Why people recommend it
Conscious by Annaka Harris is a brief guide exploring the fundamental mystery of the mind, consciousness, and reality from the perspectives of physics and neuroscience. The book was discussed on The Joe Rogan Experience by Bill Ottman, who mentioned it while talking about panpsychism and noting that it is written by a rigorous thinker. Additionally, the author appeared on the Lex Fridman Podcast, where host Lex Fridman introduced her as the author of the work and engaged her in a detailed conversation about its contents. Specifically, Fridman referenced a section in chapter three of the book concerning evidence that free will is an illusion constructed by consciousness to convince individuals they are actively deciding their actions. These varied mentions demonstrate the book's impact on conversations surrounding philosophy, cognitive science, and the nature of human agency.
Who recommended it
- Lex Fridman Discussed
- Bill Ottman Discussed
Lex Fridman — 2 mentions
“The following is a conversation with Annaka Harris, author of "Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind," who writes and thinks a lot about the nature of consciousness and reality, especially from the perspectives of physics and neuroscience.”
“In your book "Conscious," you describe evidence that free will is an illusion and that consciousness is used to construct this illusion, convincing ourselves that we are, in fact, deciding our actions. Can you explain this? I think this is in chapter three.”
Bill Ottman — 1 mention
“yes and those you know actually Annika Harris Sam Harris's wife wrote a cool book which I also haven't read but I know about it um uh it's uh it's called conscious and it's all about pants psychism which is cool coming from her because she obviously is like rigorous”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
- A.D. After Disclosure
- Spooky Action at a Distance
- Stalin and Europe
- The Case Against Reality
- Unicorn Mom
Other mentions (3: passing, ad reads, own books)
“Um and so in in my book conscious and also in this documentary series I go through these two questions.”
“and so in in my book conscious and also in this documentary series I go through these two questions.”
“It's actually how I started writing my book — I began writing for myself because I needed to spend some time writing down all my thoughts to get clear about how I think about them. So, you write down a sentence, and you think, and then in the silence of paragraphs, you just see if that makes sense, and then”