What Is Consciousness?
Understanding the Complex: Why does it feel like something to be me — and why can't science explain that yet? 11 lessons, ~150 minutes, free.
What Is Consciousness?
All 11 lessons in order.
What's This Actually About?
Hook: a scene that crystallizes why consciousness isn't just a philosophy puzzle — and the central question this course answers.
Why Should I Care?
Three reasons why the question of consciousness matters beyond philosophy seminars.
The Basics You Need
Prerequisites: qualia, subjective experience, the easy/hard problem distinction — and the Mary's Room anchor that runs through Lessons 4–6.
The Hard Problem — Why Physics Leaves a Gap
The Hard Problem: why physical explanations leave a gap. Mary's Room demonstrates it. Philosophical zombies. Why this isn't just semantics.
The Four Main Theories of Consciousness
Four competing theories — Global Workspace, IIT, Higher-Order, Predictive Processing — and what each says about Mary's Room.
AI, Animals, and the Extended Mind
What each theory implies for AI consciousness, animal consciousness, and extended cognition. Mary's Room revisited.
Who's Doing This? Why? Who's Paying?
The people: Chalmers, Dennett, Tononi, Koch, Seth, Schneider, Frankish. Who funds consciousness research — and why the Templeton Foundation matters.
What's Contested? What Don't We Know?
Three live controversies: Does the Hard Problem exist? Is IIT falsifiable? Can LLMs be conscious?
What's Next?
Five milestones, three timelines, and what would genuinely surprise me — tools for tracking the field.
What If...?
Calibrated speculation — deliberately asymmetric, but this time the positive side leads due to the low direct risk profile.
What Do You Take Away?
Six core ideas. Honest limits. Reading list. Why you shouldn't trust us — or anyone — blindly.