Constructing Self and World: A Conversation with Shamil Chandaria (Episode

Sam Harris speaks with Shamil Chandaria about how the brain constructs a vision of the self and the world. They discuss the brain from first principles; Bayesian inference; hierarchical predictive processing; the construction of vision; psychedelics and neuroplasticity; beliefs and prior probabilities; the interaction between psychedelics and meditation; the risks and benefits of psychedelics; Sam’s recent experience with MDMA; non-duality; love, gratitude, and bliss; the self model; the Buddhist concept of emptiness; human flourishing; effective altruism; and other topics.
Dr. Shamil Chandaria is a philanthropist, serial entrepreneur, technologist, and academic with multidisciplinary research interests spanning computational neuroscience, machine learning and artificial intelligence, and the philosophy and science of human wellbeing. His PhD from the London School of Economics was in mathematical modeling of economic systems using stochastic differential equations and optimal control theory. Later he completed an MA in philosophy with distinction from University College London, where he developed an interest in philosophy of science and philosophical issues in biology, neuroscience, and ethics.
In 2018, Dr. Chandaria helped to endow the Global Priorities Institute at Oxford University, an interdisciplinary research institute focusing on the most important issues facing humanity. In 2019 he was a founder of the Centre for Psychedelic Research in the department of Brain Sciences at Imperial College London, a neuroscience research institute investigating psychedelic therapies for a number of conditions including treatment resistant depression. He has also funded research on the neuroscience of meditation at Harvard, and at the University of California in Berkeley.
Twitter: @shamilch
KZbin: @ShamilChandaria
May 22, 2023
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[@irrelevant2235]

18:15 _"After it hits your retina, you're not dealing with light anymore."_ This is such a profound statement!

[@NajibElMokhtari]

One of those podcasts where you press pause at some point and go like: jesus christ what was that 🤯

[@abhirama]

Absolutely. What the hell was it.

[@yassineelmanspuri-kx3wx]

Give some examples plz

[@Solarin779]

عزيزي نجيب جاني هاد بودكاست عادي بزاف ، ربما لانني سمعت لبزاف ديال ال Guru ف non-duality وال Oness وقريت بزاف د كتوبا ، كاين ماحسن بزاف ، على اي شكرا على ال recommandations ❤

[@---Free-Comics---IG---Playtard]

Wonderful episode! Maluable "top-level priors" (high-order beliefs) is a wholly interesting concept. Especially how they can be subverted by various psychedelics/psychotropics! I think that volition next, opportunities are largely at the center of this consideration but of course, not limited to it - ie: an LSD trip's own unique "itinerary". +1 Shamil Chandaria

[@ArlindoPhilosophicalArtist]

I'm reading a book by Nicholas Humphrey called 'Sentience: The Invention of Consciousness ' and this talk provides a nice, insightful addition to it. Thank you, Sam!

[@essadeqbillouche1340]

thank u for the book

[@Brian-nt1hh]

Thx Sam & Guest

[@asselm2983]

Great conversation, thanks a lot for sharing. About Kantian way of seeing or better not seeing things as they are, I just finished reading “The wholeness of nature” and “Lost knowledge of imagination” and both books are very inspiring, they sort of liberate one in a sense that one gets absolutely sure that things can be seen as they are given there is certain effort or better say “re-arrangements” in the ways of approaching the world. This sort of vision is very similar in my understanding to Vijja. Simply put the idea is that the entire world is “enclosed” in us and we only need to re-arrange our seeing to gain an access to this knowledge/vijja.

[@mindlander]

I don't know what any of this means. Could you restate it in a way the average person can understand?

[@sissiphys7834]

Michael Taft would be amazing to have on your podcast! :)

[@melstiller8561]

Thank you, Sam, for sharing this great nugget! I know I 'm no one special; but I'm a person who is grievously concerned about the direction the world is taking today. Human thought and personal accountability have packed up and left planet earth for good.

[@mountainair]

Share similar concerns...

[@melstiller8561]

@@mountainair--- I look around, listen, and pay attention to what's happening in the world around me, and beyond my horizons. What I see and hear terrifies me ---- not because I "feel' uncomfortable, but because I am horrified by what our society has become. The metamorphosis has already taken place. But is the damage I see merely veneer? Or has the destruction been so complete that I see no redemption, no possibilities, and nothing worth saving?

[@cmhardin37]

​@@melstiller8561What is your number one concern?

[@mindlander]

​@@melstiller8561 you "feel" horrified, but by what? You haven't described or explained anything. What exactly are you talking about?

[@thr2610]

⁠@@mindlanderHe did, he mentioned lack of personal accountability and he’s 100% correct.

[@AkunamatataMba]

fascinating, very good episode

[@DudeWhoSaysDeez]

Such an interesting topic

[@PapakShirazi]

Thank You.

[@juanReflex37]

Excelente Sam Harris

[@---Free-Comics---IG---Playtard]

Muy excelente!!! ¡Todos saluden a Sam Harris, señor supremo intelectual! +1

[@juanReflex37]

@@---Free-Comics---IG---Playtard Exactamente, Sam Harris es el máximo padre de la razón del siglo XXI.

[@TheSelfCenter]

Thank you for this wonderful upload! ☀️☀️

[@acardinalconsideration824]

Looking forward to listening to this one soon! Dr. Chandaria sounds like an interesting fella.

[@abhirama]

How many times did the guest say "I"? Gives you an indication of what effect meditation has on him.

[@bertt_y]

Hi, I'm new to meditation. Can you explain what you mean by that? The significance of saying "I"?

[@Vishal-ih3tc]

@@bertt_y the more and more you meditate, you will realize that idea of “Self/Ego/I” is a construct that we create for ourselves to engage with this world. But the self or EGO itself isn’t real, It’s an illusion. the more you meditate the more you understand this and eventually you live like there is no “I” that’s what eastern religions called Enlightenment.

[@MikeFinch]

Now that’s all I can hear 😂

[@abhirama]

@@bertt_y Vishal below has explained very well. The point is ego is very subtle. It'll start treating meditation as an object that it owns / desires. That's when you know you are heading down the wrong path. That's what I saw in this guest.

[@akilamp8835]

​ 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@grahamHAYNES]

Another podcast drops. Keep them coming Sam

[@FR-ty5vn]

Why do the videos cut off telling me to subscribe even though I am already subscribed?

[@JacobVanko]

I'm not smart enough for this one. I'm gonna go ahead and just tune in next week. Cheers

[@lomps]

Our sensory organs deliver stimuli to our brain that in turn simulates a world, but our physicality substantiates that world because it physically coincides with it. It's a biological ontology born in nature. It's incorrect to presume this process is in some way attempting to minimize a prediction error. It is also problematic to introduce computer speak into attempting to describe these processes. These bodies and brains have been in development for billions of years. While it is true that we see only a small sliver of "reality", this attenuation created a higher probability of survival. We were made to "contain" consciousness, and we are now at the threshold of the first slight inklings of how our brains convey consciousness. I'm afraid mathematical models, and the current very primitive state of the scientific understanding of the brain, are wholly incapable of parsing this domain. Rather than speculate by superimposing theoretical models on how we function, it might be more useful to figure out one thing. That thing is how we overcome our built in early survival protocols and begin the transition into a process of intentional evolution.

[@andrebenoit283]

Here we are finally at Heidegger.

[@nicksyoutubeaccount]

I couldn't understand much of this conversation ☹️

[@boldandthebeautifulgimbal2881]

22:56 Isn’t it interesting how GPT4 also hallucinates.

[@DM100]

I think it’s hilarious.

[@boldandthebeautifulgimbal2881]

@@DM100 Humor can be found, if you look for it.

[@polkad3v]

Well, we have labelled what it does hallucination, but really it's just making stuff up.

[@lesterjayliba8315]

I find it hard to understand these deep concepts, but i couldn't help to listen... sad..

[@nicksyoutubeaccount]

I couldn't follow much of it. It's a shame.

[@centercannothold9760]

Some interesting ideas but we should remember that the field is in its infancy. I rather think this generative model will not hold up for long.

[@Bat_Boy]

Brilliant men make podcasts. Idiots run our government.

[@skandi86]

Bernardo Kastrup

[@user-kl9sr4ry6s]

Sam, unlesh your ANGER at ReasonTV for their s.a.v.a.g.e. attack on U (!)

[@HarryMollyNut]

Can u tell Elon to pull his head in again. Ron Desantis really? Musk is a freakin child who happens to be a billionaire who thinks life is a meme, he's a dangerous m'fer. All the simps who idolise him will now think Desantis can't be that bad if Elon endorses him. Guns for everyone, great idea Ron.

[@blooper6543]

Name someone from the GOP that Musk could support that you would be okay with.

[@lawrencebrazier1894]

What about God the ENABLER? What keeps everything up and running? What even ENABLES an atheist to say he or she does not believe in God?

[@Suzume-Shimmer]

Go back to square one and do your research .

[@lawrencebrazier1894]

@@Suzume-Shimmer I did research Suzume, but that "square one" is actually still unexplained - at least as something you can nail down and write a thesis about. Richard Dawkins agrees, as do most investigators (I have a copy of a letter from Darwin in which he confesses that he can go back no farther than a murky pool). A friend formerly at Cambridge University related that at faculty parties after a few minutes of idle chat the intellectual cream of the planet started to talk about God. It is the last and probably most important unanswered question. All the best - Lawrence

[@Suzume-Shimmer]

@@lawrencebrazier1894 Of course its unexplained . The word " God" ,and what ever it may hold for any individual acts as an emotional marker for those who can't handle the unknown , but its still not an explanation.

[@lawrencebrazier1894]

@@Suzume-Shimmer how do you know your statement (above) is true?

[@Suzume-Shimmer]

@@lawrencebrazier1894 Deductive reasoning and human psychology cancels out a lot of choice. There are hundreds of God myths and thousands of Gods. Cultures have been using them to "explain" all sorts of things throughout history. And individuals have been appealing to them for personal need & comfort just as long.

[@jromeo6748]

Cheap shot at Bret Weinstein. He does have PhD in biology.

[@TheDailyGroov]

Of course, Bret has completely undermined Sam recently on a few topics, rightfully so. Sam not very graceful as he ages.

[@mindlander]

So do the dozens of biologists agreeing with Sam. What's the point?

[@jromeo6748]

@@mindlander Can you name some not connected to pharma or the government?

[@blooper6543]

@@mindlander Agreeing with Sam on what? Are you just here to muddy the water?

[@mindlander]

@@blooper6543 what water? Sam seems to get his information from what the majority of experts in a given field suggest.

[@everybodylovesdevin8713]

Imagine taking this guy seriously?

[@Suzume-Shimmer]

Imagine wasting your life trolling ...

[@CP-nl2zb]

The World Champion Pseudo Intellectual- Sammy The Pseudo Harris

[@mrdavemo]

Instead of spray-painting a slander, use your pen to lay out the premise of your argument. Spell it out!

[@---Free-Comics---IG---Playtard]

@@mrdavemo If you dig deeply you can find the projection in his asertion 😛

[@peromaan376]

It’s about the nature of consciousness

[@peromaan376]

Go and watch Bernardo Kastrup, and what he has to say about Harris

[@peromaan376]

@Dave Adair

[@Stiegosaurus]

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

[@Dann4288]

Sam fell off. He’s just another run of the mill statist hack at this point 🥱🥱🤮