SynTalk

'What' gives rise to conscious experience? How can we know if consciousness is fundamental, and if can we model it? Why aren't sticks and stones, & tables and chairs, manifestly 'conscious'? Do we really know? Is consciousness the capacity of a system to integrate information? Why is information processing by us (often) accompanied by conscious experience? Why is consciousness generated only by certain parts of the brain? How does one measure consciousness? 'How' does pain exist? Is reality singular or plural? What are the different modes of experiencing? Are only conscious things intentional? Can consciousness be subdivided into different modes? When we are aware, what are we aware of? Can awareness be a felt experience, having nothing to do with knowledge? Can consciousness be content-less or does it always need an object? Can everything be a knower and/or have an experience, & why not? Can we speed up our awareness; why or why not? Is it likely that the nature of matter and consciousness are deeply interlinked? Will the third person and the first person concepts of consciousness converge in the long term future? SynTalk thinks about these & more questions using concepts from cognitive science & philosophy (Prof. Amita Chatterjee, Jadavpur University, Kolkata), Indian philosophy (Prof. V. N. Jha, ex-University of Pune, Pune), and information theory (Dr. Nithin Nagaraj, NIAS, Bangalore). Listen in....