If You're Curious About These Questions...
You should listen to this audiobook
- Have you ever wondered if consciousness is a unique human trait, or if it could be a fundamental property of the entire universe?
- Did you know that your brain might be making decisions before you're even aware of them, calling the very existence of free will into question?
- Are you curious about the possibility that even simple organisms or inanimate matter could possess a form of internal experience?
Listen to Conscious — Free Audiobook
Loading player...
Key Takeaways from Conscious
- Understand the foundational definition of consciousness as the simple ability to have an internal experience, rather than the capacity for complex human thought.
- Discover why human intuition often fails when trying to grasp the mysteries of the mind, requiring us to keep an open perspective on what might be conscious.
- Learn how plants exhibit traits traditionally linked to consciousness—like memory, communication, and offspring recognition—challenging our human-centric view of the world.
- Find out why consciousness is actually 'the last to know' about your environment due to the delayed binding process of your senses in the brain.
- Realize that your consciousness is merely a passenger witnessing your life, while your brain's automatic, instinctual programming remains firmly in the driver's seat.
Learning Tools
Reinforce what you learned from Conscious
Mind Map
Conscious
Defining Consciousness
Core Definition
Role of Intuition
Decoupling from Human Traits
Plant Intelligence
Illusion of Control
Separation from Thought
The Illusion of Self
Sensory Illusions
Self as a Construct
Altered States
Panpsychism
Core Concept
Scientific Consistency
Scale of Experience
Split-Brain Insights
Divided Hemispheres
Multiple Consciousnesses
Malleability
Quiz — Test Your Understanding
Question 1 of 7
According to philosopher Thomas Nagel, what defines a conscious organism?
Conscious — Full Chapter Overview
Chapter 1: Recommendation
Chapter 2: To grasp consciousness, we must challenge our ideas of experience and intuition.
Chapter 3: Traits we usually link with consciousness aren’t unique to human behavior.
Chapter 4: Consciousness is distinct from the choices we make and the thoughts we form.
Chapter 5: Consciousness can likewise be viewed as distinct from our sense of self.
Chapter 6: The notion that all matter is conscious may sound absurd, yet it is also scientifically plausible.
Chapter 7: If we update some narrow views of consciousness, panpsychism might offer real answers to hard questions.
Conscious Summary & Overview
Conscious (2019) offers a contemplative and probing look at one of life's central mysteries: consciousness. Author Annaka Harris explores two fundamental questions: How do we define consciousness? And how widespread is its existence in the universe?
Who Should Listen to Conscious?
- Curious people interested in life’s mysteries
- Students of philosophy and biology
- Anyone curious about the human brain
Books Similar to Conscious
Readers who enjoyed this also liked these titles.
The Conscious Mind
★ 4.0 / 5 • 61 ratingsIn Search of a Fundamental Theory
Consciousness Explained
★ 4.3 / 5 • 75 ratingsRedefine Your Understanding of the Mind and Consciousness
(Article) Why can't the world's greatest minds solve the mystery of consciousness?
★ 3.6 / 5 • 414 ratingsOriginal article published in The Guardian
Making Sense
★ 4.2 / 5 • 343 ratingsConversations on Consciousness, Morality, and the Future of Humanity