Nicholas Humphrey on Sentience: The Invention of Consciousness

Neuropsychologist Nicholas Humphrey discusses his new book, Sentience: The Invention of Consciousness. He tackles the hard problem, Phenomenal Consciousness vs. Cognitive Consciousness, and Identity Theory, while providing insight into his theory of consciousness and the experiments conducted throughout his career. He also shares his thoughts on if AI will ever be conscious and if consciousness could have evolved somewhere else in the universe.

 

Nicholas Humphrey, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the London School of Economics, studies the evolution of intelligence and consciousness. He was the first to demonstrate the existence of "blindsight" in monkeys, and he has also studied mountain gorillas with Dian Fossey in Rwanda, proposed the celebrated theory of the "social function of intellect," and investigated the evolutionary background of religion, art, healing, death-awareness and suicide. His new book, Sentience: The Invention of Consciousness, is available for purchase now.

 

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