Why is Consciousness so Mysterious?

How do the microscopic particles that make up our brains cause us to experience the tranquil beauty of a setting sun, the haunting strains of Mozart’s "Requiem," or the flush of romantic love?

How, in short, can consciousness be explained?

In this three-part series, neuroscientist Robert Lawrence Kuhn interviews 18 guest experts about the nuts and bolts of consciousness as well its illusory aspects. Dr. Kuhn engages with his experts on a sophisticated plane without alienating you, his audience of restless souls and inquisitive minds with feet in the real world.

Each episode is crafted as a series of one-on-one interviews that respond to the title question about consciousness. The sheer scope of experts that Dr. Kuhn invites to the conversation about consciousness is staggering. Their star power is another matter altogether.

In these three episodes, you’ll hear from pioneers in multiple fields, including Jaron Lanier, the computer scientist who popularized the term “virtual reality”; David John Chalmers, whose 1996 book The Conscious Mind is widely considered an essential work on consciousness and the mind-body problem; the late Marvin Lee Minsky (1927-2016), who co-founded MIT’s AI laboratory; and Galen Strawson, the British analytic philosopher and longtime consultant editor for The Times Literary Supplement.

This course is part of the Learn25 collection.

Note: This audio series is brought to you by Learn25, a leading producer of lecture programs by top university professors. It was originally produced by Closer to Truth, the television series created, written, and hosted by Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn and co-created, produced, and directed by Peter Getzels. Closer to Truth invites the world’s foremost scientists, philosophers, and creative thinkers to debate the deepest questions facing humanity: questions of consciousness, the cosmos, and meaning.