WATCH: https://youtu.be/ZYiv790TfzI Noam Chomsky is one of the most cited scholars in modern history. He is a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historical essayist, social critic, and political activist. Known as "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He is a Laureate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Arizona and an Institute Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and is the author of more than 150 books and well over 400 articles in major publications. EPISODE LINKS: - Noam's Website: https://chomsky.info/ - Noam's Books: https://www.amazon.com/Noam-Chomsky/e/B000AP81EC - Noam's Publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=rbgNVw0AAAAJ&hl=en - Noam's Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky CONNECT: - Website: https://tevinnaidu.com - Instagram: https://instagram.com/drtevinnaidu - Facebook: https://facebook.com/drtevinnaidu - Twitter: https://twitter.com/drtevinnaidu - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/drtevinnaidu TIMESTAMPS: (0:00) - Introduction (0:52) - Theories of Free Will (5:59) - Free Will & Moral Responsibility (14:56) - Linguistics & Historical Perspectives (28:31) - Language & Mental Health/Illness (42:00) - Medicalisation of the Human Experience (50:45) - Manufacturing consent (effects on Free Will) (1:01:13) - Mechanical Philosophy, Newton, Einstein, Leibniz (1:09:23) - Teleology, Purpose & Meaning of Life (1:10:44) - Noam's Mount Rushmore of Philosophy/Science (1:15:22) - Solving the Mind-Body Problem (1:19:20) - Why is Philosophy important (1;20:50) - Conclusion Website · YouTube · YouTube

WATCH: https://youtu.be/PFHiMYKubrU Dr Tony Nader, MD, PhD, MARR, is a Medical Doctor trained at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD. in Neuroscience), and a globally recognised Vedic Scholar. Dr Nader is an author and fellow podcaster, with his book titled: "One Unbounded Ocean of Consciousness" and his podcast titled: "Consciousness Is All There Is". As Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s successor, Dr Nader is head of the international Transcendental Meditation® organisations in over 100 countries. From the Americas to Asia, from Europe to Africa, Dr Nader guides the Transcendental Meditation program and its advanced practices, and the practical applications of this technology in all areas of national life – education, health, business, defense, agriculture, and more. Dr Nader’s vision is to bring happiness, health, and peace to the minds and hearts of the whole world family. His experiences as a teacher, father, leader, scientist, and doctor have inspired his dedication to all global citizens – and his commitment to opening their awareness to the important things in life, from a truly profound perspective. To help remove conflicts in society, so that higher values and beautiful goals become the guiding light of everyone, is his total focus. CONNECT: - Website: https://tevinnaidu.com - Instagram: https://instagram.com/drtevinnaidu - Facebook: https://facebook.com/drtevinnaidu - Twitter: https://twitter.com/drtevinnaidu - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/drtevinnaidu TIMESTAMPS: (0:00) - Introduction (0:27) - What is consciousness? (4:10) - Scientific vs philosophical understanding of the mind (10:56) - Eastern approach to the mind (12:52) - Tony's shift from Physicalism to Idealism (18:20) - Objective Idealism vs Panpsychism (22:29) - Basic units of consciousness (30:50) - Conscious quarks vs conscious humans (range of consciousness) (36:59) - From altered states of consciousness to quantum mechanics (47:16) - Consciousness is all there is (a journey) (1:01:39) - Practicality of extreme idealism (1:11:06) - Donald Hoffman's Idealism (Conscious Realism) (1:15:17) - Linguistics & semantics (1:17:38) - Transcendental meditation & religious/spiritual beliefs (1:29:41) - Psychiatric/neurological conditions & other states of mind (1:32:51) - Free Will & Determinism (1:35:47) - Tony's Philosopher Mount Rushmore (1:37:52) - Tony's final thoughts & reflections (1:39:51) - Love, connection & unification (1:41:36) - Conclusion Website · YouTube · YouTube

WATCH: https://youtu.be/wHORa9hwScU Rebecca Newberger Goldstein is a novelist, public intellectual and Professor of Philosophy. She has written ten books, both fiction and non-fiction. She graduated summa cum laude from Barnard College, receiving the Montague Prize for Excellence in Philosophy, and immediately went on to graduate work at Princeton University, receiving her Ph.D. in philosophy. She has taught at Columbia and Rutgers. She has been a visiting scholar at Brandeis University, a visiting professor in the Department of Philosophy at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, a Visiting Professor of Philosophy and English at NYU, as well as Visiting Professor of Philosophy at the New College of the Humanities, London, England. She has been the recipient of many awards, including the 2014 National Humanities Medal given by President Barack Obama, the 2011 Humanist of the Year from the American Humanist Association, the Koret Jewish Book Award in Jewish Thought for her book Betraying Spinoza, the National Jewish Book Award for Strange Attractors, and the National Jewish Book Award and the Edward Lewis Wallant Award for Mazel. Goldstein has been named a Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, a Guggenheim Fellow, a MacArthur Fellow, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has also been awarded Whiting Foundation Fellowship. CONNECT: - Website: https://tevinnaidu.com - Instagram: https://instagram.com/drtevinnaidu - Facebook: https://facebook.com/drtevinnaidu - Twitter: https://twitter.com/drtevinnaidu - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/drtevinnaidu TIMESTAMPS: (0:00) - Introduction (0:45) - The Mind-Body Problem & the Matter with Matter (9:54) - Consciousness (13:45) - Descartes & Spinoza (18:37) - Materialism (21:56) - Minds & behaviour in other species (29:24) - NCCs, Artificial Intelligence & Teleology (34:25) - The awe inspiring story of what makes us human (39:23) - Theories of consciousness (46:03) - Free Will & Agency (50:42) - Morality (54:48) - Spirituality, Religion & Longing to Matter (1:00:48) - Secular Humanism (1:05:07) - Rebecca & Steven Pinker's amazing story together (1:07:10) - Conclusion Website · YouTube · YouTube

Bernardo Kastrup is the executive director of Essentia Foundation. His work has been leading the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism, the notion that reality is essentially mental. He has a Ph.D. in Philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another Ph.D. in Computer Engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, Bernardo has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the 'Casimir Effect' of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured on 'Scientific American,' the 'Institute of Art and Ideas,' the 'Blog of the American Philosophical Association' and 'Big Think,' among others. CONNECT: - Website: https://tevinnaidu.com - Instagram: https://instagram.com/drtevinnaidu - Facebook: https://facebook.com/drtevinnaidu - Twitter: https://twitter.com/drtevinnaidu - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/drtevinnaidu TIMESTAMPS: (0:00) - Introduction (0:10) - Subjective (qualitative) vs objective (quantitative) experience (3:34) - The false mind-matter dichotomy (10:26) - Scientism & Religion (16:32) - Analytic Idealism (21:41) - Objective Idealism vs [Goff's] Panpsychism & other forms of Idealism (e.g. quasi-Berkleyan Idealism etc.) (29:39) - [Karl Popper's] Falsifiability theory (science vs pseudoscience) & its implications for Objective Idealism's explanatory power (41:07) - Idealism vs Illusionism [Seth, Frankish, Graziano, Dennett] (52:41) - Bernardo's Philosophical history of the Mind-Body Problem [Berkeley, Kant, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Jung] (1:00:29) - Decoding Carl Jung & Arther Schopenhauer's metaphysics (1:12:03) - Applying Idealism practically in a clinical setting (1:22:58) - Idealism's impact on ethics, morality, spirituality & life after death (1:35:30) - Best counter arguments to Idealism (1:44:00) - How can we take one step closer to the Mind-Body Solution (1:51:42) - Conclusion Website · YouTube · YouTube

WATCH: https://youtu.be/W5Fi4Gsy3kw Philip Goff is Associate Professor in Philosophy at Durham University, UK. His main research interest is consciousness, although he also has a sideline in political philosophy (taxation, globalisation, social justice). He blogs at Conscience and Consciousness, and his work has been published in The Guardian and Philosophy Now, among others. He is the author of Consciousness and Fundamental Reality (Oxford University Press, 2017) and Galileo’s Error: Foundations for a New Science of Consciousness (Vintage, 2019), and the co-editor of Is Consciousness Everywhere? Essays on Panpsychism (forthcoming, 2022). He is now working on a book exploring the middle ground between God and atheism, and is the co-host of the 'Mind Chat' podcast. CONNECT: - Website: https://tevinnaidu.com - Instagram: https://instagram.com/drtevinnaidu - Facebook: https://facebook.com/drtevinnaidu - Twitter: https://twitter.com/drtevinnaidu - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/drtevinnaidu TIMESTAMPS: (0:00) - Introduction (1:00) - The Mind-Body Problem (3:35) - Influential philosophers of mind (8:49) - Panpsychism & Non-Duality (17:34) - Physicalism (21:08) - Panpsychism & spirituality/secularism (25:50) - Anil Seth's consciousness as a controlled hallucination (31:09) - Limitations of Scientism (38:05) - Heterophenomenology & quasi-phenomenal experiences (45:57) - Idealism vs Panpsychism (51:25) - Differences in culture & its implications on values, morals & ethics (55:20) - Practical implications of Panpsychism (e.g. abortion, veganism etc.) (1:01:19) - Best arguments against Panpsychism (1:05:28) - Integrated Information Theory (1:10:20) - Roger Penrose, Rupert Sheldrake & other theories of consciousness (1:16:00) - Mysterianism (1:19:05) - Panpsychist reading recommendations (1:22:26) - Philip's new book & the links between religion & atheism (1:26:04) - Cosmic teleology (1:35:38) - Taking one step closer to the Mind-Body Solution (1:38:39) - Conclusion Website · YouTube · YouTube

Helen Yetter-Chappell is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Miami. She received her PhD from Princeton University, and has since been a Bersoff Fellow at NYU and a lecturer at the University of York. She is currently writing a book, titled "The View From Everywhere: Realist Idealism Without God." The book develops a novel quasi-Berkeleyan realist idealism, which does not rely upon God to do the metaphysical heavy lifting. This non-theistic idealism offers a fresh approach to the persistence and stability of the physical world. The resulting theory has implications for the nature of perception and the relationship between our minds and our bodies, and affords a uniquely optimistic account of our place within, and our ability to comprehend, reality. Her other research focuses on consciousness (its nature, contents, and how limited agents like us conceptualize it). EPISODE LINKS: - Helen's Website: http://yetterchappell.net/Helen/ - Helen's Publications: https://philpeople.org/profiles/helen-yetter-chappell - Helen's Work site: https://people.miami.edu/profile/hxc655@miami.edu TIMESTAMPS: (0:00) - Introduction (0:57) - Consciousness & the Mind-Body Problem (7:20 - Physicalism & Dualism (10:12) - Idealism (14:54) - Panpsychism (18:49) - Berkeleyian Idealism (25:01) - Types of Idealism (30:11) - Idealism without God (37:10) - Implications of Idealism on morality & death (43:15) - Idealism vs Solipsism (49:33) - Tapestry of sensory experiences (54:46) - Naïve Idealism (1:00:39) - Epiphenomenalist Dualism & the paradox of phenomenal judgement (1:06:23) - Challenges facing Idealism (1:09:44) - Defending Idealism (1:18:24) - Idealist misconceptions (1:23:40) - Helen's Philosopher Mt Rushmore (1:26:46) - Conclusion Website · YouTube · YouTube

WATCH: https://youtu.be/80jTPjAOzeY Chris Frith is Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychology at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at University College London (UCL), Visiting Professor at the Interacting Minds Centre at Aarhus University, Research Fellow at the Institute of Philosophy and Quondam Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. A Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences from 1999, Chris was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2008 and an Honorary Fellow of the British Science Association in 2010. He has won numerous medals and awards for his significant contributions to neuroscience, including the 2009 European Latsis Prize alongside his wife, the developmental psychologist Uta Frith — also a Fellow of the Royal Society. CONNECT: - Website: https://tevinnaidu.com - Instagram: https://instagram.com/drtevinnaidu - Facebook: https://facebook.com/drtevinnaidu - Twitter: https://twitter.com/drtevinnaidu - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/drtevinnaidu TIMESTAMPS: (0:00) - Introduction (0:36) - Consciousness definition (level vs content) (3:57) - Function of consciousness (evolution) (6:52) - Consciousness & AI (11:31) - Effects of consciousness on interacting with others (18:13) - Self vs consciousness, delusion vs belief, perception vs hallucination (29:59) - Evolutionary psychiatry (33:27) - The source of consciousness (40:20) - Theories of consciousness (50:08) - Interacting minds & future minds (59:01) - Religious/Spiritual views (1:01:27) - Altered states of consciousness (1:09:35) - Quantum consciousness & other minds (1:17:12) - Virtual realities, brains in vats, augmented bodies & sensory substitution (1:22:47) - Free will (1:26:44) - Chris' book recommendations (1:32:03) - Conclusion Website · YouTube · YouTube

WATCH: https://youtu.be/z431zDCh4TE Helen Steward is Professor of Philosophy of Mind and Action at the University of Leeds. Her interests include the metaphysics and ontology of mind and agency; the free will problem; the relation between humans and animals; and the philosophy of causation and explanation. She joined the University of Leeds in 2007, having previously been a Tutorial Fellow at Balliol College, Oxford for 14 years. She obtained a D.Phil. from Oxford University in 1992, a B.Phil. in 1988 and a BA in philosophy, politics and economics in 1986. In February 2015 she was awarded a Research Leadership Fellowship by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Helen argues that determinism is incompatible with agency itself - not only the special human variety of agency, but also powers which can be accorded to animal agents. She offers a distinctive, non-dualistic version of libertarianism, rooted in a conception of what biological forms of organisation might make possible in the way of freedom. CONNECT: - Website: https://tevinnaidu.com - Instagram: https://instagram.com/drtevinnaidu - Facebook: https://facebook.com/drtevinnaidu - Twitter: https://twitter.com/drtevinnaidu - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/drtevinnaidu TIMESTAMPS: (0:00) - Introduction (1:22) - Choices, actions & agency (6:30) - Evolutionary advantage of biological agency (9:33) - Problem with Determinism (14:48) - Compatibilism (Daniel Dennett) (18:05) - Hard Incompatibilism & Luck (Derk Pereboom, Gregg Caruso) (22:44) - Secular libertarianism vs non-secular (Robert Kane) (28:19) - Consciousness (Thomas Nagel, Daniel Dennett) (37:16) - Role of language in free will (39:38) - Libertarianism arguments & counter-arguments (49:40) - Implications of neuroscience (Uri Maoz, Benjamin Libet etc.) (52:03) - Helen's philosopher/scientist recommendations (55:55) - Conclusion Website · YouTube · YouTube

WATCH: https://youtu.be/qqM76ZHIR-o Professor Mark Solms has spent his entire career investigating the mysteries of consciousness. Best known for identifying the brain mechanisms of dreaming and for bringing psychoanalytic insights into modern neuroscience, he is director of Neuropsychology in the Neuroscience Institute of the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital (Departments of Psychology and Neurology), an Honorary Lecturer in Neurosurgery at the Royal London Hospital School of Medicine, an Honorary Fellow of the American College of Psychiatrists, and the President of the South African Psychoanalytical Association. CONNECT: - Website: https://tevinnaidu.com - Instagram: https://instagram.com/drtevinnaidu - Facebook: https://facebook.com/drtevinnaidu - Twitter: https://twitter.com/drtevinnaidu - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/drtevinnaidu TIMESTAMPS: (0:00) - Introduction (0:20) - Why is it "something it is like" to be me? (10:07) - Mark's theory of consciousness (Affect & Feelings) (16:19) - The Hard Problem (26:30) - The difference between consciousness & intelligence (30:35) - Why the "ancient brain" is a better place to start regarding understanding consciousness (brainstem vs cortex) (42:14) - The brainstem is the source of consciousness (46:44) - More evidence for non-cortical consciousness theories (54:11) - The "level of consciousness" vs "contents of consciousness" dichotomy (1:02:39) - How Mark's work on homeostasis links with Karl Friston's minimising free energy principle to help formulate a theory of consciousness (1:11:21) - Mark's views on other theories of consciousness (e.g. Pansychism, Idealism etc.) (1:30:16) - What do we do with the limited information we have about matter and reality? (1:37:40) - Why do we keep searching for "Truth" in a Universe that may never provide us with an answer? (1:43:11) - Mark's religious/spiritual beliefs and how he approaches the "deeper questions" (1:49:57) - Conclusion Website · YouTube · YouTube

WATCH: https://youtu.be/PSLlW58OZoI Noam Chomsky is one of the most cited scholars in modern history. He is a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historical essayist, social critic, and political activist. Known as "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He is a Laureate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Arizona and an Institute Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and is the author of more than 150 books and well over 400 articles in major publications. EPISODE LINKS: - Noam's Website: https://chomsky.info/ - Noam's Books: https://www.amazon.com/Noam-Chomsky/e/B000AP81EC - Noam's Publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=rbgNVw0AAAAJ&hl=en - Noam's Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky CONNECT: - Website: https://tevinnaidu.com - Instagram: https://instagram.com/drtevinnaidu - Facebook: https://facebook.com/drtevinnaidu - Twitter: https://twitter.com/drtevinnaidu - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/drtevinnaidu TIMESTAMPS: (0:00) - Introduction (0:10) - A philosophical history of the Mind-Body Problem (4:09) - Distinction between physical explanations & mathematical models (8:22) - Change of Science's course over time (10:54) - "The Hard Problem" (13:09) - The problem with materialism (18:39) - Can we explain consciousness & why are we trying so hard? (23:35) - What is inaccessible to consciousness? (28:45) - Differences in language & its implications on the transmission of information (31:33) - Why do many conclude consciousness is an ethereal entity or part of a spiritual realm? (34:20) - How to find inspiration in this complex Universe? (36:23) - Free Will ***Unfortunately I lost over an hour worth of content with Noam due to technical difficulties. We've scheduled another interview soon. Thank you for listening and apologies for the abrupt ending!*** Website · YouTube · YouTube