[LINK] Being No One (~50 min talk on the self-model in your brain)

post by machrider · 2012-01-16T18:18:33.149Z · LW · GW · Legacy · 6 comments

Contents

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Summary: This is a ~50 minute talk (plus some introductory ado) by Thomas Metzinger on the problem of the experiencing, subjective self (why it exists, what it even means, how it arises). Not to be too cliché, but he attacks the problem by dissolving the question, and the solution he arrives at sounds a lot like how an algorithm feels from inside.

Using several examples from neuroscience (particularly the many illuminating failure modes of the brain), he explains how the brain models the self and its place in the center of experiential space. He discusses the limitations of our access to our own cognitive systems, and how those limitations force us to be naive realists.

I hesitate to summarize further, because there is a lot of value in hearing the entire argument. (I will say that he gets a little cute at the end, but that doesn't detract from the excellent content.)

Link: Being No One on Youtube.

(Normally I think LWers dislike the talk format because it's inherently time-consuming, but I'd say this one is information dense and well worth your time.)

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