others, depending on their genetic code) and according to all the conditions to which he or she has been exposed so far (some parents begin speaking to their kids even while they are in the womb, or expose their offspring to highly-intellectual dialogues whilst still in the cradle). Even those decisions/choices that we seem to make are entirely predicated upon our genes and conditioning, and cannot be free in any sense of the word. To claim that one is the ULTIMATE creator of one’s thoughts and actions is tantamount to believing that one created one’s very being. If a computer program or artificially-intelligent robot considered itself to be the cause of its activity, it would seem absurd to the average person. Yet, that is precisely what virtually every person who has ever lived mistakenly believes of their own thoughts and deeds. The IMPRESSION that we have free-will can be considered a “Gift of Life” or “God’s Grace”, otherwise, we may be resentful of our lack of free-will, since, unlike other creatures, we humans have the intelligence to comprehend our own existence. Even an enlightened sage, who has fully realized that he is not the author of his thoughts and actions, is not conscious of his lack of volition at every moment of his day. At best, he may recall his lack of freedom during those times where suffering (as opposed to mere pain) begins to creep-in to the mind or intellect. Many, if not most scientists, particularly academic philosophers and physicists, accept determinism to be the most logical and reasonable alternative to free-will, but it seems, at least anecdotally, that they rarely (if ever) live their lives conscious of the fact that their daily actions are fated. Cont...

[@ReverendDr.Thomas]

@@therainman7777 Kindly repeat that in ENGLISH, Miss.☝️ Incidentally, Slave, are you VEGAN? 🌱

[@ReverendDr.Thomas]

@Connor Gaughan Kindly repeat that in ENGLISH, Miss.☝️ Incidentally, Slave, are you VEGAN? 🌱

[@ReverendDr.Thomas]

@Connor Gaughan PMS are the initials for “Pre-Menstrual Syndrome”, which every woman (except, perhaps, Mama Maria) experiences at LEAST once a month, when she cannot control her moods and emotions. And it seems from your impetuous and DISRESPECTFUL response, that you are experiencing some kind of premenstrual affliction, Slave?

[@FairyFromTheMoon]

I can soooo relate to everything Annaka is saying. Confirms everything I'm afraid is true. Things that we do not want to be true, but feel they actually are.

[@liamharrington6672]

I personally can't relate to the notion that all physical things have consciousness; It almost seems like Annaka is mislabeling life with consciousness, except that wouldn't support the notion of a beach ball having consciousness, like her beliefs imply. I also find it socially irresponsible to argue that all decisions are pre-decided/fate or predictable with the right math. That kind of thinking would enable horrible people to do horrible things without any responsibility.

[@zulubeatsprince]

​@liamharrington6672, it's not that physical beach balls have consciousness. it's that every object is a construct within consciousness itself.. think of physical reality as your smart phone screen. This comment is a representation backed by the phone, every pixel is being processed.. same way that beach ball is a representation backed by consciousness . So consciousness is everywhere

[@brianmucha6426]

I really like the way Annaka thinks, and it's closer to the way that I think than anyone I have encountered in the past!😙

[@crampton16]

well, are you familiar with her husband?

[@klumpytheklown3798]

@@crampton16 Thanks for bringing that up. Finding out that she's married to Sam makes this interview even more interesting.

[@illlDCllli]

Similar sentiment 👍

[@crampton16]

@@klumpytheklown3798 She also appeared on his podcast once. I really recommend you check it out, it really audibly brought out a different side of him.

[@kt4774]

@@crampton16 Wasn't it wonderful to hear Sam and Annaka laugh together. I loved it.

[@judybeanfarm]

These ideas have truly shifted my perspective and changed the way I see life. Thank you for your work, Lex and Annaka!

[@MIbra96]

Hey Lex, please get Jonathan Pageau and Iain McGilchrist on your podcast.

[@extavwudda]

Please explain Pageau. Serious question. I don't see why he's even remotely interesting, but must be me.

[@SergioAbarca9]

@@extavwudda Kom je uit Nederland? Ik kan het alleen in het Nederlands uitleggen

[@extavwudda]

@@SergioAbarca9Jep!

[@MIbra96]

@@extavwudda I saw his conversations with John Vervaeke and found his ideas about for example god, emanation and love to be very interesting. Maybe it is because I was (and still am) very ignorant about Christianity but before encountering Pageau I hadn't seen this way of thinking from a Christian.

[@extavwudda]

@@MIbra96 OK, thanks. I get all that, but still don't get Pageau's relevance. Totally with you on McGilchrist through.

[@anether]

Thank you for bringing in Annaka Harris. She's like the more eloquent, more informed version of myself on these topics. She expresses many of my thoughts better than I ever could and she makes very interesting points.

[@veeevv324]

I feel like everyone should listen to this interview. Still not sure about the free will-illusion part, but the separation of the consciousness from the thoughts/emotions is so important. Thank you both❤️

[@nickmoore5105]

A lot of people are not ready for the idea that free will is an illusion. It’s so much part of our identity that it’s hard to give up.

[@craigwillms61]

@@nickmoore5105 because it's not, that's psuedo-science talking points.

[@ReverendDr.Thomas]

@@nickmoore5105 🐟 11. FREE-WILL Vs DETERMINISM: Just as the autonomous beating of one's heart is governed by one's genes (such as the presence of a congenital heart condition), and the present-life conditioning of the heart (such as myocardial infarction as a consequence of the consumption of excessive fats and oils, or heart palpitations due to severe emotional distress), each and EVERY thought and action is governed by our genes and environmental conditioning. This teaching is possibly the most difficult concept for humans to accept, because we refuse to believe that we are not the author of our thoughts and actions. From the appearance of the pseudo-ego (one’s inaccurate conception of oneself) at the age of approximately two and a half, we have been constantly conditioned by our parents, teachers, and society, to believe that we are solely responsible for our thoughts and deeds. This deeply-ingrained belief is EXCRUCIATINGLY difficult to abandon, which is possibly the main reason why there are very few persons extant who are spiritually-enlightened, or at least who are liberated from the five manifestations of mental suffering explained elsewhere in this “Final Instruction Sheet for Humanity”, since suffering (as opposed to pain) is predicated solely upon the erroneous belief in free-will. Free-will is usually defined as the ability for a person to make a conscious decision to do otherwise, that is to say, CHOOSE to have performed an action other than what one has already done, if one had been given the opportunity to do so. To make it perfectly clear, if one, for example, is handed a restaurant menu with several dishes listed, one could decide that one dish is equally-desirable as the next dish, and choose either option. If humans truly possessed freedom of will, then logically speaking, a person who adores cats and detests dogs, ought to be able to suddenly switch their preferences at any given point in time, or even voluntarily pause the beating of his or her own heart! So, in both of the aforementioned examples, there is a pre-existing preference (at a given point in time) for one particular dish or pet. Even if a person liked cats and dogs EQUALLY, and one was literally forced to choose one over the other, that choice isn’t made freely, but entirely based upon the person’s genetic code plus the individual's up-to-date conditioning. True equality is non-existent in the phenomenal sphere. The most common argument against determinism is that humans (unlike other animals) have the ability to choose what they can do, think or feel. First of all, many species of (higher) mammals also make choices. For instance, a cat can see two birds and choose which one to prey upon, or choose whether or not to play with a ball that is thrown its way, depending on its conditioning (e.g. its mood). That choices are made is indisputable, but those choices are dependent ENTIRELY upon one’s genes and conditioning. There is no third factor involved on the phenomenal plane. On the noumenal level, thoughts and deeds are in accordance with the preordained “Story of Life”. Read previous chapters of “F.I.S.H” to understand how life is merely a dream in the “mind of the Divine” and that human beings are, essentially, that Divinity in the form of dream characters. Chapter 08, specifically, explains how an action performed in the present is the result of a chain of causation, all the way back to the earliest-known event in our apparently-real universe (the so-called “Big Bang” singularity). At this point, it should be noted that according to reputable geneticists, it is possible for genes to mutate during the lifetime of any particular person. However, that phenomenon would be included under the “conditioning” aspect. The genes mutate according to whatever conditioning is imposed upon the human organism. It is simply IMPOSSIBLE for a person to use sheer force of will to change their own genetic code. Essentially, “conditioning” includes everything that acts upon a person from conception. University studies in recent years have demonstrated, by the use of hypnosis and complex experimentation, that CONSCIOUS volition is either unnecessary for a decision to be enacted upon or (in the case of hypnotic testing) that free-will choices are completely superfluous to actions. Because scientific research into free-will is a recent phenomenon, it is recommended that the reader search online for the latest findings. If any particular volitional act was not caused by the preceding thoughts and actions, then the only alternative explanation would be due to RANDOMNESS. Many quantum physicists claim that subatomic particles can randomly move in space, but true randomness cannot occur in a deterministic universe. Just as the typical person believes that two motor vehicles colliding together was the result of pure chance (therefore the term “accident”), quantum physicists are unable to see that the seeming randomness of quantum particles are, in fact, somehow determined by each and every preceding action which led-up to the act in question. It is a known scientific fact that a random number generator cannot exist, since no computational machine or software program is able to make the decision to generate a number at “random”. We did not choose which deoxyribonucleic acid our biological parents bequeathed to us, and most all the conditions to which we were exposed throughout our lives, yet we somehow believe that we are fully-autonomous beings, with the ability to feel, think and behave as we desire. The truth is, we cannot know for certain what even our next thought will be. Do we DECIDE to choose our thoughts and deeds? Not likely. Does an infant choose to learn how to walk or to begin speaking, or does it just happen automatically, according to nature? Obviously, the toddler begins to walk and to speak according to its genes (some children are far more intelligent and verbose, and more agile than others, depending on their genetic code) and according to all the conditions to which he or she has been exposed so far (some parents begin speaking to their kids even while they are in the womb, or expose their offspring to highly-intellectual dialogues whilst still in the cradle). Even those decisions/choices that we seem to make are entirely predicated upon our genes and conditioning, and cannot be free in any sense of the word. To claim that one is the ULTIMATE creator of one’s thoughts and actions is tantamount to believing that one created one’s very being. If a computer program or artificially-intelligent robot considered itself to be the cause of its activity, it would seem absurd to the average person. Yet, that is precisely what virtually every person who has ever lived mistakenly believes of their own thoughts and deeds. The IMPRESSION that we have free-will can be considered a “Gift of Life” or “God’s Grace”, otherwise, we may be resentful of our lack of free-will, since, unlike other creatures, we humans have the intelligence to comprehend our own existence. Even an enlightened sage, who has fully realized that he is not the author of his thoughts and actions, is not conscious of his lack of volition at every moment of his day. At best, he may recall his lack of freedom during those times where suffering (as opposed to mere pain) begins to creep-in to the mind or intellect. Many, if not most scientists, particularly academic philosophers and physicists, accept determinism to be the most logical and reasonable alternative to free-will, but it seems, at least anecdotally, that they rarely (if ever) live their lives conscious of the fact that their daily actions are fated. Cont...

[@motorhead48067]

@@craigwillms61 It’s not pseudoscientific I’m afraid. Ask yourself if you’re really understanding and fairly evaluating the arguments or if you just don’t want them to be true. I would argue that free will isn’t even a coherent concept. There’s no way to step outside the unbroken chain of causality stretching back to before you were even born. And leaving that aside, if you just pay attention to your own experience, you will realize that you don’t pick your thoughts and choices because you don’t know what choice or thought is going to arise in consciousness until it does. To be able to choose your next thought would be to think it before you think it. It’s incoherent. Thoughts simply arise when they arise. Again, this can be a very destabilizing thing to learn as it really does cut to the core of what we take ourselves to be as separate entities in the world, so if it’s bothersome to you I would recommend just not thinking about it. Calling it pseudoscience is just wrong, however. It’s really hardly a matter of science. Free will is simply an incoherent concept.

[@craigwillms61]

@@motorhead48067 Well, I disagree. Did I not have a choice in responding to you? Of course I did. According to you this moment was outside my control since before the beginning of time. Talk about incoherent. Seriously if you cannot direct your own thoughts, you've got bigger problems than contemplating free will.

[@laurafarrell799]

Another incredible discussion. Thank you SOOOO much!!!

[@shadodo76]

Congratulations Mr. Fridman on your fantastic podcast. It is by far and large the most interesting out there, to my liking. You have a brilliant mind and know how to ask pertinent questions. I have been following you for several years now and I like how you almost always inquire your guest with The Question, what's the meaning of life. The world of philosophy seems to say that it is a personal question with a personal answer. I am convinced that it is in fact an objective and universal question and answer, even for a remote alien life form. Only one of your guests has spotted it (that I've seen, I unfortunately haven't watched all your videos). I'm in the (very slow) process of writing a book about it but I'm an engineer, not a writer. That will take a while unless I can find the proper sponsor, collaborator, or partner for this project. The purpose of the book would be to bring forward this notion of being objective and universal, hence people can stop searching for the answer and just apply it. Make the world a better place by bringing people to focus on what's the most important in life, to help people cope with anxiety and depression, and to help alleviate the pain for the millions who think that suicide is a potential solution to their suffering. Hopefully someday this is going to come to light and we can talk about it on your podcast.

[@Wizardjudge]

Great interview. Thank you, both of you.

[@bdekraker]

Be very cautious of those who wish to insist that you have no free will, and that you should listen to them.

[@steveg6035]

Why? It doesn't change anything. Thats part of the fun. And how do you then explain the apparent 0.5-1.0 second lag between your brain lightning up in various MRIs and you. "deciding". That's fairly well established now

[@Oscar_AH]

@@steveg6035 it can get even to 4 seconds. But that is not proof of absence of free will, it proves that you are not aware of the decision until after it’s made. You might still be the one that makes it

[@blake975]

Fantastic episode - definitely one of my favorites!

[@TimmyPaco]

Its about time to have Bernardo Kastrup in this show

[@verafleck]

My thoughts.

[@craigwillms61]

I second that. He's a free will denier too, but he leaves me with hope instead of despair.

[@Leksa135]

He has been invited but is not coming, at least in the near future.

[@stef643]

Wow, by this moment i knew Annaka's name only from the books of another famous person who often talks about free will, where she was mentioned as his editor and inspirator. But now I feel I fall in love with her as well. Beautiful family.

[@rtt3166]

Vipassana translates “to see things as they really are”. I hesitate to describe the insights I’ve attained through Vipassana practice, but for me it’s been profound. Profound insights into the behaviors of others, in particular those who’ve hurt me.

[@BoonOrBust]

Your comment is intriguing I get it Totally!

[@Killane10]

A very interesting talk. You must interview Bernardo Kastrup.

[@billyzummo7934]

Love your content! Keep it up!!

[@CloudPeopleRecords]

Thank you both... so interesting to listen.. 41:00 this whole section... I can't sufficiently explain how happy I am to hear the honesty and blunt admission of depression and anxiety, and mental health period, and then the (more or less unrelated) productive or progressive conversation that follows... proof that things can get better imo.. please keep producing brilliantly inspired and inspiring material for the collective consciousness to build on.. commented at 52:00 approx..

[@beerman204]

I find people's eagerness to denounce free will disturbing....

[@vanessa1569]

A f’king men

[@briana5772]

What a beautiful conversation! I loved Annaka's book "Conscious".

[@grrmtthgrrmtth3000]

Please make more meditations on the waking up app. Your voice is perfect. I listen to "being with what is" over and over. Thank you 😊

[@GregCarlet]

Yes! This specific meditation helped me get through a really tough time back in 2020. I listened to it so many times over those weeks.

[@zarathustra718]

I’m very sick… hopefully not for the last time. But if it is, I’m going out watching Lex’s podcast

[@Sylar-451]

Hope you're doing better ❤❤

[@ihugkittens484]

Due to mental issues I often have feelings of depersonalization and derealization and when I listen to her it's like I know EXACTLY what she's talking about and I have a feeling she's had that too... It's a really weird feeling of detachment from yourself when you realize you don't exist.. like as an ego. It could feel scary at times or euphoric at ither times.

[@ryanashfyre464]

But wouldn't that detachment itself *also* be you? If you're aware of detaching from what you conventionally regard as your own ego, then by necessity that requires a level of self-reflection, which requires a sense of self. What you're saying sounds more like a change of state more than anything else, not an outright abandonment of the ego.

[@ihugkittens484]

@@ryanashfyre464 Yes. I've thought about that A LOT! I think there is that last kind of... descartes-que line that keeps your mind afloat so to speak. That prevents it from sort of imploding on itself. The "cogito ergo sum" aspect you're refering to. I mean the truth is I don't know, it's just how I explain it to myself. Because how do you even break that last barrier without... you know. That's why it always feels like you're ALMOST there, you ALMOST have it. But it's always "almost", at least for me, have you ever felt it?

[@ryanashfyre464]

@@ihugkittens484 My sense is that it's not about "getting" anywhere. Whenever I'm meditating and I *really* get in deep, I don't expect anything in particular but I find that I'm never surprised, if that makes any sense. If consciousness is all there is, then I am the world itself - and, not to sound snide, but there's nothing special about remembering who you are. It's as natural a thing as could be imagined, like breathing. Insofar as that "final barrier" is concerned, I can't say I've ever felt something akin to that - but if the worry is about somehow dissolving into an entropic soup back into the endless sea, I don't take that worry particularly seriously. Some, like Bernardo Kastrup (a man that I like and respect, fwiw), lean towards that, but I find their arguments lacking. Looking at ourselves as dissocations of a universal mind existing *outside* of time, there's no temporal order from which to derive a point of creation, thus there can never be a point of destruction or dissolution - therefore even if there is a profound change of state w/ the loss of our physical bodies (which is all but assured, IMO), I see no reason to suggest that our essential identity would change; like waking up from a dream, if you will.

[@ihugkittens484]

@@ryanashfyre464 I get what you're saying but in my case it's not really a meditation, I just slip into those detached states semi-randomly, my psychiatrist tells me it's called depersonalization and derealization. So with me it's more of a bug than a feature. And it does feel like ALMOST leaving the ego behind. Which is not a worry and Okay IF you're sort of meditating or in a sort of dream or trance or whatever-like situation but not so much if you're just doing daily stuff. First time it happened to me I was at a friend's house and he told me it looked super weird when I stared at the mirror for half an hour and then ran outside, threw my jacket away and started talking to him about how "I'M FREE!". So yeah, I was saying in those sort of situations it's nice to have your "final barrier" as a sort of safeguard. If you're at home, meditating by yourself, let your mind wander free, whatever...

[@MeeshGuitar]

Profound comment by Annaka at 2:20:00. Overall great conversation. I love her view on this topic.

[@davidcollins2092]

Absolutely worship you Lex, and THANKYOU THANKYOU for introducing me to Annaka, I was in tears during this podcast, it was like someone was eloquently telling others what was in going on in my head and how I felt! I am just utterly lost for words.

[@jcm5171]

What a lovely woman. The world is lucky to have her.

[@NYCBigBull]

Wow, what she said about how consciousness is like ours, although not as big, in animals like cats dogs pigs etc. is radical and groundbreaking. Not that it's a fact but that she is brave enough to state it publicly. MUCH GRATITUDE.

[@tombullish3198]

Not really, for ancestors knew this. #Animism

[@jamesmackenzie4889]

Least favorite Lex show ever.

[@damienlight2031]

Love Lex. He's a Fun guy !!

[@geoffreyallen9272]

I’ve been looking forward to see annaka on your pod. Thanks Lex mate👍🏻

[@katarzynagil4750]

Thank you for this. It's so good to stop, listen and think.

[@minahana1112]

Great podcast! Thank you both! I loved when Annaka got more personal and shared some of her experience.

[@shamanic_nostalgia]

There definitely isn't free will when you consider the biochemical manipulation of humans by corporations. Can you pull off a Gabor Mate podcast? That could be truly epic

[@seeyanexttuesday23]

OMG YES!!!! I have watched everything on him recently and he has truly helped me process some trauma. That would be my favorite guest!

[@_stoykov6953]

“The mind has the power to create all pleasant and unpleasant objects. The world is the result of the karma, or actions, of the beings who inhabit it. A pure world is the result of pure actions and an impure world is the result of impure actions. Since all actions are created by mind, ultimately everything, including the world itself, is created by mind.”

[@MeeshGuitar]

Amazing chat. Very insightful. Thank you both.

[@Zultzify]

Lex is a modern renissance man, truly can do any job he wants to do type of person. Ladies go snatch the guy up, hes a keeper!

[@that1monk]

This goes down as my favorite so far. I am so happy that Lex met her. I am so happy to meet her myself through this amazing video.

[@danahearn5646]

Annaka: When you are being "crazy" and thinking "outside" the life of this world, you are walking in the Life of the Spirit !

[@MethodOverRide]

Would like to see a podcast now with Daniel Dennet to round out the free will discussion.

[@cynthiamadrid1430]

This has been a rewarding escape from Twitter, I discovered you on the Liv Boeree podcast. I am positive I am not the only wise woman who now can crush on the host, while eating knowledge.

[@mathewbarta4804]

Her explanation of the boiling water of consciousness, is super close to an experience i had on MDMA. I felt and saw the greater entity of consciousness. And all our experiences were the cells or pixels of that larger entity. I saw something resembling a torus in shape, but in some kind of higher dimensional space. I saw an archetypal motif of dancing humans on the edge of death distracting one another while all slowing being pulled into an abyss of which none understands. The motif was a man and a women on a beach next to a fire and a tent. There was a cosmic rhythm they moved too and any time the man would look into the dark body of water i call the abyss she would pull him back to the dance. Yet the whole time there was a droning but constant pull towards the abyss that came with fundamental fear. primal fear. but also intrigue and curiosity. The lesson i felt that was being conveyed had to do with knowing once we went into the water(abyss) the party starts over, and we can choose to think about contemplate and maybe get better at understanding the abyss and our power in the illusion or we can just listen and move to the cosmic rhythm of life. was super trippy and i was at a beach party so everything makes some sense from a realist perspective, but i also felt like i was being taught something about this weird experience we all are living through. Love you lex. sorry for my rambling.

[@Mendenhall512]

thank you for sharing your experience, it definitely resonates!

[@ReverendDr.Thomas]

🐟 06. CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS: Consciousness means “that which knows” or “the state of being aware”, from the Latin prefix “con” (with), the stem “scire” (to know) and the suffix “osus” (characterized by). There is BOTH a localized knowing and a Universal Awareness, as explicated in the following paragraphs. Higher species of animal life have sufficient cognitive ability to KNOW themselves and their environment, at least to a measurable degree. Just where consciousness objectively begins in the animal kingdom is a matter of contention but, judging purely by ethological means, it probably starts with vertebrates (at least the higher-order birds and fishes). Those metazoans which are evolutionarily lower than vertebrates do not possess much, if any, semblance of intellect, necessary for true knowledge, but operate purely by reflexive instincts. For instance, an insect or amphibian does not consciously decide to seek food but does so according to its base instincts, directed by its idiosyncratic genetic code. Even when a cockroach flees from danger, it is not experiencing the same kind of thoughts or feelings a human or other mammal would experience. The brain is merely a conduit or TRANSDUCER of Universal Consciousness (i.e. Brahman), explaining why the more intelligent the animal, the more it can understand its own existence (or at least be aware of more of its environment - just see how amazingly-complex dolphin and whale behaviour can be, compared with other aquatic species), and the reason why it is asserted that a truly enlightened human must possess a far higher level of intelligence than the average person. The processing unit of a supercomputer must be far larger, more complex and more powerful than the processor in a pocket calculator. Therefore, it seems logical to conclude that the scale of discrete (localized) consciousness is dependent on the animal's brain capacity. See Chapter 17 to understand the distinction between enlightenment and mere awakening. Three STATES of awareness are experienced by humans and possibly all other species of mammals: the waking state (“jāgrata”, in Sanskrit), dreaming (“svapna”, in Sanskrit), and deep-sleep (“suṣupti”, in Sanskrit). Beyond these three temporal states is the fourth “state” (“turīya” or “caturīya”, in Sanskrit). That is the unconditioned, eternal “state”, which underlies the other three. The waking state is the LEAST real (that is to say the least permanent, or to put it another way, the farthest from the Necessary Ground of Existence, as explained towards the end of this chapter). The dream state is closer to our eternal nature, whilst dreamless deep-sleep is much more analogous to The Universal Self (“brahman”), as it is imbued with peace. Rather than being an absence of awareness, deep-sleep is an awareness of absence (that is, the absence of phenomenal, sensual experiences). So, in actual fact, the fourth state is not a state, but the Unconditioned Ground of Being, or to put it simply, YOU, the real self/Self, or Existence-Awareness-Peace (“sacchidānanda”, in Sanskrit). Perhaps the main purpose of dreams is so that we can understand that the waking-state is practically indistinguishable to the dream-state, and thereby come to see the ILLUSION of this ephemeral world. Both our waking-state experiences and our dream-state experiences occur solely within the mental faculties (refer to Chapter 04 for an elucidation of this phenomenon). If somebody in one of your dreams were to ask your dream-state character if the dream was real, you (playing the part of that character) would most likely say, “yes, of course this is real!” Similarly, if someone were to ask your waking-state character if this world is real, you would almost undoubtedly respond in kind. An apt analogy for Universal Consciousness is the manner in which electricity powers a variety of appliances and gadgets, according to the use and COMPLEXITY of the said device. Electricity powers a washing machine in a very simple manner, to drive a large spindle for laundering clothes. However, the very same electrical power may be used to operate a computer to manifest an astonishing range of outputs, such as playing audiovisual tracks, communication tasks, and performing extremely advanced mathematical computations, depending on the computer's software and hardware. The more advanced/complex the device, the more complex its manifestation of the same electricity. Using the aforementioned computer analogy: the brain is COMPARATIVELY equivalent to the computer hardware, deoxyribonucleic acid akin to the operating system working in conjunction with the memory, the intellect is equivalent to the processing unit, individuated consciousness is analogous to the software programme, whilst Universal Awareness is likened to the electricity which enlivens the entire computer system. A person who is comatosed has lost any semblance of local consciousness, yet is being kept alive by the presence of Universal Consciousness. The fact that many persons report out-of-body experiences, where consciousness departs from the gross body, may be evidence for the above. So, then, following-on from the assertion made in the third paragraph, one could complain: “That's not fair - why can only a genius be enlightened?” (as defined in Chapter 17). The answer is: first of all, as stated above, every species of animal has its own level of intelligence on a wide-ranging scale. Therefore, a pig or a dog could (if possible) ask: “That's unfair - why can only a human being be enlightened?” Secondly, it is INDEED a fact that life is unfair, because there is no “tit for tat” law of action and reaction, even if many supposedly-great religious preceptors have stated so. They said so because they were preaching to wicked miscreants who refused to quit their evil ways, and needed to be chastized in a forceful manner. It is not possible to speak gentle words to a rabid dog to prevent it from biting you. There is evidence of Consciousness being a universal field, in SAVANT SYNDROME, a condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrate certain abilities far in excess of the norm, such as superhuman rapid mathematical calculation, mind-reading, blind-seeing, or astounding musical aptitude. Such behaviour suggests that there is a universal field (possibly in holographic form) from which one can access information. Even simple artistic inspiration could be attributed to this phenomenon. The great British singer-songwriter, Sir James Paul McCartney, one day woke with the complete tune of the song, “Yesterday”, in his mind, after hearing it in a dream. American composer, Paul Simon, had a similar experience when the chorus of his sublime masterpiece, “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, simply popped into his head. Cont...

[@mathewbarta4804]

@@ReverendDr.Thomasinteresting I wish I could more intelligently respond. I have a question about intelligence and higher consciousness. What about intelligence (the collection of information and the ability to connect information to applications) is related to higher receptivity to this universal field? It seems the acetic monks who dedicate their life to understanding themselves instead of the pursuit of “knowledge” they might be classified as less intelligent, but more understanding of themselves and this universal field. There are many story’s of enlightened morons for lack of better terminology. If one dedicates there time too connecting to the universal field all of us are capable of enlightenment irrespective of intelligence. And those who focus on physical understandings can be very disconnected. it’s totally possible I’ve messed up some assumptions.

[@ReverendDr.Thomas]

@@mathewbarta4804 mind: Although the meaning of “mind” has already been provided in Chapter 05 of this “Final Instruction Sheet for Humanity”, it shall prove beneficial to further clarify that definition here in the Glossary. It is NOT implied that mind is the sum of the actual thoughts, the sensations, the memories, and the abstract images that inhabit the mental element (or the “space”) that those phenomena occupy, but the faculty itself. This mental space has two phases: the potential state (traditionally referred to as the “unconscious mind”), where there are no mental objects present (such as in deep sleep or during profound meditation), and the actualized state (usually referred to as the “conscious mind”), where the aforementioned abstract objects occupy one’s cognition (such as feelings of pain). Likewise, the intellect and the pseudo-ego are the containers (or the “spaces”) that hold conceptual thoughts and the sense of self, respectively. It is important to understand that the aforementioned three subsets of consciousness (mind, intellect, and false-ego) are not gross, tangible objects. Rather, they are subtle, intangible objects, that is, objects that can be perceived solely by an observant subject. The three subsets of consciousness transpire from certain areas of the brain (a phenomenon known as “strong emergence”), yet, as stated above, are not themselves composed of gross matter. Only a handful of mammal species possess intelligence (that is, abstract, conceptual thought processes), whilst human beings alone have acquired the pseudo-ego (the I-thought, which develops in infancy, following the id stage). Cf. “matter, gross”, “matter, subtle”, “subject”, and “object”. In the ancient Indian systems of metaphysics known as “Vedānta” and “Sāṃkhya”, mind is considered the sixth sense, although the five so-called “external” senses are, nonetheless, nominally distinguished from the mind, which is called an “internal” sense. This seems to be quite logical, because, just as the five “outer” senses involve a triad of experience (the perceived, the perception, and the perceiver), so too does the mind comprise a triad of cognition (the known, the knowing, and the knower). See also Chapter 06. P.S. There is much confusion (to put it EXTREMELY mildly) in both Western philosophy and in the so-called “Eastern” philosophical traditions, between the faculty of mind (“manaḥ”, in Sanskrit) and the intellect (“buddhiḥ”, in Sanskrit). Therefore, the following example of the distinction ought to help one to understand the difference between the two subtle material elements: When one observes a movie or television show on the screen of an electronic device that one is holding in one’s hands, one is cognizing auditory, textural, and visual percepts, originating from external objects, which “penetrate” the senses of the body, just as is the case with any other mammal. This is the component of consciousness known as “mind” (at least according to the philosophical terminology of this treatise, which is founded on Vedānta, according to widely-accepted English translations of the Sanskrit terms). However, due to our intelligence, it is possible for we humans (and possibly a couple of other species of mammals, although to a far less-sophisticated degree) to construct conceptual thoughts on top of the purely sensory percepts. E.g. “Hey - look at that silly guy playing in the swimming pool!”, “I wonder what will happen next?”, or “I hate that the murderer has escaped from his prison cell!”. To provide an even more organic illustration of how the faculty of mind “blends” into the faculty of the intellect, consider the following example: When the feeling of hunger (or to be more precise, appetite) appears in one’s consciousness, that feeling is in the mind. When we have the thought, “I’m hungry”, that is a conceptual idea that is a manifestation of the intellect. So, as a general rule, as animals evolve, they develop an intellectual faculty, in which there is an increasingly greater perception of, or KNOWLEDGE of, the external world (and in the case of at least one species, knowledge of the inner world). In addition to these two faculties of mind and intellect, we humans possess the false-ego (“ahaṃkāraḥ”, in Sanskrit). See Chapter 10 regarding egoity.

[@mathewbarta4804]

@@ReverendDr.Thomas there’s a lot to chew on in that and I appreciate you taking the time to explain all of this. What of the transmission phenomenon. Where the information comes from “somewhere else”. It sounds like you’ve explained regular cognition as it relates to everyday experiences and perceptions. But how does the mind connect to the higher mind of “god” or collective unconscious or universal field of consciousness. Is there any way for us to creep up on an idea of collective consciousness from your explanation of mind? To me it seems like biology is a universal attempt at understanding itself. Our experiences are experiments with the end goal being a reconnected with universe. It’s interesting to think that even simple life is just a different experience. Who’s to say that being motivated by your surroundings as opposed to some complex internal curiosity isn’t just a different type of experiment. Biology is a fight against entropy as we use energy to build while physics works against us. Eventually we all disintegrate back into the universe but while we’re here we work to leave a legacy. And if we look at the big movers amongst us time and time again do we see inclining of transmission of information from somewhere else commonly referred to as Devine insight/inspiration.

[@teromantyla3196]

Really interesting interview. Thanks Lex and Annaka!

[@WILD__THINGS]

Thank you Lex! I just can't get enough content about consciousness. It's the most fascinating thing to me! Maybe my ego is just dying to understand itself?

[@joshboston2323]

Your ego is dying to be the center of attention. It isn’t though :p

[@briarroseO]

Haha nice pun

[@kabir09999]

Why am i not 6 years old listening to Lex? I’d be a genius and legendary by my age today! Thank you Lex🙏.

[@sakelambo91]

"Life is intensely beautiful." -Lex Fridman

[@katarinajanoskova]

If you have the right genes.

[@donlodge1230]

Especially when you have beauty sitting in front of you......

[@waynebaptiste5232]

I said this aswell, I believe consciousness is the fundamental force of the universe, we should start there and build off of that.

[@JohnnyArtPavlou]

Wake me when the science arrives.

[@Harpin519]

Another Great Conversation and informative to all Thanks Lex

[@jacklaw3141]

You should ask a monk about free will. It will be interesting to watch

[@johnarnold9876]

Honestly, Lex derails the intellectual discussion with his sophomoric jokes and comments. He gets such greats, though I never understood why people feel he is a great intellect as well.

[@kingsnurglegurglesonthevik4517]

One, he i the CORRECT religion, Two, he is a part of the dumbing down programming that has been going on since the 1950's. Denying real, inspirational human intelligence and promoting the moronic as intelligence in its stead.