Scientists Are Baffled: How Did This Rock Get a Sense of Identity?

In this video we explore...ourselves. What can and can't be conscious? And where did consciousness come from. A huge thanks to our Patreons who help make these videos possible. Sign-up here: bit.ly/4aiJZNF
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Credits
Writer: Jon McColgan
Editor: Nick Shishkin
Thumbnail Designer: Peter Sheppard
Producer: Alex McColgan / Raquel Taylor
NASA/ESO/ESA
#astrum #astronomy #philosophy #space #physics #quantumphysics #universe #theoreticalphysics

[@three_seashells]

I am 31 years old. I rollerskated a lot when I was a kid - I remember being really good - then, at age 14 I stopped for good. I gained a lot of weight (depression) and didn't skate again Until 2 weeks ago. I had lost 30% of my starting weight and I decided to give skating a go - I expected to be falling over and stumbling like a newborn. But to my amazement, I remembered exactly what to do. My brain had kept those memories, even after all this time - even after those cells had died and been reborn multiple times over. I can still skate like I have not missed a day. The human brain is so mysterious to me.

[@brettany_renee_blatchley]

Wow! Your experience is very encouraging to me! 😊

[@RAWDEAL064]

Good point, actually. I hadn't ridden a bike for...pfftt 20 years? Got on one last year and had zero issues. Like I'd never stopped

[@BonnieShadow33]

Muscle memory really is fascinating. As a teenager, I used muscle memory and a good ear for music to play Moonlight Sonata, the 1st movement, without sheet music. Sadly, after many years without access to a piano, that one is gone. Not all muscle memory lasts.

[@Daedje]

Welcome back to the skating family man 🙏

[@BoltRM]

@@BonnieShadow33 Interesting how there seems to be a difference between learning/practicing on an instrument to produce music vs a bike or skateboard or skiing. Is it dexterity of fingers vs legs/arms? Or is it the brain interaction of fun vs repetition? Do instruments require repetitive memory practice _before_ fun enters into it? 🤔

[@gaucho.tt900]

"Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias as it fell was Oh no, not again. Many people have speculated that if we knew exactly why the bowl of petunias had thought that we would know a lot more about the nature of the Universe than we do now."

[@mal2ksc]

RIP Ajrajag. Again.

[@AntondelaCruz-xv9pv]

This made me flollop

[@QapNPoo]

How is merely quoting a movie somehow compelling conversation? This is just a hollow human with no real personality that requires quoting media to express themselves. Sad is too soft a word.

[@SD-vy7gj]

Would you rather he quote Shakespeare? Someone who polices stranger's freedome of speach on the internet, accuees others of being sad and hollow.

[@ClyDIley]

​@@QapNPoo Such is a valid form of expression, especially when the mundane crawl of time proffers an exquisite opportunity for invoking such an intrinsically silly joke from a sacred tome of absurdist wit.... thereby reaffirming-yet again, with almost offensive inevitability-that the universe is at its most logical when it’s being completely absurd. Oh, and by the way… they’re quoting "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe," not some 'movie' that pilfered the joke from its rightful place and wedged it into its prequel’s adaptation.

[@rezadaneshi]

That's why I don't let my left hand know what my right hand is doing.

[@Scaliad]

Your left hand really doesn't want to know... 😂

[@OMtNI]

😂

[@himeshmaheshwari1823]

Right hand to left hand "you merely adopted the dark, I was born in it! "

[@pandoraeeris7860]

I'm a switch hitter. 😉

[@ToddBeck]

I haven't laughed that well in years. Thanks.

[@jancurtis7827]

The idea that sleep is unconscious is a bit misleading. While under anesthesia, yes, one is unconscious. However, while sleeping, during all phases, the senses are always to some degree aware of their surroundings. As for the topic of free will, yes that would be be a great subject to explore in depth. Great content as always! Thanks for this wonderful and engaging channel.

[@shannonspage9360]

You are correct the brain is still aware during normal sleep.

[@isbestlizard]

They body might notice and react to stimulus, but there are no associated qualia or experience, so when we're sleeping we're like classical philosophical zombies

[@BoltRM]

​@isbestlizard Perhaps in your case..

[@shannonspage9360]

@@isbestlizard Until you fall out of bed or hear a loud noise...you are aware or at least part of our brain is. It will get you up when something needs to be addressed

[@BonnieShadow33]

​@@isbestlizard Then how do you explain dreams? What about lucid dreams? Also, at what exact point does a body shift from awake to asleep? Haven't you ever drifted in a state between asleep & awake? I did just this morning, & even had parts of that dream which were lucid (though I had no control over what happened to me in the dream).

[@taylorwright1967]

An anthill seems like a sort of primitive brain. I’m not sure if a solitary ant has consciousness, but together the ants can solve problems that a solitary ant cannot

[@hiramlawson2824]

Where is your mind?

[@taylorwright1967]

@ surrounded by a cloud of weed smoke

[@theanthill22]

We consider ourselves a proper thermodynamic system, yes.

[@ErnestRobinson-v1f]

This is kind of where I keep thinking that each ant can select an action with at least two outcomes. For example, moving an object past an obstruction. Do what another ant is doing, not join in at all or do something else to achieve the same end. I need to go out and see what happens when one ant encounters a challenge and does something and then is joined by others.

[@sneakyfox4651]

Behavioural biologist here. This is called "swarm intelligence". The concept is very well described in Michal Crichton's novel "Prey".

[@TK_Mo]

Sentience vs Consciousness vs Self Awareness... Sentience is the capacity to feel. Consciousness is the awareness of feeling. And self-awareness is the awareness of oneself as the one feeling. Many if not most insects are sentient with a fair number of insects surprisingly showing consciousness. (I wouldn't blame you if you don't believe me so look feel free to fact check me.) Mammals and reptiles, for example, are both sentient and conscious, with some, in addition to humans, showing self-awareness. Animals, in particular, I'm pointing out cats, dogs, horses, and many more, have feelings and emotions. They may not be self-aware, but they certainly feel pain. Most, if not all, also feel love, sadness, fear, confidence, hunger, loneliness, and loyalty, to name a few, but they include a multitude of other feelings that we, as humans, experience. My point is to treat all animals, particularly pets, with compassion. Would certain people treat dogs, cats, horses, or other beings with feelings so poorly if they realized that these animals feel similarly (not exactly, but similarly) to how humans feel in response to their treatment? Just because they don't vocalize or show their feelings in a recognizable way doesn't mean that they don't feel. If more people were aware of this fact, my hope is that the majority of those who treat animals poorly would change their behavior towards them. Show compassion and respect to animals that are having difficulties, as they definitely have feelings!

[@kathleencross-cj1xd]

Well put. Very well put.

[@sladewilson9741]

They do vocalize and show their feelings. You just have to be looking and listening.

[@GameTimeWhy]

I would change consciousness with sapience. Lots of animals seem to have conscious awareness of things.

[@dangerfly]

Being able to feel (touch sense) isn't the same as having feelings (emotions). There are better words to use than 'feel'.

[@jaybingham3711]

And there has been quite a bit of recent insights on plants being aware and that they even endure distress. And this speaks more substantively to the issue at hand: our heavy bias toward the superiority of CNS beings...because such a position makes things so much less complicated as it relates to showing due regard to all life forms.

[@mementomori7160]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="14">0:14</a> [sighs and pulls out a book] "Water, 35 liters; carbon, 20 kilograms; ammonia, 4 liters; lime, 1.5 kilograms; phosphorus, 800 grams; salt, 250 grams; saltpeter, 100 grams; sulfur, 80 grams; fluorine, 7.5; iron, 5; silicon, 3 grams; and trace amounts of 15 other elements"

[@Gti_Jason]

Fullmetal Alchemist

[@GazpaNova]

NO DONT TRY THAT ITS NOT GONNA GO THE WAY YOU THINK IT IS

[@haredr6511]

It would be very hard to argue that some birds, like parrots and ravens, aren’t conscious. Study after study has proven language comprehension, problem solving skills, ability to use tools, and self recognition. I grew up with a parrot, and witnessed time and again, his remarkable abilities and learned to never underestimate him.

[@NotSoNormal1987]

I have pet budgies. They are the smallest of the parrot species. And they are at least as smart as any cat or dog I've interacted with.

[@rossmcleod7983]

My raven could run rings around any other, my mum included. Extraordinary intelligence and with a genuine sense of humour.

[@georgejones3526]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="47">0:47</a> - That’s not me.

[@aamirrazak3467]

Me neither

[@0ptic0p22]

Me neither

[@contorta960]

Or as some like to say, 'I'm Spartacus!'

[@GaryHoskins-z4k]

I thought I was, so now I am. And it is me, I think. 😵‍💫

[@pietpetrus2343]

@@GaryHoskins-z4k lol

[@squidsleap]

I knew my car feels better when clean! My wife still doesnt belive me.....😂

[@winsomemartinez]

Rain and wind _know_ when I wash my car.

[@HughS-n6t]

Or that they run better with fresh oil.

[@jonathanschenck6892]

I believe you brother! I’m a mechanic and I have sworn for years that if you wash the car it will run better.

[@michaeljohn6290]

Perhaps there is just one universal consciousness that flows through everyone and thing. We just assume we are separate.

[@asdfoifhvjbkaos]

"life is a waterfall, we're one in the river and one again after the fall"

[@thekaxmax]

Not useful except as a meditation, though, without a mechanism and some evidence.

[@drx1xym154]

We are all star dust, golden oxygen carbon and more -in motion and being. Stars are the engines of consciousness.

[@ppsaha1994]

Congratulations you discovered Hinduism.

[@kiranjoshi2025]

​@@ppsaha1994 Ancient indian sages were 15000 year ahead than Quantum Dynamics Tantra knows power of akasha and prana.

[@franco555able]

Thanks!

[@GamePlague]

Somehow I could see both the vase and the faces at the same time. Or at least way closer to the same time than I am normally used to with those type images.

[@Jules_Diplopia]

The upward curve of the base at the bottom, made the vase illusion for me unacceptable.

[@jasonkinzie8835]

That's fascinating! For me I can only view it as one or the other, although it switches constantly as to which one it is.

[@thefoolsfavorite]

Yeah me too

[@tb6303]

I don't see them at the same time, but I see each so quickly (back and forth) that it sometime feels like I'm seeing them at the same time.

[@Mizarriz]

I'm immune to that kind of optical illusion because I simultaneously see both the images at once. I don't know why it would seem like we're seeing just one or the other, when it can be both

[@ProducerX21]

This exact topic is by far the scientific/philosophical rabbit hole of thought that I find myself falling down the most often Fleeting thoughts that lead to such unanswerable questions that I find myself in awe of how any of this stuff can even happen, and how little we truly know about the reality we live in Thanks for covering this topic

[@Salgood]

FYI re <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="562">9:22</a>, in past eras before we understood what the brain was, people replied to the question of where is Consciousness or 'me' with suggesting it was in their chest/heart. This is a learned/cultural thing, based on what we learn as we grow up not simply pure instinct.

[@astrumspace]

I think there is still an element of "thinking with your heart" verses "thinking with your brain", and even "thinking with your gut". I debated with the scriptwriter of this video about the different places I feel a sense of self within my body, and it often depends on the type of thought processes I'm having

[@Salgood]

@@astrumspace Yep for sure, but this is as I mentioned, all mitigated by culturally learned things. It's not all quite as universal or intrinsic as was sugested in the video here.

[@PebloNemo]

For those interested in panpsychism, Penrose and Hameroff's model is called Orch OR (Orchestrated Objective Reduction). It explains that thoughts are quantum events, kinda like an electron being an event of the electron field, but they are not usually coherent. To get coherent though, you need structures that can amplify those quantum events in a bigger scale, and that happens in cellular life through carbon nanotubes (which explains why single cell organisms display intelligent behaviour without any neurons)

[@PebloNemo]

Also, dr Michael Levin and his team are dojng an amazing job of bringing these abstract concepts to experimental practice with their model of Cognitive Light Cones, which applies to all sorts of intelligent entities. And in a more fundamental, metaphysical level, Alfred North Whitehead's philosophy of organism explains that any real thing (from atoms to a nation, memories and rocks) are actual entities, that feel the world around them and are in a process of becoming, creating novelty in the world.

[@kylewolfe117]

Today is my birthday too. Happy birthday Alex.

[@joshwilliams9922]

Happy birthday

[@lgziabeher]

Happy birthday

[@shannonspage9360]

Happy birthday. Mine is in a couple weeks.

[@augiegirl1]

My mom’s 74th birthday was 3 weeks ago yesterday, & my uncle’s (my mom’s brother-in-law) 77th was 9 days ago.

[@shannonspage9360]

@@augiegirl1 Good for them I hope they both have many more years to come of health and vigor. I will only be a much younger 48 on the 25th of February

[@swedebug2889]

Loved this episode. I think a lot about consciousness, and the mechanisms behind it, about being aware of the existence.

[@MarxMin]

Yes free will video please! Your work is appreciated by many! Keep up the excellent work everyone!

[@maud-y8v]

Free will is a philosophical problem rather than a scientific one, as is consciousness

[@piconick79]

beautiful rabbit hole for the day! Always loving the content you pump out! It seems like the quality is ever increasing!

[@pandoraeeris7860]

Part of the problem here is the implivit bias towards consciousness "arising". It's pretty much baked into all our assumptions. This is the emergent bias. But what if it doesn't "emerge", but was always there, and evolved instead?

[@thekaxmax]

Evolving is emerging. Anything else assumes full consciousness existed from the first self-replicating RNA molecules.

[@jdrmanmusiqking]

​@@thekaxmaxNo. Youre not understanding the distinction. Emerging means it doesnt exists but then exists. He's saying consciousness is built into the very fabric of reality itself. It doesn't emerge from anything it just constantly changes shape Esoteric knowledge refers to "The All" and "All is One" saying all of reality is just one all powerful consciousness experiencing itself through different configurations of itself aka different configurations of reality

[@flarvin8945]

Sounds like woo science to me. Especially given, based on the evidence, as stated in the video. Our self, simply put, is software running on the hardware of the brain.

[@flat6croc]

If it was always there, then it's magic. And magic is nonsense, a tool people use to fill in gaps in knowledge, just as they used to appeal to magic to explain all kinds of things like, say, lightning, that we can now explain quite well using physics. And people no longer think lightning is magic. Eventually, we'll work out how consciousness emerges from complex systems, and people won't be able to make mystical appeals to magical fields and universal or atomic consciousness, all of which are ultimately meaningless and moves you further away from understanding consciousness.

[@JMFuller]

Me - Hits joint... "Okay, now I'm ready to watch this video."

[@pietpetrus2343]

??

[@jinchey]

​@@pietpetrus2343 are you okay

[@asiano3385]

Everyone has joints.

[@xpndblhero5170]

Pauses at 4:20: HEY LOOK, IT'S 420... GUESS I HAVE NO CHOICE. 😅👀😏 😂

[@drahcirtorralba1956]

give me some

[@VoyagerLife826]

"The mind can't grasp itself as it has only itself to grasp with" It's like trying to touch your right elbow with your right hand.

[@thekaxmax]

Depends what you mean by 'grasp' in both cases

[@ZeedijkMike]

I found your channel just a few days ago, and have been binge-watching (and listening to the pod-casts) All very well made, intersting and of course, as always, nice and relaxed - but this one did give both my consious and unconsious brain a headake 🙂

[@mick62569]

7 octillion thinking inside me. Now that a thought.

[@TheKgr320]

If the 1 octillion that are currently fixating on KZbin videos could pause what they're doing and join the other 6 octillion in trying to get work done today we would all greatly appreciate it

[@himeshmaheshwari1823]

Me using all of them to create new level of stupidity.

[@BoltRM]

​@@himeshmaheshwari1823The world's best stupidity. Sorry, I promised myself I'd avoid the topic of 🔎🍄 today..

[@OvercookedOctopusFeet]

I have 7 octillion _and_ _1_ . I win.

[@metroidragon]

Civilizations destroyed every time you poop.

[@blobofdespair]

I study canine behavior in the shelter environment. I will never be able to say with 100% certainty anything regarding a dog's mental state (because I am not a dog and there is an obvious language barrier) but it is my belief with 99% certainty that a dog is conscious based on their ability to learn, make choices, and communicate with both other dogs and with humans. Going back to the language barrier, the most interesting thing I've learned comes from Turid Rugaas's research on calming signals. To briefly summarize, dogs have clear communication signals with other dogs and said signals are often communicated to humans. Sometimes humans can successfully communicate back using these signals. As an anecdote, I have done this with shelter dogs and my own dog and it's really neat to see this exchange! Dogs can also form bonds, chain behaviors/recognize patterns, and express pain. Our shelter only uses evidence based methods (positive reinforcement) for training and behavior modification/rehabilitation.

[@ExhaustedPenguin]

What if the universe itself has always been conscious, and its contents defines the flavor of experience? So when the universe takes the shape of a living creature, it provides the preexisting consciousness with the experience of being that creature.

[@yourguyin2554]

Great for mental masturbation. But, No proof or evidence.

[@ElTecnomagoai]

Take a chunk of objectivity or universe's subjectivity and poor some of it in a limited vessel. Subjectivy = displaced objectivity ? Hmmm

[@95TurboSol]

This is exactly what I have been wondering for the last several years, it seems plausible that consciousness is a base property of the universe and it expands only with more complex interactions of particles because those interactions give it enough information to perceive something within the universe. My sticking point to this theory is why aren't we conscious of everything it is? The only explanation I can think of is proximity, that particles have to be close enough to share fields or something in order for it to unify into a single experience.

[@Ctacobell]

@@ExhaustedPenguin and why does this matter? Tip: Science can’t answer that question

[@95TurboSol]

@@Cryptic808 Yeah I've heard people say it may have to do with quantum entanglement, that neurons are firing close enough to cause a cascade of entanglement and leading to a network of entangled particles (Which would be our unified consciousness). I think it's pure speculation but it sounds nice to someone who knows little about quantum mechanics like me lol

[@drewhoffman1461]

Thank you for all of your videos! I wish the rest of the world shared our love for space and our own planet. Keep them coming!

[@xNillowsx]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="975">16:15</a> Thumbs up for free will!

[@PuckLokin]

I'm personally on the determinism train, but also in the camp that this doesn't really matter much to the way we should choose to be kind to one another.

[@charlesglader7473]

very good episode! i am convinced more now then ever down to the smallest realms of your percived reality

[@urdooinitrong7753]

i might buy a "Protons think neutrons are a little bland" shirt...

[@icaleinns6233]

Ya know, just as he was wrapping that up, talking about not being able to prove someone else was conscious, free will immediately popped into my head. Hell yeah I wanna see a video on free will!

[@Iam590]

Existence = Consciousness Consciousness is everything that changes and Awareness is that background screen in which expirence happens. Which never changes. You see you have enquire into the nature of this observer to understand whatever we are.

[@Mendogology]

Very clear way to describe it. Descartes saying, that we exist, because we think, always sounded too simple for me. For me, it's more like: "I know I exist, because I am aware that I think."

[@Ctacobell]

@@Mendogology but also you’re aware of your awareness of your thinking.

[@Mendogology]

@Ctacobell , Wait, that's totally true! Going deeper into this experience, I am also aware of the space where my awareness happens. What a trip!

[@Iam590]

@@Mendogology exactly, when you are not thinking are you thr or not? Obviously you are otherwise you wouldn't know about not thinking. So something more subtle and basic is thr which we call I and that I is the observer which has to be enquired.

[@Mozzarella-and-Tomato]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="782">13:02</a> - <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="795">13:15</a>. I feel like this is so important. It explains so much

[@HeathenHammer80]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="75">1:15</a> Because consciousness is something you tune into like a radio station. If you have the right arrangement of parts, you will access consciousness. I believe that consciousness is not an emergent phenomenon, but a fundamental part of the universe.

[@estan315]

That’s a lot of yap but it’s true that in order for your consciousness to have been created the blueprint would’ve needed to already exist. This suggests that we would’ve needed to exist in a sort of archetypal form when the laws of the universe were decided in order to exist as we do according to these rules.

[@keithhaithwaite9758]

The topic of free will would be a great subject to explore in depth. Terrific content as always! Thanks for this fascinating and engaging channel.

[@whnvr]

my belief is that space, or the fabric of reality, is itself the baseline level of consciousness. according to wolfram and gorard's theory of hypergraphs, matter and structure are just the fabric of space coalesced into topological obstructions, or knots. i wouldn't be surprised if each node of space had a degree of subjective observation, facilitating measurement within the hypergraph, and that these knots tangling into greater and greater macroscopic structures with increasing density, connection, interaction, and complexity condenses this base consciousness into tighter formations, facilitating increasing degrees of subjective awareness at various scales - including the scale we occupy, leaving us confined to only being capable of recognising consciousness at those scales we're stuck at. (however, while the density of, say, a star is greater than the human mind, it produces lesser consciousness as the energy scales destroy the development of stable or complex configurations of matter - the same being true for a variety of energy and density scales throughout the universe, both hot and cold. there seems to be a sweet spot amidst scale, temperature, energy, and pressure at which complex structure ideally forms in our universe). well, this is how consciousness works for my sci-fi setting at least! thinking about this has been good for worldbuilding

[@arthurriaf8052]

Inventive AND wordy!😅

[@katphisH11]

I have thought about this as well, since our thoughts are based on electrons and ions firing through our brain, and we don’t inherently recognize something like an ant or bacteria to have thoughts similar to ours, what’s to say the stars aren’t also ‘thinking’ as we are but with photons and radiation, but their thoughts are simply beyond our understanding. Like we see an insect that lives for one day, how could we comprehend what a star is thinking if they have existed and will continue to exist for millions of years, such that we are something that can only comprehend one nanosecond of their thoughts. When we speak an insect or microorganism would perceive that as meaningless pressure waves and vibrations, would that not be the same for a star that speaks when it emits heat and electromagnetism, a language beyond what we could think of because it is a fraction of a stroke of a symbol in their ‘words’ with songs they might have been singing before any living thing on Earth even existed Stars being born, getting old, dying, and being reborn sort of makes sense

[@k.scheer5to1]

...... idle speculation is mostly a useless imaginary pursuit.....

[@lilahsadventures5717]

Maybe

[@lilahsadventures5717]

@@katphisH11the results of the survey shocked me,I have more respect for all living things than to think of them as stupid. I don’t have much faith in human intelligence after hearing those results.

[@lisac.9393]

This is such a great science channel!!!

[@SoulInferno19]

This is an interesting concept

[@LukeBunyip]

Decartes's quote starts with "I doubt..." That for me is a cognativee hurdle in itself. Nice vid Alex, ta muchly

[@monicaperez2843]

A girlfriend who received a heart transplant from another woman strongly believes in cellular memory. Her tastes for certain foods and personality quirks changed after the transplant.

[@Mendogology]

That's amazing. Did those changes happen instantly after the operation, ir was it more gradual?

[@monicaperez2843]

@Mendogology It was totally instant and it did not increase after the operation.

[@luvcherry]

not trying to be cynical because that would be cool if organs had memory but immunosuppressant drugs cause these changes as well, also the placebo effect if she knew about that concept before surgery

[@flat6croc]

Things like that can change in people after all kinds of major physical trauma and a heart transplant is certainly that. What would be weird would be to not have any changes. It's a nice idea in a romantic sense, that a transplanted heart can somehow transmit such characteristics, but I am afraid it's mystical nonsense when you get right down to it.

[@Guccisleek1127]

Consciousness is doubting your input is the best explanation

[@HillaryMarek]

1min in and already overstimulated and need a nap. Not sure what point my eye started twitching but I’m going to watch the rest of the video with my phone face down. Because I’m really interested in the content just too ADHD to focus on the subject matter AND the rave worthy light show that’s flashing across the screen so rapidly I can’t even process what I just saw.

[@Ken-rq9xr]

Lucky you it's waking me up.😅😅😅

[@bipolarbear9917]

Prof. Mark Solms has the most plausible theory of the fundamental location of consciousness. He postulates we should be looking at the more primitive structures of the brain, rather than the cerebral cortex. 🧠 It’s an emergent and developing aspect of evolving organisms, particularly sentient beings or species like Homo Sapiens.

[@charliemopps4926]

We are the waves on the water... we are not the water.

[@Mozzarella-and-Tomato]

❤

[@DiDzeDiD]

nope, it's the exact opposite, we are like the water, not the waves (we only think we are the wave, but this is a belief

[@baomao7243]

@DiDzeDiDThat would explain why i feel frozen in this weather

[@moorhertz829]

It’s the opposite, we are waves on the ocean not realising we ARE the ocean.

[@Mozzarella-and-Tomato]

You're not a drop in the ocean, you're the ocean in a drop My favorite:)

[@MitzyB1]

Love love love this channel. Thank you 🙏❤️🌟

[@droger1448]

Woahh never thought i would be THIS early 😅

[@Cirdan.the.Shipwright.]

When read meticulously and understood correctly, Julian Jayne’s ‘The origin of consciousness in the breakdown of the bicameral mind’ holds some brilliant insights into the illusive nature of subjective consciousness.

[@brichan1851]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="310">5:10</a> that’s the thing… I see both, nearly at the same time.

[@_hazplants]

Yup

[@Mendogology]

LOL, everyone can see both nearly at the same time, once we know there are two things to look at.

[@brichan1851]

@ made you laugh. 😁

[@Galiuros]

Your message and graphics merging is the best around.

[@monicaperez2843]

I believe there is a spiritual component to consciousness. If the soul/spirit leaves the body, the body can not maintain life.

[@bipolarbear9917]

Oh, I love these deep questions about consciousness and the Cosmos. 🤔

[@gfdgdfgdfgdfggfdgdfgdfgdfg9709]

I think the brain is the interface between the physical world and me/my consciousnes. The more the brain is damage the worse I am able to interact with the physical world. I dont think the physics of the brain itself is consciousnes rather the translation between both me and reality.

[@BonnieShadow33]

Are you still conscious while under anesthesia? (Have you ever been under general anesthesia?) I have zero memories from the duration of being under anesthesia - and I've had a lot of procedures requiring general anesthesia in my life.

[@thekaxmax]

Samesame

[@BonesMcoy]

From one arrangement of atoms to a group of others, thank you for this video.

[@joepaolinelli7696]

Its crazy that religions kinda got it right... Our quantum information can't be destroyed, like a "soul". That information gets sucked into the event horizon and added to everything like Steve said, becoming part of the higher consciousness like going to "heaven".

[@joepaolinelli7696]

...And Im still terrified.

[@arsalali69]

​@@joepaolinelli7696 because religion is right

[@SebastianKrabs]

It's not crazy at all when you think about it. Ancient humans figured it out first because they started asking the questions first. Before there was a written language there were humans who asked these questions. It's only logical to assume that after enough asking an investigation they made some discoveries of their own. It's our own racist view of past humans that make us think this way. The same exact mentality was true when Europeans came to the new world and disbelieved many of the fantasies of creatures like the anaconda and other such "monsters". It's our 21st century bias that makes us think you can't figure out hard questions without technology computers and nuclear reactors. When in reality sometimes all it takes is an inquisitive mind and a desire to know the truth.

[@Mendogology]

Mostly animistic religions, yes. They think everything is alive and everything is God. Monotheistic religions, not even close. They think everything is a product, a creation of a single entity.

[@AbuddingHistorian]

There was a story I remember reading in high school that was about a robot species that thought with the power of air currents and it was running out. Huge theories on the nature of consciousness and thought. I think it’s the cumulative net pattern that is created from a medium. A system where one thing goes from one state to another and can be reset, but still retains value so it can “learn”

[@Dracolichizm]

Your Atoms Could Be Self-Aware (And Physics Can't Prove They're Not) would be considered not scientific then...

[@SebastianKrabs]

Classic logical fallacy of the philosophy hating PhD society we live in. Totally off base.

[@ElTecnomagoai]

​@@SebastianKrabs Ape science is not fully logical

[@Ctacobell]

@@Dracolichizm I mean it’s also just really degrading to a person to call them atoms. And that they’re only self-aware because of their atoms and not because they’re a human being. I mean imagine walking around convinced that you’re only meaningless atoms programmed in a certain way to cause you to do certain things.

[@MrJC1]

Of course it isn't scientific. It is crackers. 🤣

[@PioLisieux]

Great video!! A true muse for some deep thought. (brains were quite nauseating tho 😅)

[@StayingFausty]

I love that you're venturing down this path, Astrum. I'd like to say, though, that the brain is not in anyway proven to be the origin or even the resting spot of consciousness. The feeling in your toes is *just* as intimately here and present as the feeling behind the eyes. Even sounds cannot be separated from the awareness of them except through thought. Love your videos!

[@Henry-jp3mc]

It definitely is though. The brain is the only part of the body you can't do without to be conscious.

[@StayingFausty]

@Henry-jp3mc Correlation does not equal causation. The popular *opinion* is that the brain is the source of consciousness. The actual facts are that we have no idea if consciousness is primary, or stems from some unexplained process, but we do know that the brain has been found to be more of an organ that organizes and filters sensory content. That's all we've got so far.

[@asdfoifhvjbkaos]

you can cut off any part of the body from the brain and you won't feel that part anymore

[@thekaxmax]

This feelings are in the brain, we've watched them

[@StayingFausty]

@@thekaxmax I mean we absolutely haven't, but go off, spread that misinformation.

[@BurleighW]

It’s worth taking note not only what consciousness includes but also what it doesn’t include. It seems to encompass the set of sensory experiences that helps decision making for the body’s survival. It excludes those body functions that seem to require no decision making. For example, I can taste which fruit is ripe and which is rotten. Eating the rotten one might kill me. However, I cannot perceive or control when my stomach releases acid to digest food. This requires no decision making- I already decided to eat the fruit and don’t need to control further what my stomach does. But if the mind is produced by our body, then free will is impossible, because our brain and body is only the sum of chemical and physical reactions. At what point does it make sense to say that the mind can decide how the chemical processes carry out? So it follows that if free will is impossible, then it makes no sense for our conscious sensory experience to exist. This is because its whole purpose seems to stem from the need to make decisions for survival. So the idea of consciousness arising from our brain and body starts to seem questionable. Maybe it’s the other way around? Maybe it is the mind that creates the body and the world we see? Perhaps the universe is composed of something entirely different from what we currently believe?

[@leviwaters1023]

Glad to see a big channel covering this topic but you can’t mention consciousness without memory and language. The more sophisticated these two things become within a species, the more clearly you can view the world continuously and with differentiation. We don’t know how consciousness works fully, but like you said, it’s a process, and it’s characterized by a sense of causation and differentiation, which are impossible without the processes of language and memory.

[@SD-vy7gj]

Not realy. Its like people who humanise their pets. Because they can't empathise properly. I dog doesnt care about the same things we do. And it doesn't have an "official" language either, but it's still consious. Iv always had fantastic, inteligent dogs because I deal with them from their perspective of world, not mine. When you train in a way that works for them, not for you. I think ifs the same for matter. If its consious its mearly, placidly aware. That's all.

[@marcosfreijeiro8763]

Sounds great, love to hear about free will, excellent content and thank you.

[@tilter24]

“Waveform collapse…happens somewhere between the start of the waveform propagation…and something consciously becomes aware in a way that measures it”. This makes it sound like a human consciousness literally influences the waveform - isn’t it more accurate to say that when we measure it, the fact we need light to see the measurement, the light interacts physically with the waveform causing it to change? Despite watching 100 videos on the double slit experiment, this part always has left me with questions. Is it literally the human looking that causes the wave to collapse, or is it that in order FOR a human to look, there must be light, which physically interacts with and collapses the waveform? Great video!

[@inajira1]

As I understand it, it has nothing to do with light. There are other mechanisms for tracking the process instead of looking at it directly, anyway. It really does seem that, so far as we know, observation itself triggers the collapse of the waveform. As ridiculous as that may sound! Either we search for a more intuitive answer, or we accept that consciousness itself is sort of distilling its own reality.

[@tilter24]

@ thanks for the reply. Truly fascinating.

[@auntvesuvi3872]

Thanks, Alex! ⚛

[@NYN_000]

God: "Damn, they were close this time!"

[@ElTecnomagoai]

😂

[@Harleysdad-hu1jt]

What a great channel I'm just finding out what it takes to make this happen

[@Noorthia]

You give science communication a bad reputation with dogshit titles like these.

[@RodentHunter]

Listen to poetry instead.

[@mustachemac5229]

@@Noorthia Anyone who doesn't use philosophy when they look at science is dishonest.

[@arsalali69]

​​@@mustachemac5229 both are different subject And if you add philosophy into science then atheist won't identify themselves as atheist

[@yourguyin2554]

These mofos need more views,,, peddling pseudoscience gives them that.

[@Graycy808]

Well done! Gave me a lot to think about, lol!

[@mustachemac5229]

This comment is conscious. Prove me wrong.😂

[@Iam590]

Everything is that

[@yourguyin2554]

My fart is conscious. Prove me wrong.

[@mustachemac5229]

@@yourguyin2554 I agree your fart is conscious. Is my comment conscious?

[@Mendogology]

>> You are wrong.

[@yourguyin2554]

@@mustachemac5229 yes

[@Scufflegrit]

If consciousness is a fundamental field, then self-sustaining, self-propagating feedback loops of ripples in that field are called life. The amount of vibration in that field is several orders of magnitude higher in the presence of life. In at least one species, localized excitations are bound together densely enough to form the uniquely complex quantum interactions necessary for the field of consciousness to achieve sentience in a few billion instances. Some of those instances are currently reflecting upon itself.

[@flat6croc]

Consciousness isn't a magical fundamental field, it's something that arises out of complexity. We'll work out how, eventually, and then we'll stop appealing to magic to explain it, just as we stopped appealing to magical gods to explain lightning once we worked out the physics of how it happens.

[@Scufflegrit]

@@flat6croc I don't recall mentioning magic. By fundamental field I meant a force like the other 4--one worth smarter people than me toying around with.

[@flat6croc]

@@Scufflegrit You didn't use the word magic. But that's what the consciousness field or force nonsense amounts to. It's gibberish that will vanish once the structures and processes that give rise to consciousness are a bit better understood. The idea is fundamentally silly.

[@Scufflegrit]

@flat6croc If you say so. Well then… I see no reason to dally here any further. [raises wizard staff and disappears in a sassy, lingering fog that is mildly inconvenient for you]

[@Ctacobell]

Worshipping science gets you nowhere folks.

[@ElTecnomagoai]

Breaking people's belief system is considered rude for a gentleman. 😂 And science as an institution has, at least, some good dose of belief. But I am with you !

[@1337Adabed]

Respect other's believes

[@Ctacobell]

@@1337Adabed I respect people, not their beliefs.

[@zerk317]

Worshipping anything gets you nowhere. The only concept that should be worshipped is the idea of furthering humanity, as vague and subjective as that is.

[@brac1ey]

then how do you explain the device you used to leave this comment

[@zippythinginvention]

I think that conflating "witness" with "conscious" is confusing and had given rise to a lot of foo foo physics. A quantum wave collapse doesn't require consciousness, only a witness. Any interaction with anything is a witness.

[@SD-vy7gj]

Witness still feels like consiousnes though. How about, record? Because the original double slit experiment. It was a machine that caused the collapse by recorded/observed/witnessed, not a consious being. But the truth is any significant, world questioning discovery in science gets pulled into the foo foo science relm. Just let it.

[@amjadaushap1288]

Interesting topic, must learn it and enjoy the knowledge

[@realityvanguard2052]

Hey, I actually did solve it in a quantifiable way :) Your videos have been a great source of inspiration over the recent years, and the visuals, and the simple way explain a lot of things, helped my brain, shape, our the nature of our reality, and connect them all together... I wish I knew what to do now... I really do, but I have no idea. The... implications, are extreme. I can't just publish my work like any other normal "paper". This isn't science. it is a balance of intuition and logic, basic math, and understanding of how to filter junk data from universal logic. Or maybe I am just crazy, but I have a feeling there is a reason you are making this video, now, we are on a very similar WAVELENGTH my friend. Can you feel it? or mayb i am crazy hahaha

[@safdarhusain3019]

Fascinating - can consciousness be quantized? Yes please I wish you can make the one about free will! Thank you

[@Bambooze]

I'm not normally inclined to comment on videos; but since you asked, I found this video fascinating. I can't wait to see more about topics like this. Thank you!

[@SeanHiggins-e8l]

Yes please to a video on Free Will. I attended a lecture by John Conway in which he presented the Free Will Theroem by himself and Simon Kochen. I clearly remember a moment during the lecture when I Understood. It didn't last long, but for a brief moment it felt very good. I'd like to feel that again, and I think you've got just the skillset to make it happen.

[@jowenzel]

another excellent video

[@djayjp]

NO. There's absolutely no need to require a conscious observer re "wavefunction collapse". All it requires is physical interaction sufficient to do so, such as a particle hitting a rock. Additionally there are fully deterministic interpretations of QM which have defined (but epistemically unknown) states at all times. There are even fully valid interpretations which eliminate superposition and the ontology of a wavefunction entirely.

[@theponk1]

I'll be quite honest, Alex< you are my favourite science nerd and i think you have a very good presentation voice, Love it, keep it up mate

[@theponk1]

for me, its a toss up between Alex, explosions and fire (although he's not a nerd he's more of a science anarchist) and that really autistic nerd from the geologyhub who can't even look the camera in the eye

[@lj823]

I loved the way you kept emphasizing 'there's a lot we just don't know.' Loved the exposay of so many possibilities! Did I miss the idea that the universe may be conscious as a whole?

[@thekaxmax]

If the universe is conscious it's going to be so slow we'd never perceive it

[@LibsRockU]

YES please do a free will video!

[@thudthud5423]

Regarding the vase/faces optical illusion: I can see both simultaneously. That might be because I was aware of the duality between the two ahead of time, but I can clearly see two mirror image faces pushed into the sides of a vase. Regarding "blind sight": I know I can pretty easily navigate a messy room with little or no light, as long as I am familiar with a room. I've actually walked over to a table and picked up a book recently when a room was completely dark (a few LED lights around the corner). I think we all have this ability.

[@roqua]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="425">7:05</a> Blindsight is most typically associated with patients who have suffered some visual cortex damage and have lost some functions and/or regions of the visual field, but can still see to some extent. The "spooky" part being their unconscious perception of phenomena in that blinded part of the visual field, hence "blindsight".

[@novagiragos]

Happy Birthday Alex! Since the topic is based on Theory\ies, including alians and by-chance, you should also include the possibility of a Creator. Please include this in your next topic on Free Will.

[@kinanhamwi]

Great video! And yes please, Free will!

[@colbyr7811]

I like the title of this video. It isn't super clickbaity, it's relevant and still attention grabbing.

[@volia93]

Yes make a video about free will, your videos are amazing

[@jaymzx0]

The theory that most resonates with me is that consciousness is an emergent property of neurons. When you have enough of them, consciousness can arise if their configuration allows for it. Emergence is used to describe the 'collective consciousness' of insects like ants and bees. It's also used to describe how magnets work. Quantum electrodynamics describes the electrons circling atoms in a material as having 'magnetic moments' that are generated by the spin of those electrons. Typically those infinitesimal magnetic moments are scattered semi-randomly and they cancel each other out. If those moments in ferromagnetic materials are aligned, either spontaneously or from an external magnetic field, they can generate their own emergent magnetic field. You can do this when you magnetize a screwdriver by dragging a magnet across it. The magnetic domains all align and boom, the atoms in the screwdriver are now creating a net magnetic field. So what if, possibly, the neuron structures are like little atomic magnetic moments. When you have enough of them in a single place, and they all align in a particular fashion, consciousness arises? Let's suppose that's true. Then we have to wonder why this emergent property exists. With the magnet thing, the magnetic moments are generated by the intrinsic properties of the electrons, so it just happens to come about because electrons have spin, and sometimes they just happen to add up and we get magnets. Does that mean consciousness just 'happens'? To what end? What are the intrinsic properties of neurons that add up to generate the emergent properties?

[@TheJQuon]

Collapse of the wave function doesn't only occur when "something consciously becomes aware" of the waveform. As far as I understand it (which isn't much) it comes from "quantum decoherence" - once we zoom out from the quantum level that's just what happens. But even larger particles can exhibit quantum coherence such as "buckyballs" etc...

[@HerbertColston]

What about mylecium? Please do a parallel show on this!

[@gettingstuffdoneright5332]

Wonderful work, and yes I would love to see your take on free will. Congrats on a real body of work, you're a great teacher🙏

[@burkhardstackelberg1203]

Once, I grabbed a bead out of my dream catcher hanging at my side while asleep and dreaming. Im the moment I held the bead in my hand, I woke up. This action was not part if my dream consciousness, but when I woke up, I remembered doing it.

[@downerzzz3463]

I am conscious and maybe a little self conscious of the fact, that you have a nice Accented voice. Makes me want to lay down and stare up at a turnstile of thumbnails of previous Astrum Episodes. 😋

[@maivaka3863]

I like the non-duality-explanation of consciousness: There's only *one* consciousness, and we're all a wave in the ocean of it. In my opinion it resonates with how we experience it if we "try to catch it".

[@TheZoneTakesYou]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="236">3:56</a> THIS DUDE IS PETTING BEES happy birthday! glorious face reveal

[@NoTimeLeft_]

If I try to theorize the question at the start of the video, I usually begin with an approach similar to what thinkers like Einstein used. Can I ask the question in a different way to make it easier to understand? Can a particle be conscious? So, let me try this question, can an electron be a video game? In this way, the answer is no but it also does not prevent many electrons from becoming a video game. It is an interesting question to ask about particles and it certainly highlights the confusion of where consciousness arises from. Love the chanell.

[@LoveatFirstHike]

This subject has been something I have thought about deeply since I was a teenager. I find this thought so fascinating.

[@Napoleonic_S]

as a someone who watches Anton Petrov videos daily, over the years I learned things that would help me in formulating what I'm about to say about the subject of consciousness : 1. it turns out that the microbiome in our guts play some roles in shaping our thoughts and personality to some degree, so the idea is that our human consciousness is not just formed from a single brain organ but at least another organ can have indirect influence over it, and then to expand from this, since the brain evolved to govern the body, then why not the entire body have some indirect influence toward our consciousness as well? 2. there are life forms that have no centralized neural organ but still exhibit animal like (organism that do have centralized neural organ) behaviors, organism from like bacteria to jellyfish, and plants. why can't they be conscious to some degree? from there, I think almost if not everything that can be included under biology as a scientific subject can have some form of consciousness at varying degree...

[@dhairyasonpal5450]

It's like asking "How did the derivatives Market come from Apes?" There are stages, ordinary matter, organic molecules, single cell life, multiple cell life, then complex life, and finally consciousness