About this video

• Video Title: Anil Seth - The History & Future of Consciousness Studies
• Channel: Closer To Truth
• Speakers: Anil Seth
• Duration: 00:09:37

Overview

This video discusses the historical development and current state of consciousness studies. It traces the roots of the mind-body problem to Descartes, highlights the period when consciousness was largely ignored in psychology, and details its resurgence in the 1990s due to philosophical advancements, new experimental methods like brain imaging, and the development of prominent theories such as Global Workspace Theory and Integrated Information Theory. The speaker also touches on the importance of distinguishing between necessary and sufficient conditions for consciousness and the ongoing debate between scientific and philosophical approaches.

Key takeaways

• Historical Context: Consciousness studies have a long history, with Descartes' dualism being a foundational concept. The field experienced a decline in popularity within psychology due to challenges in studying subjective experience, only to be revived in the 1990s.
• Rehabilitation of Consciousness Studies: The field's resurgence in the 1990s was fueled by philosophers integrating empirical evidence and advancements in neuroscience and psychology, alongside the development of influential theories like Global Workspace Theory.
• Neural Correlates of Consciousness (NCC): The NCC research program, inspired by figures like Francis Crick, shifted focus to empirical correlations between brain activity and conscious experience, particularly in well-understood systems like vision.
• Technological Advancements: The development of brain imaging techniques and computational modeling has significantly aided experimental research and theoretical development in consciousness studies.
• Prominent Theories: Several theories, including Global Workspace Theory, Integrated Information Theory, Higher-Order Theories, and Predictive Processing theories, are now prominent, though they may not be mutually exclusive and can sometimes address different aspects of consciousness.
• Necessity vs. Sufficiency: A key challenge is distinguishing between conditions that are necessary for consciousness and those that are sufficient, with the goal of developing theories that can predict and explain conscious states.
• Scientific vs. Philosophical Approaches: The video distinguishes between scientific theories (often physicalist and computational) and philosophical frameworks (like pansychism, monism, idealism), suggesting that different criteria may be needed to evaluate each.