Today we talk about the possibility of consciousness being an illusion. Susan Blackmore, Daniel Dennett, Keith Frankish.

See the full transcript of this episode here.

This is the third part of a mini-series on the philosophy of consciousness in the Philosophize This! podcast. I think this series is a good, beginner-friendly introduction to the philosophy of consciousness, and consciousness is a crucial topic for people interested in doing good effectively (especially according to utilitarianism) to understand. I've cross-posted the series to the EA Forum as a sequence in the hope that it will be useful.

Comments


No comments on this post yet.
Be the first to respond.
Curated and popular this week
 ·  · 2m read
 · 
In the U.S., egg prices have recently skyrocketed. The text below is copied and pasted from a proposition I produced about an idea to replace eggs with plant-based alternatives in New York City businesses that sell baked goods. I'm posting here for 1) general feedback 2) potential pitfalls/oversights 3) brainstorming 4) contact from people who want to either help me with this or take over the idea entirely 5) to inspire similar projects in other U.S. cities.   VALUE PROPOSITION The current U.S. climate with egg prices and bird flu present a unique opportunity to promote the use of plant-based methods for binding and emulsification in baking. Small businesses hurt by the increased costs may currently be more receptive to alternate recipes for baked goods. Following a similar model to Plantega [an NYC org that has resulted in menus of veganized offerings at local delis], PlantBake could offer curated information and support to help businesses transition to egg-free baking with minimal disruption to their daily routine and product quality. Each success can be modular, low-barrier, and incremental; transitioning even one business to egg-free baking can be of substantial value to plant-based advocates.   FORMAT materials   Volunteer baking consultants (one already identified) work to put together clear, concise, and simple materials on transitioning common baked goods to eggless recipes. A website, pamphlets, and short videos are produced by a promotional media consultant (already identified). candidates   A running spreadsheet of potential candidate businesses in NYC will be populated. PlantBake will aggressively pivot and update the list as we determine which types of businesses are the most receptive. outreach   The candidates will be approached by phone, email, and in person with the value proposition, resources, and contact information. Businesses who request more information will be offered additional assistance (phone or in-person consultation) as resources
 ·  · 1m read
 · 
> It’s also dangerous to the health of thousands of trial participants > The path from the atrocities of Nuremberg and Tuskegee to today’s robust ethics of medical research has not been easy. > > In response to these horrific events, a remarkable global consensus emerged, across countries in very different parts of the world and with very different types of governments: Medical researchers, and the institutions and companies who fund their work, are bound by a series of ethical obligations. These obligations are designed to protect and respect the interests of people who participate in their research. They include minimizing foreseeable harms to participants and keeping the promises that researchers make to study volunteers.   > > While the fate of USAID remains murky, one thing absolutely is clear. The abrupt termination of critical USAID-funded clinical trials, with insufficient time to safeguard the welfare of people who are participating, is profoundly unethical and utterly inexcusable. Such actions threaten the health and lives of thousands of patients. > > The stop-work orders affect research designed to answer important questions about HIV or TB treatments, where immediate withdrawal of drugs not only takes away what may be lifesaving treatments but also risks exacerbating or creating drug-resistant strains, leaving participants potentially worse off than if they had never joined the study and creating additional, unacceptable risks for others in the community. > > The “pause” has also ensnared studies of experimental devices that, in accordance with scientific and ethics principles, require regular monitoring of participant well-being and opportunities to remove the device at an appropriate time. Telling a medical researcher they must abruptly abandon study participants is akin to telling a surgeon they cannot treat a patient who has a post-operative infection that resulted from a surgery they performed the week before. All medical ethics codes forbid th
 ·  · 6m read
 · 
How to explain Effective Altruism to someone who’s never heard of it—and make them interested? A few months ago, I was given the opportunity to give a TEDx talk about Effective Altruism. As a former community manager of EA Israel, I’ve spent years explaining EA to newcomers, refining how I communicate its principles, and observing the common misconceptions that make it harder for people to engage with EA ideas. Preparing for the talk forced me to organize my thoughts on what works—and what doesn’t—when I try to convey EA to a broader audience. I would love to discuss with you some of the choices I made when I wrote this talk, and hear your thoughts about them. Note: I don’t read the forum often, so the writing might not be in the usual style of the forum. I use many anecdotes, personal stories, and my views. However, hopefully, these ideas could start a conversation I think is important about EA communication and community outreach in general, and I hope that they could spike that conversation. 1. Generic Examples → Shared personal stories Like many people, my first experience with social impact was purely driven by passion, and not by calculations of effectiveness. In the talk, I chose to describe this experience. It went something like this: > “When I was 14, I found out my friend was harming herself. It shook me. I wanted to help her, and other people that suffered. > > So I did what felt right—I launched a mental health campaign to reduce self-harm among teenagers. > > And, to my surprise, it worked- we received thousands of followers, interviews on TV, and hundreds of messages from people saying how much it helped them. It felt like a success.  > > Until one day, another friend told me:  > > “Your campaign gave me the idea to hurt myself.” > > She said she had already been struggling with anxiety and depression. But self-harm wasn’t something she’d considered— until she came across our campaign. > > It crushed me.  > > I had tried to do good in th
Relevant opportunities