Predicting Reality: A Conversation with Andy Clark (Episode

Sam Harris speaks with Andy Clark about the predictive brain, embodied cognition, and the extended mind. They discuss the structure of perception, novelty, precision, pain, psychedelics, emotion, ways to hack our predictions, hypnosis, meditation, artificial intelligence, consciousness, and other topics.
Andy Clark is Professor of Cognitive Philosophy at the University of Sussex. He is the author of several books including Surfing Uncertainty, Mindware, Supersizing the Mind, Being There, and most recently, The Experience Machine. His academic interests include artificial intelligence, embodied and extended cognition, robotics, and computational neuroscience.
Twitter: @CogsAndy
Website: profiles.sussex.ac.uk/p493-an...
June 12, 2023
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[@oo4125]

Another epic Harris intro.

[@TheParadox_]

2:56 _“It’s like we just spent the better part of a decade obsessing about and watching our society tear itself apart over Vanilla Ice or Carrot Top or Peewee Hermann…”_ -LOL! Excellent intro!

[@francdugas]

I very rarely comment anything on social media and KZbin, but I just want to say this interview was awesome. I really liked the conversation.

[@Unhacker]

I'm glad the topical intro is back, without Twitter it's the only place to hear Sam's take on such and such.

[@reinforcedpenisstem]

Agreed

[@irrelevant2235]

I think you meant 'typical'.

[@KevinUchihaOG]

@@irrelevant2235 not sure if you actually think he meant "typical" or if you are making a snarky comment against Sam Harris because you think his intros are the same all the time.

[@worldofjonny2]

Not trying to be a troll at all but I actually honestly wish the topical stuff was the majority of the podcast. Don't get me wrong some of the guests are great but after listening to Sam for years it's a little bit same old same old.

[@riverryebluegrass7935]

Thanks Sam

[@serenitygrace9902]

Thank you. ❤

[@jackbailey7037]

Great intro. Somebody finally said what I think quite often (I thought I'd never hear it outside my own head). I admit I guiltily watched the OJ trial. I felt we'd somehow crossed a line then. I didn't know we'd all be living in media-land someday, but here we are. The internet is like old TV except now we've stepped inside the tube and everyone broadcasts & receives. Too immersive.

[@OmriC]

Precision weighting is so much more than the estimation of the inverse variance . It is the core of our cognition and how we realize relevance.

[@juanReflex37]

Excelente Sam Harris

[@RenegadeContext]

I would love if they spoke about hypnosis more. I'm a trained hypnotherapist and even the courses talk absolute wank about what it is and how it works. To hear any snippets like this about what is really happening is invaluable

[@innerspacesurfer]

So you have no idea what you're doing?

[@RenegadeContext]

@@innerspacesurfer I do know what I'm doing. I'm very good at it. What I'm saying is that the general consensus on hypnosis is currently pretty awful, so much so that the national society on hypnosis is accrediting out of date courses. I read and listen to anything and everything I can. This is a new take on it though and I found it fascinating. If you took me saying I don't know what is happening to mean the same as I don't know what I'm doing, that's a mistake. You can know how to provide medicine without knowing the chemical make up or the interaction with the body but still know it will work. Sadly there just isn't enough research on hypnosis, Dr David Spiegel is changing that though with FMRI research. It will be taken more seriously in the next decade or so

[@lav7161]

​@Su Hamilton What made you start and what have you learned through your experience of becoming a professional at it?

[@RenegadeContext]

@@lav7161 interesting question. I'm a performer and autistic so I have a special interest in psychology. Hypnosis as a performance art and a psychological art has always interested me. I was at a Derren Brown show in London years ago and at the beginning of the show when he tests the audience for susceptibility I discovered that I was hypnotisable. Not as susceptible as some but definitely somewhat. The experience was fascinating. The course I attended was of a very poor quality but this is true of so many courses as it tends to attract crazies sadly, this is one of the reasons it's not taken seriously, but I'm good at researching so I taught myself while I completed the course. I've discovered how incredibly useful it is. For me personally it's more effective than meditation because I find it hard to put the time aside to meditate but I can hypnotise myself in 10 minutes and be good for the day. The current science show that it shuts off the default mode network of the brain allowing you to "reset". It's the same part of the brain that shuts down in practiced meditators and when you take psychedelics. I find that infinitely fascinating. People have been inducing these states in themselves for as long as people have existed. Witch doctors, ceremonies, religious rituals all seem to tap into this ability that we have to shut down this part of the brain. The scope for healing minor injuries and mental health issues is huge. Obviously you can't heal cancer with it but you can increase blood flow to certain areas of the brain which doesn't feel like it should be possible. It can help with emotional regulation, self perception, confidence, chronic pain and a ton of stuff that GPs generally don't seem to know how to deal with. I'm really still at the beginning of this journey but it looks like I will be reading about it for the rest of my life. If you look up David Spiegal, he does FMRI studies in hypnosis at Stanford university, he's pretty much the lead in their research ATM if you want to learn more

[@emilyjones5830]

@@RenegadeContextSo you are a charlatan.

[@GenericAF123]

Your takes on Trump never gets old lol! The orange menace is damn funny!

[@crowlsyong]

Nice

[@keithkaosHarv]

I love his humorous summation of Trump, it’s so accurate and infuriating.

[@sihlehadebe4127]

The Jesus bit had me. Sam as a stand up comedian would be gold 😅

[@josephmgant]

I bought a membership to this podcast, but I can't find it on KZbin. I keep being told I need to subscribe.

[@touch8971]

Andy you are the best!!

[@paddydiddles4415]

28:00 There could be another explanation. It’s also possible to have an abstract conceptual headspace at low doses, and well before the visual hallucinations have started to kick in. So this suggests that users may just not be devoting as much attention to the altered headspace prior to the heavier doses. The point at which visual hallucinations are starting to force into consciousness (at higher doses) is also on average, when users start to appreciate the altered headspace more. This could be what’s going on, rather than higher doses recruiting more of the prediction-error pathway?

[@FrankOdonnell-ej3hd]

yes that intro was not only very funny but also a pretty accurate description of the craziness going on right now

[@0MoTheG]

Engineering has reinvented perception: Sensor fusion, feedback auto control, machine vision.

[@victorvispetto2367]

Sam is arrow sharp in his assessment of Trump and other lies. Truth does vary, not by that wide chasm.

[@trystdodge6177]

He was talking about Trump again? Sam's mind has been replaced by a potato.

[@kirathekillernote2173]

@@trystdodge6177 Are you unable to hear?

[@asraarradon4115]

​@@kirathekillernote2173Likely didn't even listen. Sam's comment threads have been filled with people (and some maybe not even people) who don't listen to the content, but merely thumb down and talk trash. It's far healthier to just ignore them.

[@DS-rd9qn]

@@trystdodge6177 No.

[@trystdodge6177]

@D S broken by Trump. An idiot grifter selling Trump stakes as political solutions. Yeah I have no respect for Sam any longer. The podcast which really did it was when he had one of the gracies to talk about training cops in jujitsu. He is so out of touch it comical.

[@satan6548]

Nobody rips on Trump the way Sam does. It's just glorious to listen to

[@jmc5335]

It's quite hypocritical in my opinion

[@TheAlibabatree]

@@jmc5335You’re a hypocrite. See how easy it is to throw around words?

[@jmc5335]

@@TheAlibabatree You again. Where did we leave it the last time we conversed?

[@TheAlibabatree]

@@jmc5335 I believe you were yelling at a wall, and I politely walked away.

[@jmc5335]

Not quite. I agreed with you and then asked you to name me a fascist in Europe who spoke most honestly about Islam, as Sam Harris claims

[@howtheworldworks3]

I can do that. I will reboot it.

[@evynstratman1414]

And here I just thought of Sam...

[@ab185]

1st for the first time in my KZbin career.

[@johncarter1150]

Wow, you are infamous

[@brycegoude989]

I remember my first first also. 😅

[@freshfalcon3996]

My first time being the third comment on the first commenter.

[@mattbabb.]

**Foreigner plays in the background**

[@ab185]

Thank you all for the support. I'll never forget this moment or the 4 of you fine gentilepersons.

[@PixelNotesMusic]

Oh man, just woke up from a dream where Sam was in the end stages of terminal cancer. These dreams really make you appreciate what you have.

[@irrelevant2235]

His father, Berkeley Harris died from terminal brain cancer in 1984 at the age of 51 so I'm sure this may concern him.

[@kappla]

Please explain-

[@PixelNotesMusic]

@@kappla Just that we're lucky to live in the same time as a great mind like Sam's.

[@i1337Thinker]

​@@wirwep 👈 Liar and Hater for Trump

[@i1337Thinker]

​@@PixelNotesMusicAgreed.

[@Eds3.14]

Why did Sam roast ASMR like that 😅

[@merlepatterson]

My "Predictive Brain" couldn't wait to listen to Sam's (excitement) take on Trump's indictment. But that prediction was pretty easy, to be honest.

[@bizonc]

He’s right about Trump

[@JD..........]

4:37

[@DavesGuitarPlanet]

Mona Shingles

[@fulfillmenttheory]

"But calling it a religion is too grand; it's a cargo cult that is dazzled by each new meme that washes up on twitter." This is why I'm Sam Harris subscriber.

[@user-gy1pu3gq3d]

You guys cream your pants over each new turn of phrase that describes the exact same position he's held for 5+ years.

[@fulfillmenttheory]

@@user-gy1pu3gq3d he's a master at articulation. And he's right. Don't like it? Then why the fuck are you here 😄

[@user-gy1pu3gq3d]

@@fulfillmenttheory I used to believe that and then I watched him stumble through the Triggernometry and John Wood interviews. He's smart and a clever writer, but he obviously spends an inordinate amount of time coming up with the next clever turn of phrase rather than actually understanding issues. People like Greenwald deliver real insight every night while Sam delivers clever phrases. Hell, Dave Rubin delivers more insight and he's a huge idiot.

[@pdcdesign9632]

@@user-gy1pu3gq3d Hey look over there where CONMAN DONNIE is not getting indicted. 😂🤣

[@dukedematteo1995]

​@@user-gy1pu3gq3d I didn't agree with his Hunter Biden laptop take on Triggernometry either....that was definitely journalistically unethical. But at least Sam was honest. He doesn't care if they were bc he believes Trump really sucks and that he was proven right with the election denial and Jan 6 shenanigans. I didn't think it deserved the intense reaction that it got, followed by non stop ball breaking on his Twitter. He has a lot of pointed opinions. Why this was such a big thing, I don't know?

[@professorwebster1]

Kudos to the commenters who focused on the talk with Clark. Adding an intro that states rather obvious facts from Sam is nothing more than acknowledging the current (continuing) state of threat that our experiment in democracy is undergoing (enablers making up the lion's share rather than the carnival barker). But Andy Clark's thesis here is a very interesting extension (pardon the pun) of his and Chalmers' extended mind theory. I wish that Sam had made one point/asked Clark near the end though about why AI is not considered to be "closing the loop" through its millions of sensory inputs as it is allowed to train on current and continuing data? That is, all of our devices are connected to and through the Internet (neural network), and AI is privy to all of that, so as others like Musk, Tristan Harris, & Max Tegmark have observed, robots, vehicles, our smartphones and other IoT devices are essentially the "eyes and ears" of AI.

[@physics2112]

Like or Dislike: Neutral. #godsavethequeen

[@AndruXa]

Ironically 90% of comments under this super interesting interview is about Donald Trump which is exactly the kind of time waste Sam was criticizing in his intro.

[@sukanthienargashvaran9779]

I love you daddy

[@evynstratman1414]

LOL

[@SemiPerfectDark]

"Left, Right, and Center" are to blame for the quality of conversation? Sam, please quantify that. Let's see some studies. 4:30

[@Bronco541]

Ok i finally have to relent now, and agree somewhat with what others have said in the past. Sam said he thought twitter made him a worse person. I think Trump did it to him. I no longer pay any attention to Trump and found some of the comments here at the beginnging rather getting carried away.

[@Bronco541]

"Can someone figure out how to reboot society?" Yes-- ditch our monkey minds and embrace the AI take over

[@Johnwilkinsonofficial]

a couple of tough hinted digs at Bret Weinstein in the intro there 🔥 😂 petty level up a few points

[@user-gy1pu3gq3d]

Bret was and is right. Sam is behind on his recommended booster shots, so he knows Bret was right.

[@twntwrs]

@@user-gy1pu3gq3d who woulda ever guessed the boosters would double as truth serum...

[@bernardofitzpatrick5403]

Great assessment of Trump

[@user-gy1pu3gq3d]

Same take he's been giving for the past 6 years.

[@annabee75]

Sam lost his identity now being a scientists(Neuro) lost its status. Ego is a b#@*h.

[@deejaye2647]

Giving away the shows now eh?

[@perafamily5836]

the democrats wasted the time on him instead of treating him the way they treat everyone else they want to go away (by ignoring him and pretending he doesnt exist) which makes me think they want him around.

[@nunyabisnass1141]

Well at first they did want him around, because they thought he'd be a soft target for Hilary. Then he simultaneously became a convenient punching bag and something of Boogeyman. Now there are plenty of things that trump actually did that they could criticize him for, but they either silently agree or think the ppl are too stupid to comprehend something important. But I agree, the Dems made him popular and they are keeping him popular.

[@blakesleyk.7166]

Exactly. The ol “You think I’m bad, we’ll get a load of him!” You nailed it

[@trystdodge6177]

There is very little political energy left in modernity. Trump as a boogie man is quite useful to keep an oligarchic ruling class unified in fear, fear of a nonexistent mob of fly overs plebs carring torches and pitch forks. What do you suppose Jan 6 would have looked like if the same amount of people had the same political energy as say the workers of lenins mob?

[@treycaldwell4118]

Riveting

[@joseph-the-seventh]

Very interesting conversation, aside from the intro which suggests that Sam’s Trump derangement syndrome is reawakening. Such a boring topic. And the irony is that Trump would love to know how much Sam talks about him.

[@gnosisdocumentaries4481]

No, Sam, Trump has bot been playing 4D chess 😂

[@alexanderg9670]

It had started with Harambe. Keyfabe era for technological reasons. Unlike Sam I think that total collapse of trust has to happen first for people to adapt

[@sambraun1918]

So much time was wasted over smearing Trump. If America just read the 28 pages of a Joint Congressional Report on the False Flag Attacks, we could “predict reality” a lot sooner.

[@bobconkl]

Next time that you can't get Donald Trump out of your head, you should return to your breath, and begin again ...

[@HeathcliffeMcHarris]

Opportunity cost is right, stop wasting time on trump.

[@flor.7797]

trump isn’t the problem . It’s the US military complex

[@thrashish]

I predict the comments will have a variety of Ham Sarris haters and a number of fanbois as well.

[@twntwrs]

Sam Harris fans with no tolerance for BS and Sam fanbois. Not the same group.

[@thrashish]

@@twntwrs who is Sam Harris? I'm talking about Ham Sarris

[@wiseone1013]

Mr Trump is no more deranged and corrupt than Mr Biden. I would love to see him win again.

[@nunyabisnass1141]

Well, to be politician it's kind of a prerequisite to be corrupt. Although many do deny there being any merit to the numerous attempts to keep him from running again, he hasn't done anything especially egregious compared to past presidents, or our current one. Many ppl that support trump are willing to let the indictments happen, because they believe it'll set a precedent to prosecute Obama, bush, and Biden.

[@KevinUchihaOG]

I bet you said "lock her up" a couple of times during the 2016 election.

[@echardtschloeder5178]

Can someone use audio of Sam Harris decrying Donald Trump, and audio of the latter, in a Tim and Eric style head transplant skit where they're children? Of course Donald Trump would be yelling back in his way.

[@observerone6727]

Tronald Dump is a leader: A leader in not wanting to hear what he doesn't want to hear, and a leader in denialism. Vast worshiping of this childish/immature behavior is pathetic.

[@charlesbarkley1340]

Politics isn’t Harris’s strong point 😂

[@PlayNiceFolks]

Like saying peak Arnold's triceps isn't as strong as his quadriceps.

[@TheOlzee]

He must be trolling at the start. The guy gets a lot of things wrong it’s funny

[@annagah]

Obsessing about and still talking about Trump. Come on. I can't hear this anymore.

[@American-In-Mykolaiv]

Not at all obsessing, but just telling facts of the happenings this week!

[@annagah]

@@kingsofthegridiron because I hope for some insightful and amazing content. Do you mind?

[@ganeshkimi]

​@@annagahThen perhaps you should stick to the insightful section and skip the part that you claim you can't hear. It's a simple solution really.

[@i1337Thinker]

@@annagah Get your mind right.

[@john-ut8cw]

trump is exactly what U.S. needs

[@F--B]

Hands down worst case of TDS ever seen. Terminal at this point.

[@nic3guy5585]

He needs another booster... I hear he has only had 160.....

[@johnbuckner2828]

You lost me at “ integrity of everyone around him“ Talk about a faith-based worldview. 🙄

[@synthesizerneil]

Wow. Sam deleted his Twitter but still sees the world and criticizes everything through the lens of Twitter. He's above it all, so much smarter and sophisticated than us rubes who listen to podcasts. Truly full blown trump Derangement Syndrome

[@slider292]

???

[@i1337Thinker]

Haters gonna hate. Lol 😂

[@rogerjones5970]

Using TDS just confirms what he's saying .......a cargo cult meaningless marketing tool as a base and intellectually vapid defense of Trump

[@twntwrs]

Sam's Hunter Biden laptop news suppression seems to be applied to posts making fun of Sam's TDS: They keep disappearing.

[@user-gy1pu3gq3d]

Tested it on incognito and you're right. I wonder what Sam's algorithm is for censoring the comments.

[@twntwrs]

@@user-gy1pu3gq3d it's not unsophisticated; he doesn't censor all of them so that it won't look as if he's censoring: TDS mockery of Sam in the comments has become as much a feature of his podcasts as his TDS. Its complete absence would trigger a whole lotta WTFs. Lol.

[@PlayNiceFolks]

Apparently you've never made an omelet. Well my boy, sometimes you have to do a wrong thing in order to better serve a greater good thing.

[@twntwrs]

@@PlayNiceFolks that's what they also told the boys they sent over to Vietnam as cannon fodder: "You've got to destroy the village to save the village".

[@i1337Thinker]

Stop lying and stop spamming.

[@user-ko3tv7jl2r]

Of all the things Trump has broken, he's broken Sam's mind the most.

[@pdcdesign9632]

Hey look over there where CONMAN DONNIE is not getting indicted. 😂🤣

[@nic3guy5585]

God damn sam you have lost the plot..... i miss you man..... trump broke your brain....

[@martinh4982]

I reckon Sam is a jealous of Donald Trump. Sam is so far up his own backside he imagines that he should be a person of importance and significance. Donald Trump wakes up one morning, decides to become POTUS, and achieves it on the first outing.

[@kyleschaffrick3845]

It is so disappointing hearing Sam still talk about Trump. Move on.

[@Jawn..]

Nope. Not until he’s gone for good

[@brian782]

Sam is pathetic

[@bourne817]

Stay mad over there, incel

[@kappla]

Kyle: You move on. You’re such a disappointment. Move on.

[@natalyawoop4263]

God forbid he spends two minutes on an unprecedented event in our nation's history

[@micksc1]

TDS lol

[@slider292]

dur dur dur...

[@CP-nl2zb]

Sammy The Pseudo Harris.

[@Earstolisten]

Trump 2024 🇺🇸

[@tcritt]

"Lock him up; lock him up," 😂

[@Jawn..]

Getting arrested tomorrow let’s go

[@johncarter1150]

A t runper on Sam's podcast LOL

[@Unhacker]

"...for prison." 😂

[@PhilipPedro2112]

Do we still do firing squads?

[@tobiastracy136]

So happy to see how much sams viewership has gone down since he said the thing he wasn't suppose to say out loud. The lefties are all crumbling. Righties are rising. Ha ha ha sam lol

[@Stiegosaurus]

Hey Sam, when are you going to admit you were completely wrong about COVID?

[@robertjenkins2740]

Tds, I can’t take it. I wanted to listen but I can’t.

[@joshboston2323]

just skip the intro then. The podcast is interesting and not about trump.

[@PlayNiceFolks]

You have a Trump Dependency Syndrome

[@robertjenkins2740]

Tds

[@PlayNiceFolks]

"I heard they had headaches".