Should we all be putting chips in our brains? See my Guardian 'Big Idea' article on the prospects/ethics of neural implantation.
Scientist, Author, Speaker
The science of consciousness
Understanding the biological basis of conscious experience is one of the great challenges for 21st Century Science. [join the group!]
A 2021 Book of the Year (New Statesman, Economist, Bloomberg, Five Books), a 2021 Science Book of the Year (Guardian, Financial Times). Being You is out now in hardback, paperback, ebook, and audio.
Interviews and conversations.
Academic and public engagement projects.
What’s coming up and what’s happened.
The Perception Census is a unique online study of perceptual diversity. It is part of Dreamachine. Data collection is now closed – but stay tuned for our first results, coming soon.
Two postdocs and three PhD positions are now available at the Sussex Centre for Consciousness Science! Most are funded by my ERC 'CONSCIOUS' grant, and are in the area of computational phenomenology. Updated deadline: Apr 26 (all positions)
I'm delighted to be listed by Prospect Magazine as one of their top 25 intellectuals who will help us navigate the world in the year ahead - along with the likes of Geoffrey Hinton, Sam Altman, and Amia Srinivasan!
Very much last minute, but I'm very much looking forward to delivering the opening keynote address at Towards a Science of Consciousness 2023, in Taormina, Sicily, on May 23rd - and from there its on to Bloom in Copenhagen, for events Friday and Sunday
My conversation with Sam Harris - Consciousness and Self - has just been released as part of his 'Best of Making Sense' series.
New book review in Current Biology! "Being You is an engaging and accessible tour through the field’s boldest theories, most creative experiments and most surprising findings. You could give the book to a smart teenager and get them asking questions that they will be thinking about for the rest of their lives."
Test your senses! The Perception Census is now live. Take part, find out about your powers of perception, and help advance the research. Part of the Dreamachine programme.
New podcast! The Michael Shermer Show - in which we talk about the hard problem of consciousness, the self, and the essence of volition.
Consciousness at TED
Your brain hallucinates your conscious reality
My main-stage TED talk has more than 14 million views.
1/ One memory of the great #DanielDennett. I'm here at @TEDTalks in Vancouver. When I was here in 2017, giving my talk, I was hugely intimidated - so many important people in the audience. But the main person I didn't want to disappoint was Dan.
What is the New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness and what do we hope to achieve with it? You can read our collective view at (http://www.nydeclaration.com) but for my personal view, see the slides of my talk here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Wvh3nps4edjN8RJ8ANdDb-hqr3D_vhZG/view?usp=sharing
Report in Quanta Magazine on the New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness.