Sam Harris speaks with Michael Pollan about consciousness, the mind, and the self. They discuss Pollan’s new book, the relationship between consciousness and intelligence, whether consciousness is a product of evolution, the role of psychedelics in consciousness research, AI and the question of machine consciousness, the illusion of the self, and other topics.

Michael Pollan is the John S. and James L. Knight Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley and the author of eight books, including How to Change Your Mind, his 2018 account of the renaissance of scientific research into psychedelics. In July 2022, Netflix released a docuseries based on How to Change Your Mind, exploring the history and uses of substances including LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, and mescaline. His latest, A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness, explores consciousness—what it is, who has it, and why.

Website: https://michaelpollan.com/

X: @michaelpollan

Share this episode: https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/475-the-hard-problem-of-consciousness

#475 - The Hard Problem of Consciousness

Making Sense with Sam Harris - Subscriber Content

#475 - The Hard Problem of Consciousness