Ideas worth spreading

How your brain invents your "self"

2,141,351 views |

Anil Seth |

TED Membership

• October 2021

Who are you, really? Neuroscientist Anil Seth lays out his fascinating new theory of consciousness and self, centered on the notion that we "predict" the world into existence. From sleep to memory and everything in between, Seth explores the reality we experience in our brains -- versus the world as it objectively might be. (This talk and conversation, hosted by TED science curator David Biello, was part of a TED Membership event. Visit ted.com/membership to become a TED Member.)

Who are you, really? Neuroscientist Anil Seth lays out his fascinating new theory of consciousness and self, centered on the notion that we "predict" the world into existence. From sleep to memory and everything in between, Seth explores the reality we experience in our brains -- versus the world as it objectively might be. (This talk and conversation, hosted by TED science curator David Biello, was part of a TED Membership event. Visit ted.com/membership to become a TED Member.)

Participate in cognitive science research. Interested in helping consciousness science reach further? We're always running a variety of online studies which you can do in just minutes at home. Every new volunteer adds valuable data to help shape our understanding of the biology of consciousness. The list of studies will be continually updated.

About the speakers

Anil Seth

Cognitive neuroscientist

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How can the "inner universe" of consciousness be explained in terms of mere biology and physics? Anil Seth explores the brain basis of consciousness and self.

David Biello

TED science curator, author

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David Biello is TED's science curator and the author of "The Unnatural World: The Race to Remake Civilization in Earth's Newest Age."

Anil Seth | Faber/Dutton, 2021 | Book

Being You: A New Science of Consciousness

Seth sets out his groundbreaking new theory of consciousness and self, drawing on more than 20 years of research. His radical argument is that we do not perceive things as they are, but rather that we are prediction machines, constantly inventing our world, and that we experience the world — and the self — with, through and because of our living bodies.

Dan Falk | Quanta, 2021 | Article

"Anil Seth Finds Consciousness in Life's Push Against Entropy"

How does consciousness arise in mere flesh and blood? To the neuroscientist Anil Seth, our organic bodies are the key to the experience.

Ian Cheney | Science Sandbox/Motherboard, 2018 | Watch

The Most Unknown

The Most Unknown is an epic documentary film that sends nine scientists to extraordinary parts of the world to uncover unexpected answers to some of humanity's biggest questions. How did life begin? What is time? What is consciousness? How much do we really know?

Daniel Dennett | Back Bay Books, 1992 | Book

Consciousness Explained

A classic text in the science of consciousness, bringing together neuroscience and philosophy to lay the foundations for our emerging understanding of how brains give rise to subjective experience.

David Chalmers | Journal of Consciousness Studies, 1995 | Article

"Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness"

Another classic, making the influential distinction between the "hard" and "easy" problems of consciousness. Read it and see if you agree.

Anil Seth | Aeon, 2016 | Article

"The real problem"

Seth's approach to the problem of consciousness, charting a pragmatic "middle ground" between the hard problem and the easy problems.

Learn more

Participate in cognitive science research. Interested in helping consciousness science reach further? We're always running a variety of online studies which you can do in just minutes at home. Every new volunteer adds valuable data to help shape our understanding of the biology of consciousness. The list of studies will be continually updated.