What is consciousness? | Donald Hoffman and Lex Fridman

Lex Fridman Podcast full episode: • Donald Hoffman: Realit...
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GUEST BIO:
Donald Hoffman is a cognitive scientist at UC Irvine and author of The Case Against Reality.
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[@slimbrady6004]

“So you’re saying size doesn’t matter. This is very important for me to write down.” That really resonated with me. Amazing content

[@animesh7296]

if it is at least 3 inches.

[@buhlenkomo527]

😂😂😂

[@dantekimbrough9937]

Hahah was just coming to comment this. I don’t think he picked up on that

[@Tiarka]

I think dimensions matter. The ant is in a totally different dimension than us, yet we often interact. Space time is filled with this pattern.

[@itsneekeetah]

Whoosh@@Tiarka

[@JoeyCap.]

If you dig deep enough you end up at nothing, which is everything

[@eduardohurst995]

Exactly, it's funny.. profound yet astoundingly simple.

[@andreitaran7985]

You are right. But nothing becomes all our reality through the power of our consciousness

[@JoeyCap.]

Our consciousness does not have the capability to either percieve or imagine "nothingness", a quantum impossibility Consiousness invokes the Reality we exist in, it renders in real time no matter how far into the Universe we look

[@andreitaran7985]

@@JoeyCap. sure. As consciousness is energy, we are energy. It is just being transferred, as we know it gets conserved. But can you imagine how much energy can be emitted if the soul/ego/persona gets separated from the body? As life is energy, this is perfectly possible.

[@andreitaran7985]

@@JoeyCap. you not right fully about our ability to perceive. Even though we do not SEE something does not mean that there is no energy there. And as life=energy, just because there is nothing TO US does not mean there is no energy/consciousness there.

[@jefftezos]

You know it's a complex topic when even the clips are 34 minutes long.

[@nicholashayden8319]

Lex is so close to seeing the simulation, it's not even funny.

[@UnlimitlesslyFunnyDude]

They just can't finish it in 5 minutes ....damn it :D

[@Made8202010]

34 mins of I don't fucking know, there's a lot of it, and math won't give you the answer.

[@clockworkdave9850]

Ikr...😳

[@LeeCarlson]

The full exchange is actually more than three hours long.

[@susanrichards9227]

I think Donald Hoffman is a genius. He is trying to show scientifically what existence really is. The great spiritual masters have expanded their consciousness and experienced it first hand. They are not limited by time and space. We live in an illusion in the third and fourth dimension and Mr Hoffman appears to know this even if he hasn't experienced it like they have.

[@InnerLuminosity]

Beautiful my sister👍

[@UnlimitlesslyFunnyDude]

how he showed scientifically?, explain

[@liberateyourslack]

@@UnlimitlesslyFunnyDude she said "he is trying to show scientifically..." Big difference between her statement and the basis of your question.

[@UnlimitlesslyFunnyDude]

@@liberateyourslack okay ... i have a question .... i want to ask what is scientific ? how we can show scientifically something?

[@JS-nr7te]

​​​@@UnlimitlesslyFunnyDude science is based on the 5 senses observing an event, our reasonable (as relating to experience, logical, if a then b type) inferences based on those 5 senses and the repeatability of the event in order to test multiple times. Also we must be able to quantify our experiments and our results for them to be measurable. The scientific method begins with stating a hypothesis (fancy word for educated guess or hunch) then setting up an experiment and adjusting the variables to be unlikely to your outcome and recording results. Then you adjust your hypothesis and repeat until you're hypothesis holds true with observed phenomenon. You essentially try proving yourself wrong over and over again until you can't anymore. Then you know in all likelyhood that it's true but never really for 100% certainty because some new variable that we never knew about may eventually be introduced and prove your theory correct but not complete (newtonian physics). In a sense you can't really scientifically study things like historical events because they will not be repeatable. You have to study them more like a court case rather than a scientific study by gathering evidence or observable facts or eyewitness testimony and make an educated guess of what happened. You can't really repeat something like WW2 to study it but we have evidence that there was a war and eyewitness testimony from that war and we make logical assumptions to the motivations or other variables of the historical event. Science is demostratable in the here and now. You can definitely recreate certain events of history and demonstrate that they are possible in reality and so prove all the more likely that something did occur but you can never say that the event is indeed what took place, again, with 100% certainty, but for practical purpose we basically just accept it as true knowledge otherwise we'd never get anywhere and all be sitting in caves staring at walls meditating or something while kids are starving and cancer is killing people. You can only say it took place with complete certainty if you were there and witnessed it I guess but then you're left trying to convince everyone. We say things in history are impossible because we've never seen or observed them in any capacity for ourselves. That however doesn't make them impossible, just makes them unlikely. But unlikely things happen all the time.

[@joereilly8890]

That “size doesn’t matter” line flew right over this guys head 😂

[@Charlieboy2680]

I was thinking the same thing 😂

[@rugdoc97]

His heads in another dimension I think

[@pjetrs]

that's what makes Lex so great, he always finds a way to make you laugh of lighten up in the middle of a seriously deep conversation without doing it at expense of the guest

[@vmasing1965]

People always think what's the absolutely most important thing for me MUST BE also the most important thing for others. You probably can imagine a situation where you do get a reference but intentionally ignore it in order to not get distracted from a line of thought that you consider much more important at the moment? I think you can imagine that. Yet, it never crossed your mind that could be the case here. It flew right over your head...

[@Luke-kj1rj]

🤣hes an old guy, hasnt thought about sex in 20 years

[@kabir09999]

ngl, I sometimes prefer lexclips over the full podcast. Cuz these little nuggets can fit into my schedule and make it easier for me to digest all the knowledge shared! ❤ thank you Lex ❤

[@Heopful]

'Lil nugget' 40min

[@lisaalexander1824]

Fits my little brain...

[@user-MrsYT]

20:57 this is what i feel while im dreaming and im aware of it that im dreaming (lucid dreaming) AND the dream doesnt collaps AND im forming what comes next in my dream by myself - when i look close enuff, i see that there *is* *something* (even if its bubbleing and mooving and makes no sense in retrospective when im awake after it). Ive never experienced "nothingness" in such a "lookingprocess" while im dreaming..

[@ankitmittal3045]

Advaita philosophy has got all this figured as deeply as human brain can! The subject-object, five sheaths, different levels of reality! Everything and its mind boggling that its not talked about enough! Many philosophers and intellectuals have picked up a part of it and spent entire life writing and talking about it

[@InnerLuminosity]

"WE ARE ALL JUST WALKING EACH OTHER HOME" -Ram Dass

[@zachvanslyke4341]

Exactly🙏

[@cherylanne4762]

Well, not everyone is walking each other home. "Sport" killers destroy life, not walk it anywhere. Foulest evil.

[@kensurrency2564]

@@cherylanne4762to know evil, you must also know good, and vice versa. the struggle of duality is the driving force of our journey.

[@daveblade56]

this feels like science catching up to Buddhism especially when Donald mentions the lack of a self in his model of consciousness

[@nimim.markomikkila1673]

Might be even closer to Nondual ShaktaShaiva-tantrik-view (which is very close to some forms of Buddhism).

[@abcabc9893]

Read Terrence Deacon Incomplete Nature...then you can dump Buddhism and now why.

[@daveblade56]

@@abcabc9893 nah I'm good

[@ExFarazKhan]

​@@nimim.markomikkila1673 Advaita Vedanta supports this theory even more than Buddhism.

[@brunohgallo]

How lex didn't ask for a Buddhism related vision right?

[@theodoredacunha5091]

8:40 i like how they were talking about conciousness and lex's conclusion was "size doesn't matter"

[@sandeepsharma9833]

the more I listen to this, the more I recall the ideas I have heard to be proposed by the ancient Indian sages, makes me want to start reading the texts.

[@methods3110]

The last withering comment of Friedman at the end is the most relevant: a century from now our views will just be silliness, but not the ways we have used our ingenuity to progress forward in our intellectual understanding. I do think Hoffman’s views are interesting but he is floundering a good deal in trying to put them together and justify them - but his passion is showing through.

[@minpepper2717]

Such a joy to see conciousness playing with you two :). Good luck! Love, conciousness 😬

[@anotheratreyu742]

What a wonderful interview, it was like one big long synchronicity from start to finish for me in perfect relation to everything I have been speaking and thinking about lately, thank you so much Lex. I found it so interesting to hear him talk about these Women who have a 4th type of color receptor. (Please skip to the bottom for a TLDR) I am a colorblind man (deuteranomaly with mild protanomaly) and when I was in high school looking through a spectroscope (didn't know I was colorblind at that time, our task set about by our science teacher was to look through the spectroscope at a source of white light and write down what colors appeared on what number) I could clearly see a kind of violet-y color on a high number that was apparently something I wasn't supposed to see. When I asked the teacher "what's this one, why isn't it on the chart??" he came over to see what I was talking about, and then upon explanation I watched his curiosity change to mild annoyance (telling me to stop messing around, because seeing a color there was impossible) and upon my insistence, to visible aggravation. I received a reprimand for 'goofing off' and he refused to talk to me about it again, which only served to heighten my curiosity. Since I was young I could always see 'auras' around people and objects, though they didn't look like how they were explained in metaphysical books - more like colored lines around things that could be wispy or defined seemingly depending on the condition/mood of the individual or importance of the object - which, as I had very open minded friends, was often confirmed simply by asking them if they felt a specific way at that moment. As I got older, I was trying to play a videogame with a girlfriend of mine where you take little color blobs with faces and try to match them up in lines of 3 or more, and I told her it wasn't fair because she was getting points for certain matches while I wasn't - it was at this point I began to realize something was different about my vision (at that time I thought colorblind meant you couldn't see color, so I didn't think I fit the bill), which was confirmed some years later when I picked out a purple shirt that I thought was not purple (I can't remember what color I thought it was, but I will assume red as I tend to confuse certain reds and purples - also certain blues and purples lol) and she said "No honey, that's purple. Let me help you pick something out". She thought it was sweet and endearing, I thought it was slightly alarming - I eventually took an Ishihara test online and realized that not only did I *not* see some of what I was supposed to see, but I sometimes seen patterns and numbers where there were supposed to be none - though they were generally vague, which I assume is because they weren't supposed to be there. Anyhow, my entire life I've been interested in the topic of consciousness and spirituality, metaphysics and physics, and how it all relates, and this video was like a perfect icing on the cake regarding everything I've been thinking about over the last couple of weeks (and the last few decades). TLDR I am a man with mild colorblindness that sees a color in a spectroscope that isn't supposed to be possible to see. My wish is that I could get someone to take attention, as I would love to be taken seriously and be tested so that a scientist could see firsthand that I see something that not everyone else sees, but I'm not sure how to go about that - so if anyone knows how, or would like to check it out themselves, by all means hit me up. :)

[@yousefawlaki8478]

Woah this so interesting

[@laganbansal1090]

Send emails to the leading people who are doing this research explaining your condition. Someone might get interested

[@BureauATF]

Your best bet is to go to an optometrist, opthamologist, etc. and explain the situation. They will know exactly what to do as far as testing and reporting goes.

[@yo_stephen]

You’re incredible. Look into “Next Level Soul” podcast. He often interviews people like you who can also see auras among other “abilities”. I’d suggest a specific episode but I recommend going through all the NDE experiencers and going down that rabbit hole. Basically, you are not alone

[@shirk_slayer]

Consciousness eludes our grasp not due to mere complexity but because it exists as a sinister quantum feedback loop between the soul and the brain-a loop that defies the laws of matter and space-time. Picture a shadowy dance between the ethereal essence of the soul and the intricate web of chemical-electrical activity in the brain. This dance, shrouded in mystery, forms a feedback loop that transcends the constraints of our physical reality. It's a loop that operates on a level beyond the reach of empirical observation, lurking in the murky depths where quantum mechanics and metaphysical conjecture intertwine. In the realm of quantum mechanics, where particles flicker between existence and non-existence until observed, consciousness takes on a haunting guise. It becomes a spectral force, weaving its tendrils through the fabric of reality, shaping perceptions and experiences in ways that defy conventional understanding. This sinister feedback loop whispers secrets that resonate beyond the confines of matter and space-time. It suggests that consciousness is not merely a byproduct of neural activity but a malevolent entity that transcends the mortal coil, ensnaring the soul in its web of deceit. Attempts to capture consciousness through empirical methods are futile, for its essence eludes the grasp of scientific inquiry. It is a specter that dances on the fringes of perception, taunting us with its elusiveness and defying our attempts to dissect its true nature. As we peer into the abyss of consciousness, we are confronted with the chilling realization that it is not meant to be understood within the confines of our mortal understanding. It is a force that exists beyond the reach of empirical observation-a sinister echo from the darkest recesses of existence, forever beyond our comprehension.

[@CutleryChips]

When we dream, it feels so REAL. And it can be so bizarre and illogical, yet feel logical. Can totally appreciate how complicated consciousness is

[@mikaelsanchez7258]

This is so on point. It’s like what Cobb says in inception : only when you wake up, do you know that you were dreaming. There is so much we still don’t understand about the human brain and how consciousness works

[@fatimaWr2]

Yeah that’s the old me. When you become more aware and accept every moment and meditate 24/7, you actually start dreaming totally logically. It’s like another perfect make sense life of you.

[@Dorf274]

Lucid dreaming is so bizarre. It happens to me all the time by accident. It feels like being in two worlds at once. In a dream things feel real. In a lucid dream...it feels real...but you know its not. A very simple sounding difference, but an intense and complex feeling that can't be understood by anyone who hasn't experienced it themselves. I always wake up shortly after becoming lucid extremely overwhelmed by this sensation. It feels like it a forbidden experience. Like I was thrown out of the reality bus at 60mph.

[@joegillian314]

There are actually two levels of lucid dreaming. Simply being able to recall some or all parts (in reality we often have more than one distinct dream sequence, but if we fail to remember them, those parts are lost completely. I've had many dreams that were lost because I failed to recall any part of them, but for the fact that I know I had been dreaming) of a dream is the first level. The second level is actually becoming aware that you are in a dream state, and from there exerting conscious control to manipulate the dreamscape and even manifest in real time various effects. This second level can be thought of as transcendent compared to the first level, and I am highly skeptical of individuals who claim to be able to do this "at will" or even consistently. I myself very often experience the first level of lucid dreaming, as I will sometimes actually mistake dreams for real memories (although it is almost never anything of any real consequence), and I get ideas from dreams sometimes, which is something I'm sure may people experience, but I have lucid dreamt at the second level only a handful of times in my entire life, and it was never intention when it happened. At best you could say, once I had experienced the second level clearly and distinctly for the 1st time, I became acutely aware of just what it feels like to be at the second level, and from then on that insight forever altered and enhanced my perception, but that still doesn't enable me to willfully initiate a second level lucid dreaming state, nor even know for certain that I'm dreaming just by mere chance, and I think there's a reason for that. I think it's actually due to being in a state of lesser awareness while dreaming that explains the difficulty of controlling and maintaining the second level state, and the rarity of the second level state. When I am dreaming, and I can only say this in hindsight, because I will not realize it at the time, I experience my emotions much differently than when I'm awake and fully aware. They are altered in such a way that they become disconnected, and overall more flat, and some emotional states will be almost entirely absent. It is almost exactly analogous to being in a state of extreme dissociation (which, for those who know, can be achieved in a number of different ways and with the help of certain substances). I will often have dreams, or just portions of the total time spent dreaming, where I am not even present in the dream, I am merely experiencing the imagery as an observer, literally as if watching a film, and this is what dissociation feels like, broadly speaking, and it explains some of the altered emotions. It's actually a known fact that our brains are functioning at a lesser capacity when dreaming, as certain areas become less active, and there is less communication between different areas of the brain. And finally, because there is so much to say that I have to cut it off somewhere, being aware that you are dreaming still doesn't mean your subconscious get either turned off or becomes completely under your control. It is still functioning, because it's the automated part of your conscious experience, so to speak, so you would have to be exercising such a precise and delicate control over every minute detail of conscious input to be totally in control, and we can't even do that while we are awake, not even close, and even if we could, we wouldn't necessarily even want to do that. Imagine having to willfully initiate and manually confirm even tiny action your brain and nervous system carries out just for a single stimulus.

[@stevenknight6756]

​@joegillian314 You need to look into astral projection. It's not dreaming. Lucid dreaming is a joke compared to it. Everyone can do it and there's countless videos on how.

[@scotthawkins8707]

YOU two really had some "hard-ball" questions, and then, heartfelt answers. Thank You both, so much.! aloha

[@wp9860]

Most inscrutable discussion of consciousness I've ever heard. I get the notion of starting with conscious experience as fundamental. Then a theory based on experience using a probability space and/with a Markov kernal is developed that explains, among other things, the space-time world. From these beginnings, I haven't a clue as to the very next thing you do.

[@shirk_slayer]

In the eerie realm where science collides with metaphysics, a chilling revelation emerges: consciousness eludes our grasp not due to mere complexity but because it exists as a sinister quantum feedback loop between the soul and the brain-a loop that defies the laws of matter and space-time. Picture a shadowy dance between the ethereal essence of the soul and the intricate web of chemical-electrical activity in the brain. This dance, shrouded in mystery, forms a feedback loop that transcends the constraints of our physical reality. It's a loop that operates on a level beyond the reach of empirical observation, lurking in the murky depths where quantum mechanics and metaphysical conjecture intertwine. In the realm of quantum mechanics, where particles flicker between existence and non-existence until observed, consciousness takes on a haunting guise. It becomes a spectral force, weaving its tendrils through the fabric of reality, shaping perceptions and experiences in ways that defy conventional understanding. This sinister feedback loop whispers secrets that resonate beyond the confines of matter and space-time. It suggests that consciousness is not merely a byproduct of neural activity but a malevolent entity that transcends the mortal coil, ensnaring the soul in its web of deceit. Attempts to capture consciousness through empirical methods are futile, for its essence eludes the grasp of scientific inquiry. It is a specter that dances on the fringes of perception, taunting us with its elusiveness and defying our attempts to dissect its true nature. As we peer into the abyss of consciousness, we are confronted with the chilling realization that it is not meant to be understood within the confines of our mortal understanding. It is a force that exists beyond the reach of empirical observation-a sinister echo from the darkest recesses of existence, forever beyond our comprehension.

[@joabmorales2901]

I hope lex and ppl like him get what they thrive for.

[@NatronFatumallafalla]

Show us the way

[@KingZion187]

Consciousness is the awareness of the awareness

[@UriyahRecords]

That's assuming there's a separation between the awareness and the one who is aware. That is likely not the case.

[@JS-nr7te]

I can't believe so many people put down their joints long enough to type these comments.

[@WeAreOneWeAreMany]

Joints expand conscious agents 🌿🧠🛂

[@SiimKoger]

I hope that one day Lex will find out why the chocolate is so delicious.

[@suncat9]

Absolutely fantastic interview! Among the best ever.

[@christyps1722]

Where Lex tried to put a chill note in the convo with the size joke lol 🤣

[@Breshe]

Oh so you’re saying size doesn’t matter? That’s very useful to me… 😂

[@christyps1722]

@@Breshe 🤣🤣🤣

[@hn6187]

Haha I noticed that too

[@Ronnock]

Looked like Hoffman totally didn't catch it.

[@geraldturner4770]

@@Ronnock No dick joke icons on his interface I guess.

[@sandeepsharma9833]

LEX : "...so you are saying that size doesn't matter! it is very important for me to write this down..."

[@bostongeorge8796]

I don't think he laughed.

[@sandeepsharma9833]

@@bostongeorge8796 yes he didn't as it is very important...

[@blarney9757]

I believe energy, like vibration, harmonics or resonance, is a place to base this study on while working on better understanding these concepts as well -Christian Anderson

[@edgefearth6464]

lex, id love for you to ask the question of "what is the truth about what dreams are". and how dreams feel just as real as reality is right now, like are we traveling to a different dimension or experiencing somone elses life or past life? or is it the pool of consciousness known as the afterlife? i feel the top levels of cia know these answers and keep it a secret, i cant find anything online about this and i feel noone ever asks these questions and everyone dreams so its very odd that we dont hear about this more often. i ask this because i lucid dream almost every night and learned how to control my dreams and over the years its gotten to the point where id rather live in my dreams then here on earth.

[@SatisfyingWhirlpools]

“Consciousness isn’t something that brains do, brains are something that consciousness makes up” I’ve suspected this for some time

[@borpie]

Isnt this physical monist?

[@LeeCarlson]

@@borpie, actually this is closer to the Consciousness Monad introduced by Dr. Amit Goswami in his book "The Self-aware Universe."

[@luciosilva6015]

Basically, your brain is a product of other consciousness agent and your consciousness produces the brain of other consciousness agent. Another way o saying 😊

[@infini_ryu9461]

And what tipped you off to that? What is the evidence of his assertion that consciousness is fundamental rather than emergent? I'd love to hear an actual Quantum Physicists opinion on that, I'm sure it'd go swell. 😂

[@infini_ryu9461]

@@luciosilva6015 It's a cool story, but no evidence to show for it, just meaningless platitudes. He's placing importance on consciousness he cannot demonstrate. He believes evolution made us unable to see the real world, when the complete opposite is true. We are biological organisms interacting in reality and have evolved to see what we need to in order to survive, most of the times it failed and species are wiped out. The fact we can't see everything is not evidence that reality isn't real, it's evidence that we don't need to see everything(We have machines for that as humans, anyway), if you were to flood the brain with a whole bunch of useless information that wasn't necessary to your survival, it could wind up being a hindrance. There's a reason we can look at a forest and pick out things that look unique while blocking out the rest, it is necessary to survive.

[@forfreedomssake4315]

I love Lex's face when he's just mind blown trying to integrate the implication of what's just being said. Absolutely fascinating subject. Thanks guys. Let's atomize our brain to the point of origin.

[@treich1234]

23:46 Could this explain the conscious entities people encounter with psychedelics?

[@lcbryant78]

Sounds like Zen Buddhism.

[@Dezertdarker]

So I went to the village to visit my extended family as me,mum ,dad and my 2 sisters live in the city . My last visit before this visit was like 6 years back .. I told my cousin whom am 13 years older than that I can locate grandpa family on my own . He said well since we going to the farm then I take the lead and he follows just to know how far I can go ... I was getting the right path walks and all the major points I could picture from old . ... he paused and said I am only getting the pathway right because he is just behind me and that am using his movement to judge the way , so we decided I go some distance then he follows and I promise him I’ll be waiting at grandpas farm for him .... long story shot , I got lost ! After walking for hours and almost 9pm on the farm which is in thickest of forest I decided to find somewhere n sleep because I can’t see anything and anywhere just me inside a Cocoa farm . After sometime I saw a bamboo tree which I decided to under it . With me knowing bamboos Harbour snakes I went a bit far from it and decided to pay critical attention to the ground just for the slightest movement of snake but guess what ? As I became so attentntive and pay attention to movement out of nowhere I felt like I could hear the trees around me speak to each other . At a glance I thought it’s just my mind till it got to a point I release its real ... then in front of me appeared somethibg in a distance ... he don’t speak to me but whatever he feels in his mind I feel it in mine and when I have an answer in my mind he seem to also understand .... we had 4 different encounters within a period of 6 month and I learnt great work . I’ve been looking for a platform to share my story but a platform that concerns itself with learning ... such stories will just get u embarrassed ! My email is [e-mail]

[@THEmomentumJUNK1E]

This is amazingly accurate and possessing of the feeling of being true. The idea that the experience which is "these neurons" is no more than the subjective perception of them when they need to be perceived, is something i have experienced countless times. All my adult life i have on occation looked in, from a perspective not within the persistent bounds of normal society, from out there. It is exceedingly plain that the self, brain, neurons, pattern, personality is only constructed in so far as to satisfy the needs of the construct overall at any given time. There is nothing real behind that, no persistence in excess of the current picture... for most people. Those few people alive who wield the power of seeing more for a short period of time, have the responsibility to bring what insights they find down to mankind. They have the responsibility, because there is a finite and limited amount of awareness on the planet at any moment. Some is baseline co-operation consciousness, a small portion is all the way to the source perception, like what Donald Hoffman has had.

[@integrallens6045]

@25:08 what he is saying here about the capacities that some forms of consciousness might have comes right out of Hermeticism and the Kybalion. Developmental psychology does a great job of mapping out those early developmental stages of consciousness, Integral theory does a good job of mapping out some of the later ones, but there are so many beyond that which could not even be put into words.

[@rootkite]

This is fascinating, and to me very obviously points toward psychedelic studies as an avenue of consciousness research. "The limits of my current imagination", Hoffman says toward the end; these are conceptual boundaries that can clearly be dissolved and transcended in conscious experience through trance states and trips. Psychedelia needs to make more headway into emergent collaborative redefinitions of our ontological models, alongside all the sciences and arts.

[@InnerLuminosity]

Amazing comment😇

[@JS-nr7te]

I'm sure that the government has never stopped doing experiments on the subject. They would never tell us that they are practicing on on soldiers and homeless and frying their brains in the process to a degree that is beyond conceivable recovery.

[@rootkite]

@@JS-nr7te That's an interesting (and terrifying!) theory. I wouldn't put any horror past the powers that be; but I'm more of the opinion that psychedelics are so ineffective, irregular, and chaotic as tools for indoctrination or "mind control" that any such experimentation would make no headway beyond creaying more misery. Manipulating the set & setting of another person to avaricious or ill-meaning ends is one of the most awful crimes against humanity that I can imagine. Our consciousness is a sacred bond and a system of unparalleled healing, if only we would treat life itself with more humility and openness. That, to me, is the true promise of the psychedelic experience -- and we may even have the chance to venture investigatively beyond, into ontology.

[@threestars2164]

What?! Would would the vain imaginations of a silly ape in the middle of nowhere be anything profound?

[@hellotherekenobi2156]

@@threestars2164Because that “silly ape” possesses arguably the most profound mystery of all in the entirety of the universe, which also just so happens to be the topic of the video you’re commenting under. Consciousness

[@legalcoffee5315]

So nature is a great UX designer - designing our UI (which is an abstraction of what’s really going in the computer or in the cloud) based on what works best for us

[@eddiehengzbach]

@@cesarvarela I think the time scale is irrelevant.

[@reasoning..]

In this discussion I sense a subtle vicarious urging towards the acceptance of the merging of the mind and the metaverse.

[@blurrymagnet]

I’ve had this thought a few times myself

[@billdanosky]

What if consciousness exists by itself and the brain-apparatus is capable of accessing it, to larger and smaller degrees depending on it's respective development?

[@joegillian314]

I'm convinced that bloodletting was first used and became prolific for the treatment of subdermal hematoma, abscesses, and soft tissue infections, as well as infiltration by particulate matter. These types of injuries throughout history are extremely common, and they can co-occur with a myriad of other injuries, and most importantly, bloodletting would have provided relief and even appear to cure some or all of the primary symptoms. This is how I believe this not useless but primitive medical technique, which went through a long development, having experts with specifically and specially designed tools, became to be used so widely for so long.

[@Justin-sr2wq]

The only thing we’re getting closer the understanding is the universe is fractal and transcendental.

[@warj3396]

This man Don Hoffman has me questioning everything

[@JoeyCap.]

Imagine living in a world of mirrors where no matter where you look you only see yourself, this is the paradox of consciousness

[@john-martin]

Makes sense why were having such a mental health crisis. A man with 10,000 personalities and no mind to cope.

[@JoeyCap.]

@@john-martin so true

[@animeswitch]

why is that a paradox?

[@Some_Deist]

Why is that a paradox ?

[@JoeyCap.]

Its a paradox because everything perceived is a construct of your own mind that renders a version of reality based on self. Reality exists to serve the consciousness that creates the reality that we exist in. Paradox

[@joelgutierrez1523]

So using music as another example of consciousness. The fact that some people can express themselves expertly via music while most can only hear and not express with music. Is that similar to having different color receptors? That some people perhaps have different acoustic/auditory receptors?

[@Gpenguin01]

Interesting discussion that reminds me of the Buddha’s teachings about consciousness, sensory perception, and the two truths (ultimate truth vs conventional/conditional truth), etc. The 2nd Century AD Buddhist scholar, Nagarjuna, wrote a great book that went deep into this topic on consciousness called the Mulamadhyamakakarika (The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way).

[@zigartha1]

I would like to hear a discussion as to whether humans’ consciousness is possibly able to see above linear time. I think we’re able to get ‘glimpses’ but currently our ability in this area is inconsistent. Thoughts Lex?

[@nicholashayden8319]

Our "time" is the only "time"... It's a simulation. And we're just along for the ride... So make every min count, because there is no more time. You just here for the experience. Make it worth it.

[@Raydondo62]

You need to try DMT! And you will get all your answers, the mundane day to day slog we live is just the tip off the iceberg, there is a bigger more meaningful reason we are here. We haven't evolved naturally for hundreds off years!!! Why??? Because the Ghost the Spokes who really rule the world, don't want us getting a better understanding of why were really here, because then, we wouldn't need them anymore. Why is Alcohol legal? When its the second biggest killer 2nd only to vehicular accident's? Taxes: Yes, but alcohol also DUMBS you down!!! DMT, mushrooms, Psychedelics, Amphetamine, MDMA, Ecstasy, Cannabis, grass and Cocaine, they make Illegal, when they could make loads of money through Taxes and recreational drugs has not killed any where even close to drink in 1 year!!! The majority off the above recreational drugs are moving forward LEAP'S and BOUNDS in medical help for PTSD, Depression, anxiety and paranoia. DMT: The Spirit Molecule, is in every humans head, in most plants and in thousand's of Mammals. Yet its illegal????

[@happytrailsgaming]

@@nicholashayden8319 so if it's a simulation why can't their be another? Not religious by by any means but conscious doesnt have to end after death. It would seem to big a forever dream which could be similar to what we know now alive...People that have been clinically dead have come back saying they saw light or a family member etc

[@bantamfedor]

@@happytrailsgaming You probably do come back, but from different DNA and a wildly different upbringing. Also death/birth wipes our lil hard drives.

[@terimurphy3]

Hoffman said he starts with three assumptions, but I only got the first two. Did anyone get the third one before Lex interrupted him? 1) Conscious experiences exist. 2) Conscious experiences have consequences, interacting with other conscious experiences. 3)?

[@nicholashayden8319]

It's a simulation. Make every min count... Because there are no more.

[@timothya.olmeda7299]

@@nicholashayden8319 A simulation along with reality, in order to test you,

[@siyandamanqina1855]

How many times are we gonna see podcasts on people saying we dont understand consciousness

[@coreywiley3981]

What is so hard about consciousness? It's clearly our brain and nervous system functioning. What is the big mystery (aside from the complexity of the machinery)? Remove the brain and consciousness goes away...get a brain injury, go unconscious.. consciousness goes away..it is just awareness and engagement of the nervous system with the environment and itself. We humans are complex organisms with complex brains and it allows more of particular awareness but this awareness isn't a substance or energy outside us, it is just an interpretation via our senses of the physical world accessible to us that favor our ability to survive and flourish.

[@infinitestars394]

I often think about those things like what is consciousness, about the universe and its mechanisms, about physics and why they exist in the first place. About 2 years ago I got into quantum mechanics and physics. Its crazy to think about I'm starring on billion of atoms right now each one have their own porpuse. Small protons and neutrons surrounded by a couple of electrons. And there are different types of atoms which form particles and then a big structure and so on. And each atom is guided by the quantum mechanics. A mysterical force behind everything in this universe. Its the raw binare code like 1 and 0 In a PC. I don't think this is an simulation. I think there are different dimensions which are forming this dimension. The evolution formed us just to experience this world. We live to observe and think. We arent just nerve cells. We have a porpuse like everything else. Evolution didnt form us without a reason. There is no universe without life, without observers! There would be nothing without life.

[@volacnic364]

Dude i like this :)

[@N3G4T1V3_]

EvOlUtIoN You're almost there. A little more conditioning to break and the potential for discovery is limitless.

[@Planet-of-the-Gibbons]

In other words, there is no consciousness in the whole existence without observers, and there is even no existence without conscious observers.

[@infinitestars394]

@@Planet-of-the-Gibbons You described it perfectly!

[@Planet-of-the-Gibbons]

@@infinitestars394 Thanks.

[@scivana-jb]

Would love to see you interview Thomas Campbell on this topic. A lot of crossovers with Donald Hoffman's research but Thomas Campbell goes further on his consciousness theory and physics experiments.

[@KenGold666]

My big TOE

[@b2real220]

I don't know if my past experiences fit with this videos topic. But I've experienced telepathy (Only Receiving Thoughts). One clairvoyant thought while asleep; Remember clearly, there was a small circle of white light in the bottom right of my right eye acting alike a movie theater projector. And I talked to a deceased celebrity roughly a week after she passed. Also. As she stopped talking to me. It was just her face I can see. But white light was behind her slowly expanding then she was engulfed by the light. But with the medium dream. As I was waking. I saw the "White Light" and saw my hand letting go like we were holding hands with each other. Then the white light went away. And I then actually opened my eyes/woke up. And I was unfolding my hand. As I was staring at my bedroom wall.

[@tonyharding4794]

Thanks for the clip this is core.

[@mrd1228]

the only reason i understood most of this is because of Rupert Spira ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@GerardSans]

I like this theory as it easily incorporates animal consciousness. Finally a theory to integrate your cat’s experience of the world 😂

[@undercoveragent9889]

Well, if you like it then it _must_ be true. lol

[@ozramblue117]

Hoffmans theory extends even to objects themselves iirc. It’s just that the more similar two things are to one another the easier it is for them to communicate. EG even a rock has some form of consciousness, but it’s type of perception is so alien from our own as to be unrecognisable.

[@ErikGarcia07]

uuuh theory of evolution? that one’s been out for a while

[@GerardSans]

@@undercoveragent9889 that’s some hanging loose logic right there.

[@julienandross]

​​@@ozramblue117i came to the comments hoping to get the question "does something have to be living to be a conscious agent" answered. this comment answered it. thanks g.

[@ronanhughes8506]

I'm glad to see someone thinking differently than the heard. I think this question can be solved but would like to see how this goes.

[@user-hy9nh4yk3p]

Is it - that I've heard of the herd - or hearing of the one's who have spoken and have been listened too ? (lame joke) Like your open mindedness - as long time meditator - one essential practice - and the heart, too. Fare thee well - on life's journey.

[@ScruffySandra]

The way people behave led me to believe that something deeper is going on than we know. People are repetitive, predictable and sometime seem to know stuff or pre empt something we were thinking. It's fun to mess with it and see what happens too.

[@user-C8onIm4]

15:00 Probability space of conscience experience = conscious agent. A mathematical model of a set of probabilities where consciousness can trigger other conscious experiences including itself, such as headaches, smell of roses, color red, "feelings", etc. Translation, conscious agent = "soul" :D 13:00 Human consciousness is one of countless conspicuousness. Consciousness can be a single consciousness experience; human have a number of consciousness experiences. Fish may not be able to experience taste, but humans can. Translation: there are aliens :D 16:35 a pair of conscious agents interacting together, they become a single conscious agent (from a mathematical model perspective). 17:02, a scale free and fractal like. We are part of a greater consciousness that's called God or creator, which we are "shed off" to become a conscious agent to experience in a 3D world. : )

[@tommyvictorbuch6960]

Donald Hoffman is way ahead of his time.

[@jujumonjii3781]

Thomas Campbell has been explaining this for years at a quantum level and he also broke down what people call the “astral plane” in the same way. The mainstream is finally catching up.

[@yesssirr987]

Thanks for the sweet video Lex and team ❤

[@websitesgh]

i swear, i was very confused and scared about the consciousness agents and the fact that there is no local self. And then Lex at 16:20 made me laugh with his confused facial expression. 😆😆😆

[@russman738]

Wow, great conversation. I have a lot to think about.

[@bobandrus6909]

God is missing

[@blurrymagnet]

@ bobandrus6909 Seems all encompassing. It’s a given.

[@user-hy9nh4yk3p]

@@bobandrus6909 Is He - ever missing ? Surely - certainly - eternally not ? When one thinks deeply enough - the Divine State - is revealed and the joy really grows. Fare thee well - in life's journey.

[@SalchichaX]

Great, across the intervewi i can taste a flavour of Buddhadharma, especially when Hoffman says "Consciousness without form"

[@Angen77]

what's the role in consciousness in perceiving and asking questions about what the role of anything is ?

[@gazmasonik2411]

Brilliant. His meditations have definitely given him an insight into spiritual truth. Leo Gurda says almost the same with his unified awareness/infinite consciousness or "Solipsism". Ra material "Law of one" channelled in the 1980s go's into greater detail. Spacetime is self evidently a construct of mind/infinite awareness! That's if primary. Which implies 'now' is eternal So you reading this are .infinite and clearly ONE! As numbers, a sub set of constructed spacetime. Agency as he mentioned is infinite, with infinite probabilities(intelligence) Great to see cosmology finally converge with the spiritual, as the "tao" of physics once hinted

[@InnerLuminosity]

Yesss! Also the "seth material " Doloros Canon and the book of Enoch also state this! Also my dmt breakthrough showed me what I already felt to be the case! Also Billy Carson and Aaron Abke are all amazing guides as humanity evolves

[@MrJenpaul123]

The reality is not a singular one, it's a continuation of everything. Convergence of everything is just the assimilation of knowledge, you are just nit-picking reality to make it more concise, that's just the absence of self. To understand reality, you need to separate the present into the past and future. If the cosmos does not operate on infinite principle, then there would be no conscious presence to it. Self-awareness always triumph the ego.

[@threestars2164]

What utter drivel! I can easily write an essay explaining how the world is within the backend of a unicorn. Should people believe it?

[@gazmasonik2411]

@@InnerLuminosity DMT and Pscilocybin are indeed short cuts to "silent knowledge" as Castaneda called altered states. In his controversial books describing his apprenticeship with the Indian shaman Don Juan. It's surprising how much those books from the late 60s influence today. Dr Robert Malone a Covid vaccine designer & critic. Also apparently followed the teachings from one of Castaneda's pupils. It seems scientific dogma is finally allowing ideas for transcendentalism(?) & exploring consciousness as the Monroe institute does, hopefully religious science will merge into a truth seeking exercise that overcomes those obsolete labels?

[@user-hy9nh4yk3p]

@@threestars2164 How about really probing - the inner mystery - meditation is a truly worthy human practice - because the heart and mind - are inspired and the experience - is yours So much to learn with joy etc. Fare thee well - on life's journey.

[@kkcool2900]

Consciousness is beyond material realm. It's only experience cannot be explained.

[@dhiveshjoshi]

if that is the case that consciousness is creating some form then what is that which remains after we die? or to say it in other words -- do the consciousness just dies down to nothing as body dies or it remains or merges back into something? do consciousness has ability to change or mould or merge?

[@edwardrobo1]

It’s hard to find something when you don’t know what you’re looking for

[@Dyslexic-Artist-Theory-on-Time]

This theory explains a deeper concept of time, taking ‘the moment of now’ out of the subjective world and explaining it as part of a physical process, by using physics. We know a great deal about the mechanisms of physical reality but nothing about the nature of our immediate experience. So what is the missing connection between our understanding of the physical and our stream of consciousness awareness. This theory has come to the conclusion shared by many spiritual traditions, that consciousness is universal in all of physical existence. That an interactive process between the light of the electromagnetic spectrum and the atoms of the periodic table have evolved to form the depth and richness of conscious awareness. We have a continuous process of energy exchange forming our ever-changing world with an emergent future unfolding photon by photon. The wave particle duality of light and matter in the form of electrons forms a blank canvas that we can interact with forming the possible into the actual. This is like saying that EM fields are emergent and we have an emergent future relative to the atoms of the periodic table and the wavelength of the light. By using the dynamic structure of this process, we can explain conscious awareness in its most simple form has electrical activity in the brain that is aware of its own electrical potential. Consciousness is always in the forefront of the creative process therefore each individual is able to look back in time in all directions from ‘the moment of now’ in the center of their reference frame at the beauty of the stars. This personalization of space and time gives us the concept of ‘mind’ with each one of us having our own unique personal view of the Universe with an uncertain ∆×∆pᵪ≥h/4π probabilistic future. The flow of Time ∆E ∆t ≥ h/2π as a process of continuous energy exchange and our consciousness as a continuous stream of unbroken ever-changing flow of ideas, feelings dreams hopes perceptions and emotions are interlinked.

[@dangerrayy]

Aboulutely but in terms of continuity theorem Im hypothesizing that t^t (: ^_^. That could mean that the synthesization in variable distance is measured not only in time space but ultimately in, you guessed it, @_@. I apologise for this comment before I hit the send button

[@gazmasonik2411]

Now is eternal. As the centre of a sphere surface is everywhere We are one and all Many and none Each everyone else oneness is gnosis unveiled first intuitive then revealed Paradox seems primary too eh?indicative of metaphysical truth.

[@bad-bunnyblogger8171]

Cat in the box. If consciousness didn't exist would the universe exist? It's the only part of us that doesn't weigh anything. Would something that exists but doesn't exist. Would it be possible for it to switch dimensions. Which then creates imagination as it creates a temporary reality in another dimension. Everything came from the universe. Could the universe be conscious?

[@devon_lettuce_tomato8637]

To see Lex, who is brilliantly able to follow all of his guests and their explanations on very complex and niche topics, fume at ears in response to Hoffman's answers (which Hoffman goes through smoke and fire in an attempt to simplify) says it all. It makes all the sense, while making not much sense at all. Yet you can see that Lex is very tuned in because he knows, this fucker's on to something.

[@adinamoryosef5287]

"How does the formless give shape to form?" The assumption of the "formless" is fundamental to spirituality and religions. At least in this clip, I find it odd that they didn't connect the dots... Our brains have been wired to seek out answers to esoteric questions since we could think. We seem to instinctually search for our origin, whatever that was....

[@steventokeshi8847]

Or, is it possible that consciousness and spacetime emerge simultaneously? Could Hoffman test that theory as well?

[@mrd1228]

i think he was more saying that the universe is using consciousness to see itself. does that make sense?

[@theTranscendentOnes]

​@@mrd1228 no he wasnt.he was saying its not spacetime/Matter that give rise to consciousness but consciousness that gives rise to spacetime and Matter

[@StrawberrySoul77]

The story of Washington’s death that is told when visiting and touring his estate, Mt Vernon, they say he died from Quincy throat which essentially blocked his air passage, so he couldn’t breath and died from asphyxiation. They said this could have been treated today with antibiotics. Maybe they bled him, but that’s new to me.

[@etyrnal]

something that initially appears to be useful though it isn't fundamental could technically in the future be proven to have been limiting. for example yes it might have been useful and created some useful results, but in the future if a deeper understanding is eventually had we might realize that our previous understanding was actually limiting us and the fact that we persisted and insisted that it was correct for such a long time held us back and in that sense while we previously might have seen it as a tool, going forward we would look at it as having been a hindrance.

[@ShivMathur]

A modern science perspective will rarely be able to explain consciousness. You have to have the spiritual ability and clarity and understanding to explain or feel what is consciousness

[@darrenbrown7037]

Did everyone miss Lex’s size doesn’t matter joke that he slipped in during this intense conversation? Hahaha he laughed to himself for a moment.

[@hn6187]

What a lovely idea, that there are some kind of structures / forms / alien math... interacting somehow, to generate our reality. Brains, culture, science, art...pop out of that. And if we somehow peer 'back' from our space-time existence we might be able to 'see' this, then meet consciousnesses from other parts of the 'cosmos' in a pan-panpsychic sense. Also, good to hear we've reached the end of reductionism, it had become a bit of a drag.

[@DrGalile0]

Reductionism isn't dead. The first 5 min they just described the progress of science. Why stop now? I say, let's digg deeper!!

[@JonathanTBE]

The old guy completely opened my brain to new types of thinkings, and i love the young guy asking genuinely profound and clever questions, but sounds like he's bored out of his mind and so done with life. The ending note was fucking hilarious and the fact that he didn't let him reply to the diss😂

[@patrickramos9251]

They don't measure things. They measure interactions.

[@Redflowers9]

I had to skip back like a hundred times lol but I would have liked to have heard a bit more about what the maths would look like for conscious agents/probability spaces, and how that would begin to have useful applications and explain things like memory and a sense of self.

[@wp9860]

Me too. I posted a comment, appox. the 442nd, that states pretty much the same thing. I have no idea where this theory goes or how to proceed.

[@skyhorseprice6591]

It is my understanding that the Penrose/Hammeroff theory, known as ORCH-OR, says that structures in the brain known as microtubules, can initiate collapse from superposition: in other words, conscious observation/interaction with the universe _causes_ reality, rather than this phenomenon causing consciousness. The thing that fascinates me in all this isn't only the _how_ of consciousness, it's the _why._ Why should there be consciousness? Why would this consciousness need to build physical realities? And this. Mystics since the dawn of eyeballs and the need to go poopy (I am being a bit silly here, but it's to make a point about how we need to reference time to speak of a reality to which/whom time is nothing more than a Leggo set is to a child) have spoken of a consciousness that is the _All._ Or the Oversoul. Or Tillich's Ultimate Ground Of Being. So there is precedent for these new scientific ideas, which i find fascinating because Hoffman mentions going beyond reductionist science to something deeper. It is this very reductionist science that led to a good century of ridicule aimed at anyone who tried to suggest a reality in which matter was not at the center of reality, yet in recent years research and experimentation and mathematical development have arisen _from_ this materialist reductionism to indicate that materialist reductionism works within the very tiny slice of physical reality which humans (appear to) inhabit, but is likely useless when trying to comprehend a consciousness based reality. What I'm getting at here is the possibility that human consciousness may be able to directly interface with the...what the HELL do I call this...God? I really do not like the religious connotation of worship and doctrine and dogma that goes with the term, 'God'.....So...Ultimate Ground Of Being()?()... ....I remember those old BC comics where dude would get hit by lightning (epiphany of the highest order is often so represented), and there'd be this big blurb, _ZOT!_ to make it graphic. A'ight, I will use the term _Zot Factor_ because I think it's funny and humor is probably a crucial ingredient of any investigation into consciousness. So. Are we as humans able to interface with and interact with, this Zot Factor, which is beyond the physical reality but _of_ which we are composed? Were the mystics right (minus churches and doctrine and all that stifling, stultifying crap)? I have had mystical experiences. Many of them certainly seemed to involve Zot Factor interaction. Yet I've always been of a scientific turn of mind as well as mystical. Could it be that this deeper reality of which Hoffman speaks involves science, philosophy, mathematics, _and_ mystical or transcendent experience? I can say that _feels_ like it's at least marginally close to the mark, but 'feelings' are not scientific. Yet, anyway. Why should conscious beings like humans, dolphins, the G'*zztwwl**† from Epsilon Erdani, and any other beings from/at/within/of whatever realities may be, exist at all? What is the necessary function of the universe and of conscious entities within it, to the Zot Factor? So many questions have I, Master Yoda. Answers received, so few are. 👁️👀👁️🤣

[@DanielSanchez-yi9cr]

Yes but it's mediated by the planet and the sun. We often are accessing the earthyl or solar consciousness in mystical experiences. Full ecstatic revelation of the godhead, I believe, requires total nullification of self.

[@skyhorseprice6591]

@@DanielSanchez-yi9cr This is consistent with various mystical philosophies like Buddhism, certain Hindu sects, and even early Christians before the church ruined the whole scene. From my personal experience ( I have no issue with pointing out that my personal experience is only an indicator for me; if anyone finds value in it, good, but I am in no way suggesting that anyone do exactly as I do), I have found that it is not necessary or even desirable to eradicate the self. What is important is to *quiet* the self, make an antenna of the self so that it is entirely focused on listening for, and feeling the rising of, the universal All, the High Vibration. I've had one experience, undoubtedly the most profound of my life, in which I found myself not just sensing the presence of God/High Vibration/who cares about the name in such circumstances😵‍💫🙃, but literally becoming one with it. I cannot even describe such a thing, other than to say that I was saturated to the bone marrow, to the cellular core, by brilliant yet.....(words! Dammit, I'm a writer as well as musician, my literal job is describing things in words as well as sound, yet words fail me in this instance)...I'm attempting to describe Light that is *alive* , that is exponentially more intense than the light at the sun's surface, yet is also rounded, soft, warmly welcoming like the light of a campfire on a cold, clear night. At a certain point in this communion, The _I_ of self merged with the _I_ of the High Vibration, ......and lemme tell ya, that shit is even more impossible to describe. So I won't even try, since the point is that at no point was the *I* of self dissolved. I was, and am still, left with the impression that the Multiversal Consciousness (yeah, I know I've used a bunch of different designations lol) values our individuality as self, it's needed somehow, perhaps it has to do with the reason(s) that sentient beings even exist. All I know is that what works for me is to turn the self into a giant metaphorical radio telescope, listening intently for a message from beyond and above.

[@DanielSanchez-yi9cr]

@@skyhorseprice6591 this is exactly what I experienced on high doses of lsd, through meditation, randomness ecstatic experiences, and during a time I was dead for a couple of seconds. Perhaps I was too strongly worded, nullification if the egoic self. That sense if merging and becoming the light, ifs so foreign yetbsi familiar.

[@skyhorseprice6591]

@@DanielSanchez-yi9cr It's the _experience_ of that higher consciousness that is so important. If you've had the experience, no words are necessary; if you haven't had the experience, no words can help.

[@UriyahRecords]

Consciousness and matter possibly arises mutually, can't have one without the other.

[@imacqlittv6677]

Can things in nature/laws be represented or defined without an equation/math? Is it possible for the laws of nature, and the data/matter in which create it, be represented structurally and not by an equation? Since consciousness is a networking of various categories of conscious.

[@geoffreynhill2833]

A subatomic physicist goes into a pub and asks for a pint of ayahuasca....

[@minpepper2717]

Consciousness likes to play. It plays by continuously creating within itself, creating a continuous something from nothing that cannot be solved because it doesn't need solving. Perfect!

[@DAL201107]

Lol. Hilarious. He said a whole bunch of stuff without saying anything at all. Just say randomly big words without defining anything even close to an answer to the question.

[@threestars2164]

Wtf are you talking about?!

[@user-hy9nh4yk3p]

Your mystic quote - is splendid. From a long time meditator - theory (solving) - AND, practice (experience) Heart and mind = good work - with consciousness. Fare thee well - on life's journey

[@minpepper2717]

Sometimes it does seem like a complex way of defining a new theory of creation 🌎 All the information and ideas have to begin somewhere.....

[@minpepper2717]

And you, infinite one 🤫Fare thee well! Thanks

[@vittorio13ful]

Beautiful conversation. I doubt yet that earth, air, water and fire might, as fundamental elements, be compared to elementary particles. We may argue about these last to be in space-time rather than not to be, but the elements of nature had been pointed out by ancient greek philosophers as something in metaphysics, hence beyond the physical realm of nature. For this reason they already are out or "before" space-time.

[@LouisKatz]

Excellent interviews Lex.

[@joelrivardguitar]

What he's describing about consciousness is the same as the Advaita Vedanta philosophy in Hinduism. Physicists seem to push against this and call it "quantum wu" but it's good someone is looking into this stuff in a scientific way. I don't know if I buy into it but I enjoy learning it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipzQl515bqeqlac

[@ankitmittal3045]

Finally someone who mentions the inception point of all other philosophies and shares Swami ji's video who is like the guiding light in this maze of materialistic world!

[@ankitmittal3045]

Once you have read Advaita, no other philosophy can satiate you

[@chickensalad7199]

@@ankitmittal3045 advaitia is good. Vajryana, Saiva Tantra. All different roads to almost the same understanding.

[@omarjdiaz]

I lamen terms…consciousness is what humans rationalize as “God”

[@timothya.olmeda7299]

All things are aware of the Creator. Vegetation does precisely what it is intended to do, from seedling to death. The animal kingdom does precisely what it is intended to do. The elements of the earth does precisely what it is intended to do. A human being does precisely what it is intended to do. That is…..if man doesn’t interfere with the natural process and distort precisely what the above creations are intended to do. Freewill is within your grasp. And it will forever remain man’s domain. Virtue is only possible when sin is alluring. The Creator, in our world, permits man to become enraptured with false religions for the same reason He permits a married man to be attracted to women other than his wife. Freewill is within your grasp, therefore choose life.

[@chickensalad7199]

@@timothya.olmeda7299 I don't think the comment or or the interviewee means god in the way you mean it. I'm not sure if the interviewee even means god, though it sounds like most forms of esotericism I've read about (and I've been reading or practicing for close to 15 years) They're not talking from a religious perspective. They're talking from a fundamental perspective. As in henosis or gnosis of union with divine blissfull awareness that's at the base of all reality. Not just the 10 commandments. There is no one true religion, which means there is no false religion. There is the experience of the ineffable of which all religions do a terrible job actually representing. We're talking before religion was even a thought in our primordial ancestors monkey brains. An experience of infinity.

[@timothya.olmeda7299]

@@chickensalad7199 Wrong! The word “God” refers to the Creator of all things, whether someone believes it, or understands it, or has established a proper relationship with God (the Maker). The person or persons using the word “God” is referring to what is known as the Creator. The word “God” is a title. As for religions? As it turns out, religions don’t have eyewitnesses. Judaism has eyewitness, over 3.5 million at once witnessed the God of Israel on Mount Sinai just 3,337 years ago. Proof? Isaiah 43:10-11 “You are My witnesses,” says Adonai God, “and My servant whom I have chosen, that You may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed (no virgin birth), nor shall shall there be after Me (no trinity). I, even I, am Adonai, and besides Me there is no savior.” As it turns, the God of Israel has proven Himself throughout the world’s history to every nation and peoples. Especially to those nations that were and have been the enemy of Israel, God’s chosen people and land, which happens to be the size of New Jersey, surrounded by its enemies. God’s chosen servant Israel has been exiled, and put through more calamity than any other people, yet time and time again, the God of Israel redeemed Israel, and restored them by sheltering and protecting them once they returned to God. It happens to be a reoccurring theme throughout biblical narrative and in our history books. God chose the smallest in number of people, and multiplied them and they have indeed prospered by a remnant who remain faithful to God. Deuteronomy 7:6-7 “For you are a holy people to Adonai your God; Adonai your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. Adonai did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because Adonai loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, Adonai has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” Are you saying that Egypt doesn’t exist, or Israel, and it’s surrounding enemies? To this day Egypt has never returned to what it was since God sent the plagues to them, a return God promised would never happen again. And finally, our ancestors were not “monkeys.” What happened prior to our first father Adam is not of our concern. Because man did not have the spirit of God in them until God breathed into the nostrils of Adam, giving him, and every human being since, the image (soul) and likeness (spirit) of God, the Creator. Moreover, just because you were not educated on the matters, nor have you established a proper relationship with HA’SHEM [God], doesn’t mean that the God of Israel is not true nor divine, or is not our Creator. Deuteronomy 11:18-19 “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. Apparently your parents didn’t get the memo? Experience means everything. All you are doing is providing the evidence that you have yet to establish a proper relationship with HA’SHEM [God]. Because as it turns out, we know the God of Israel through blessings, and curse, from correction and obeying His commands. We know God through being lawful and right, and from disobedience. And the blessings and the consequences that stem from our actions, choices in life. The question is, why aren’t you aware of this? Return to HA’SHEM all you ends of the earth! All glory and praise belongs to HA’SHEM [God]!

[@jayhoss7724]

Trying to figure out how a car works by looking at it instead of jumping in it to take it for a spin. Seems we’re using a lot of time and energy to try and figure out how it works rather than just doing it. Organize a massive experiment across the country for everyone to meditate into a conscious state and focus on the same thing and see what happens.

[@Nergal667]

This guy is speaking and describing the same of the most important concepts present in Buddhism.

[@dragonskinavi]

99.9% of scientists - "Our genius brains show us that space-time is fundamental to everything, including consciousness!" Hoffman - "Your brains _were_ created by consciousness." *mic drop* Hoffman the OG 😎

[@tuckerxclips]

Only to realize he copied it all from Hinduism

[@nicholashayden8319]

We're in the simulation. Like a never ending volcano, blasting "evolution".

[@nicholashayden8319]

Make every min count, because there is no more. It's just your experience with reality. Simple as that.

[@rugdoc97]

@@nicholashayden8319 you are energy my friend you only loss your physical body but your conciousness goes else where. Who knows

[@integrallens6045]

@17:13 Think of the self, within consciousness, as your device's IP address among the internet. It doesn't exactly exist but works as an identity or a self among the pool of consciousness or internet. There is ultimately only one internet or digital realm, despite the internet being at my house, and your house. In the same way even though you have your own self or individual consciousness, it's just one node or identity in the All or the One ultimate consciousness.

[@theTranscendentOnes]

That's a shitty analogy

[@threestars2164]

What utter nonsense

[@integrallens6045]

@@threestars2164 What is? Even if you are a physicalist, do you see the level of similarities between the concept of the immaterial "space" and the internet analogy?

[@techviking23]

this is the best possible explanations of consciousness i've ever heard or seen.

[@johncollins211]

If "physical reality" is an advanced hologram. What does that say about dreams? Are dreams what reality is really like? In a dream you can touch something and it will feel absolutely real. Like leaning on a wall then all of the sudden you fall through the wall into the room behind it.

[@gavinpells4497]

I’m conscious that 90% of this went straight over my head.

[@daboomchakalaka7898]

So this guy is basically mathematically proving that all consciousness is connected and is one whole, and human bodies with brains simply tap into it to experience it.

[@user-hy9nh4yk3p]

Interesting conclusion and also address name - spicy scientist. Fare thee well - on life's journey

[@philmay7834]

What does all this mean to us as humans and how is it applicable to our daily lives?

[@earthing42]

I love you Lex, I love everything about you. I know you're honest. Please stay honest and keep being honest