Plants and the Mystery of Consciousness

About this episode

The mystery of consciousness has been one of the most unsolvable problems across neuroscience, philosophy, and psychology. How can a lump of matter come to be aware of itself? Is consciousness real, or an illusion? And even if I'm pretty convinced by my own conscious experience, how can I possibly know if something else is conscious too? Are you conscious? Is my dog conscious? Is the universe conscious, in a way we don't yet understand? Becky Ripley and Emily Knight wrestle with one of the biggest questions there is, with the help of some some surprisingly intelligent plants. Featuring Paco Calvo, cognitive scientist and philosopher of biology, Universidad de Murcia, and Anil Seth, neuroscientist and professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex. Produced and presented by Emily Knight and Becky Ripley.