My guest in this episode is (once again!) Erik Hoel: PhD in neuroscience, research assistant professor at Tufts University studying consciousness, and author of the upcoming (phenomenal) novel, <a href='https://bookshop.org/books/the-revelations/9781419750229'>The Revelations</a>.
We center the conversation around themes from his novel, which lead us into:
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How fiction, as a form of “intrinsic media”, offers a unique approach for exploring consciousness that non-fiction and TV can’t
</li>
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The theories and potentialities at the frontiers of consciousness research
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The relationship between evolution, complexity, consciousness, and emergence
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Some limits of the scientific study of consciousness
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Why we’d better hope that if aliens are out there, they’re more like mammals than insects
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</ul>
If you enjoy this episode, <a href='https://musingmind.org/podcasts/erik-hoel'>check out my previous conversation with Erik</a>, his stupidly-good essay titled ‘Enter the Supersensorium’, or you can <a href='https://bookshop.org/books/the-revelations/9781419750229'>preorder his book here</a>.
Enjoy!

Unselfing: Philosophy of Psychedelics w/ Chris Letheby

Conversations about consciousness, culture, and how we might live in the 21st century