#michael pollan

"“It’s basically propaganda,” Christoff Hadjiilieva said.

“For what?”

“For how we can turn people into better soldiers of our capitalist order.”

“There is a politicizing of the mind,” she added, “and I think it spills over into consciousness research.”

She doesn’t think it’s an accident that neuroscientists favor some brain and neurotransmitter networks over others.

For example, the dopamine system, which rewards self-interested behavior, receives far more scientific attention than the serotonin system, which is involved in, among other things, fostering human connection.

“That’s the network drawing people into meditation and psychedelics,” she pointed out.

Christoff Hadjiilieva also sees testosterone at work in the metaphors used to characterize consciousness.

She noted the widespread use of mechanical metaphors for the mind—the computer analogies, the moment of “ignition” in global workspace theory, even the “workspace” itself.

“These are very male metaphors,” she said.

“Instead of thoughts achieving ‘ignition,’ like a car or a rocket, why not talk about the smooth muscles in the uterus” pushing new thoughts into our awareness?

When I told her about Mark Solms’s effort to build a conscious AI and Kingson Man’s blueprint for a robot with feelings, she rolled her eyes.

"For feelings are, by their very nature, conscious; how could there be a feeling that wasn’t felt, or experienced?

In this respect, feelings may be different from other kinds of mental contents.

Computer-simulated thoughts can do what real thoughts do—think of an algorithm that can convincingly answer complex questions, as large language models now can.

But would computer-simulated feelings qualify as real feelings? Or do feelings depend on having a body?

The centrality of feeling and emotion to our experience of consciousness is scarcely mentioned in most theories of consciousness currently on offer.

Affect is not one of the five axioms of integrated information theory; it doesn’t figure into global workspace theory either.

This is odd. Can you think of a conscious experience that isn’t in some way colored by feeling, either positively or negatively?

Yes, apparently, if you’re the typical AI engineer, neuroscientist, or philosopher of consciousness.

(…)

“The stereotype was that emotions and feelings were feminine,” Damasio explained, “and not as serious or useful a process as rational thought.”

Scientific research back then was generally conducted by men who prized their rational faculties above all else, and I asked Damasio if he thought that this fact had contributed to the neglect of feelings.

“Without a doubt,” he said.

Introduction Have you ever stopped mid-thought and wondered where you actually live inside your head? That tiny voice narrating your day—the one reading these words right now—where does it come from? This A World Appears Summary and review explores Michael Pollan’s stunning new book that tackles exactly that puzzle. A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness takes readers through plant…

The book in one sentence: Seven words of folk wisdom that outperform decades of nutritional science: eat real food, mostly plants, not too much. What Is Food Rules About?What Does “Eat Food” Actually Mean?How Does Pollan’s “Mostly Plants” Advice Actually Work?Why Does How You Eat Matter as Much as What You Eat?Is Food Rules Worth Reading?Books Like Food Rules What Is Food Rules About? Imagine…