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Giants Shoulder: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Evan McGloughlin
A Biology & Consciousness podcast chronicling the bio-singularity. I speak with leading scientists at the bleeding edge of Neuroscience, Consciousness and Biology. No idea is too strange, tackled with genuine curiosity and technical rigour. Come follow the journey as I have my brain melted and ontology warped on a regular basis. Evan has a Neuroscience degree from Trinity College Dublin and is founder of Giants Shoulder.
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- 4 days ago1h 18m
#167 - Meet The Greatest Plant Neurobiologist You've Never Heard Of
🧠 JOIN THE GIANT'S SHOULDER FAMILYBecome a YouTube Member for exclusive episodes, early access + ad-free viewing 👇 https://www.youtube.com/@thegiantsshoulder/joinFrantišek Baluška is the cell biologist who helped turn plant intelligence from a fringe idea into a field. At the University of Bonn he co-organised the first Symposium on Plant Neurobiology, and his lab showed that the same anaesthetics that knock humans out stop a Venus flytrap from snapping shut. With Arthur Reber and William Miller he co-wrote The Sentient Cell, which argues that cognition didn't begin with brains, but with the very first cell.Expect to learn:- The Anaesthetised Flytrap: why plants go under with the same drugs that knock us out- The Addicted Ants: how acacia trees hook their bodyguards so they refuse any other food- The Root Brain: Darwin's idea that every root tip acts like a mini brain- The Self-Assembling Animal: separate every cell of a hydra and it rebuilds itself- The Lost Cancer Cell: why tumours may be cells that have lost their map of the bodySPONSORSGet One Month Free of Consensus (The Best Ai Science Tool) - https://get.consensus.app/we00d2cmjpqeGS EPISODES MENTIONEDMichael Levin - Michael Levin: Bioelectricity, Morphogenesis, Platonic Spaces & Xenobots: https://youtu.be/LTBZRVKUwyMWilliam B. Miller Jr. - Meet The Scientist Proving Your Cells Are Conscious and Intelligent: https://youtu.be/xrV5oGyyKSIDenis Noble - Denis Noble: Evolution Has Purpose, Cell Consciousness & Why The Last 70 Years of Genetics Is Wrong: https://youtu.be/xqw-DaWVK24Philip Ball - Philip Ball: "Biology Is Infinitely Weirder Than We Thought": https://youtu.be/9SseGx0R0fYGUEST LINKSUniversity of Bonn (IZMB) Group Page: https://www.izmb.uni-bonn.de/en/plant-cell-biology-1/ag-baluskaThe Sentient Cell (2023): https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-sentient-cell-9780198873211Anaesthetics Stop Plant Organ Movements (Annals of Botany, 2018): https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6215046/Senomic View of the Cell: Senome versus Genome (2018): https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6132427/The Third Way of Evolution: https://www.thethirdwayofevolution.com/people/view/frantisek-baluskaLISTEN ONYouTube - https://youtu.be/QbBnYnm4OTgApple - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-giants-shoulder/id1752486249SKOOLWant a full breakdown of your own conscious inner experience? Join the Giant's Shoulder community: https://www.skool.com/the-giants-shoulder-6526/aboutFOLLOW EVANhttps://x.com/evan_mcglTIMESTAMPS0:00:00 Trailer0:02:26 From Plant Roots To The Very First Cell0:05:37 Plants vs Humans: Different In Scale, Not Kind0:08:59 How Plants Turn Caterpillars Into Cannibals0:10:08 The Tree That Gets Ants Addicted0:13:26 Blind Biochemistry Or Real Cognition?0:15:22 Do Cells Choose Their Own Mutations?0:19:37 The Senome: The Cell's Missing Layer0:23:55 "What Is Living Can Be Anaesthetised. The Rest Is Dead."0:27:39 Wounded Plants Anaesthetise Themselves0:29:02 How Do You Know A Daffodil Is Knocked Out?0:36:03 The Field Science Tried To Shut Down0:37:25 Darwin's Root-Brain Hypothesis0:38:55 Roots That Swarm Like Birds0:40:51 Underground Plant Wars0:41:31 The Fungal Internet0:47:10 Could AI Let Us Talk To Plants?0:50:00 Cell Sentience vs Human Consciousness0:53:10 Why Your Sense Of Self Is An Illusion0:57:03 The Animal That Rebuilds Itself From Loose Cells1:01:46 Your Membrane Traces Back To The First Cell1:05:52 Heart Transplants And Personality Changes1:10:31 Cancer Cells Have Lost The Map1:15:15 "The Gene Outside The Cell Is Nothing"1:16:47 Will Michael Levin Win A Nobel?.....Email for sponsorship enquiries: evan@thegiantsshoulder.com
- 1 weeks ago1h 9m
#166 - Meet the Neuroscientist Who Discovered That Some People Have No Inner Speech
🧠 JOIN THE GIANT'S SHOULDER FAMILYBecome a YouTube Member for exclusive episodes, early access + ad-free viewing 👇https://www.youtube.com/@thegiantsshoulder/joinJohanne Nedergaard is the cognitive scientist who, with Gary Lupyan, named anendophasia: the absence of an inner voice. An assistant professor at Aarhus University and a 2024 Aarhus University PhD prize winner, she ran the first experiments testing what changes when the voice in your head goes quiet. The answer was far less than anyone expected.Expect to learn:- The Missing Voice: why some people report no inner speech at all, and why nobody noticed- The Rhyme Test: they struggled with word lists and rhymes, until they said the words out loud- Mind Over Muscle: jam someone's inner voice and they push less hard on the bike- Heart Talk: raising your heart rate while lying perfectly still, using only words- The Control Question: why mental health tracks whether you can switch your inner voice off, not whether it's kindSPONSORSGet One Month Free of Consensus (The Best Ai Science Tool) - https://get.consensus.app/we00d2cmjpqeGS EPISODES MENTIONEDRussell Hurlburt - No. 1 Inner Experience Expert: Inner Monologue, Aphantasia and How Your Mind Lies to You: https://youtu.be/j0gKl-g3DNgAdam Zeman - The Blind Mind’s Eye: How Aphantasia Is Rewriting Consciousness ! Dr Adam Zeman: https://youtu.be/SgA2up6-BokAlex Hutchinson - Alex Hutchinson: The Lie That Unlocked Human Limits, Tricking Perception & Aphantasia!: https://youtu.be/YqqU4ckq8s8GUEST LINKSAarhus University Profile: https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/persons/au651723@cc.au.dkPersonal Site: https://johannenedergaard.github.ioBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/johanneskned.bsky.socialNedergaard & Lupyan (2024), Not Everybody Has an Inner Voice: https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976241243004Nedergaard et al. (2023), Mind Over Body: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2023.102472Wallentin et al. (2025), Heart Talk: https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.70138LISTEN ONYouTube - https://youtu.be/a81yY0k4x78Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-giants-shoulder/id1752486249SKOOLWant a full breakdown of your own conscious inner experience? Join the Giant's Shoulder community: https://www.skool.com/the-giants-shoulder-6526/aboutFOLLOW EVANhttps://x.com/evan_mcglTIMESTAMPS0:00:00 Trailer0:02:02 What Is Anendophasia?0:04:19 The Viral Threads That Started It All0:05:57 Four Experiments on People With No Inner Voice0:07:12 Saying the Words Out Loud Closed the Gap0:14:10 Can You Trust Your Own Introspection?0:17:27 Detecting Inner Speech From the Outside0:19:56 How Many People Have No Inner Voice?0:20:54 Where Your Inner Voice Comes From0:23:24 Is It Genetic?0:26:06 Unconscious Inner Speech and the Aphantasia Parallel0:30:58 Deaf People Sign to Themselves Silently0:33:25 What Your Self-Talk Reveals About Your Sport0:35:46 Jam Your Inner Voice and You Push Less Hard0:43:45 Raising Your Heart Rate With Words Alone0:47:12 Positive vs Negative Self-Talk in Sport0:52:55 What Silent Minds Reveal About Thinking0:56:13 Mental Health Is About Control, Not Content1:02:23 Psychedelics and the Inner Voice1:03:51 Can You Train an Inner Voice?1:07:25 They Never Rehearse Conversations.....Email for sponsorship enquiries: evan@thegiantsshoulder.com
- 1 weeks ago2h 14m
#165 - Donald Hoffman: Are DMT Entities Traces Of A Fundamental Universal Consciousness?
🧠 JOIN THE GIANT'S SHOULDER FAMILYBecome a YouTube Member for exclusive episodes, early access + ad-free viewing 👇https://www.youtube.com/@thegiantsshoulder/joinDonald Hoffman is the cognitive scientist whose own maths told him reality isn't what it seems. Around 1986, after seven years modelling perception, the equations said we render the world on the fly, and he has been recovering ever since. Now Professor Emeritus at UC Irvine, he has founded the Trace Institute to rebuild physics from conscious observers, starting outside spacetime. Its first collaboration, with Andrew Gallimore, asks whether DMT entities are glimpses beyond the headset.Expect to learn:- The Trace: the 121-year-old maths behind every observer window- Zero For Trillions: why no theory of consciousness explains a single experience- The Nose Test: why seeing your own nose shows how restricted your headset is- The DMT Experiment: passing information through an entity under controlled conditions- Mach 40: what UFOs might look like to someone with the headset's source codeSPONSORSGet One Month Free of Consensus (The Best Ai Science Tool) - https://get.consensus.app/we00d2cmjpqeJoin the Outskill AI Mastery Sprint (Free This Weekend) - https://links.outskill.com/GIASHOULAUG2GS EPISODES MENTIONEDAndrew Gallimore - No.1 DMT Neurobiologist: Alien Worlds, DMT Entity Encounters, Attractor States and Consciousness: https://youtu.be/USgWrxEFWDAMichael Graziano - Is This Greatest Consciousness Theory You’ve Never Heard Of: https://youtu.be/ZnasmLpY5_8David Luke - Meet the Professor of Paranormal Consciousness - DMT Entities, Telepathy Tapes & OBE's: https://youtu.be/qLKD1gt1X5oKarl Friston - Meet The Neuroscientist Who Created The Best Universal Theory Of Brain Function: https://youtu.be/R-IZOFs4qmYGUEST LINKSTrace Institute Profile: https://traceinstitute.org/people/donald-hoffman/Trace Institute Website: https://www.traceinstitute.org/Trace Institute YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TraceInstituteX: https://x.com/donalddhoffmanUC Irvine: https://sites.socsci.uci.edu/~ddhoff/The Case Against Reality (2019): https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393254693Trace × Andrew Gallimore (DMT research): https://traceinstitute.org/collaborations/gallimore/LISTEN ONYouTube - https://youtu.be/dOAo04b6jCQApple - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-giants-shoulder/id1752486249SKOOLWant a full breakdown of your own conscious inner experience? Join the Giant's Shoulder community: https://www.skool.com/the-giants-shoulder-6526/aboutFOLLOW EVANhttps://x.com/evan_mcglTIMESTAMPS0:00:00 Trailer0:02:45 The Biggest Unsolved Problem In Science0:05:38 Physicists Say Spacetime Is Doomed0:11:03 Dennett, Graziano And The Illusion Of Consciousness0:14:35 What Is A Trace? Markov Chains Made Simple0:22:23 The Discovery That Founded The Trace Institute0:26:10 Recursive Trace Logic: How Observers Become Agents0:31:27 The CCTV Metaphor For Reality0:37:01 Why There's Always A Nose In Your Vision0:41:08 How Big Is Reality Beyond The Interface?0:43:10 What "Consciousness Is Fundamental" Actually Means0:52:43 Consciousness Science Has Explained Zero Experiences0:58:03 Does Your Consciousness Belong To You?1:01:57 If Consciousness Is One, Why Isn't Telepathy Common?1:08:16 "I Have No Neurons"1:11:13 The Maths That Slapped Him In 19861:20:04 Andrew Gallimore And The DMT Entity Experiment1:26:34 The Swami Who Showed Zero Powers1:32:08 The DMT Mantis And Why Reports Are So Consistent1:37:28 Are DMT Entities Real, Or Just Icons?1:46:35 Nine Conjectures To Rebuild All Of Physics1:49:29 UFOs At Mach 401:50:19 Neuroscience As Headset Engineering1:57:13 Hacking The Source Code Of Reality2:04:28 AI Is "Dumber Than Cucumbers".....Email for sponsorship enquiries: evan@thegiantsshoulder.com
- 2 weeks ago1h 37m
#164 - Meet The Scientist Seriously Investigating Alien Time Travellers
🧠 JOIN THE GIANT'S SHOULDER FAMILYBecome a YouTube Member for exclusive episodes, early access + ad-free viewing 👇https://www.youtube.com/@thegiantsshoulder/joinMichael Masters is the biological anthropologist who thinks the grey aliens might be us. A professor at Montana Technological University, he studies how the human skull, face and eyes evolved over six million years, and has excavated at a 3.5-million-year-old hominin site in South Africa. His extratempestrial hypothesis argues that the beings described in UFO encounters are our own descendants, travelling back in time to study their evolutionary past. He says it's falsifiable, just not in his lifetime.Expect to learn:- The Brazilian Farmer: the 1950s abduction that ended in sex with a near-human woman- The Earlier Cases: the abduction reports that predate Betty and Barney Hill- Brain Up, Face Back: why six million years of skull evolution point towards the greys- The Gamete Problem: why our descendants might come back for our sperm and eggs- Falsifiable By Time: why he'll be "long dead" before anyone knows if he's rightSPONSORSGet Jenni Your Intelligent Research Assistant (GIANT20 for 20% off) - http://jenni.ai/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=inf&utm_campaign=thegiantsshoulderGS EPISODES MENTIONEDAndrew Gallimore - No.1 DMT Neurobiologist: Alien Worlds, DMT Entity Encounters, Attractor States and Consciousness: https://youtu.be/USgWrxEFWDARick Strassman - Meet The Father Of Modern DMT Research: https://youtu.be/KeAZOj7tYscGUEST LINKSMontana Tech Faculty Profile: https://mtech.edu/arts-sciences/faculty/michael-masters/index.htmlX: https://x.com/MorphoTimeWebsite: https://idflyobj.com/Identified Flying Objects (2019): https://www.leighbureau.com/books/identified-flying-objectsThe Extratempestrial Model (2022): https://www.leighbureau.com/books/the-extratempestrial-modelLomas, Case & Masters (2024), The Cryptoterrestrial Hypothesis: https://doi.org/10.29202/phil-cosm/33/3LISTEN ONYouTube - https://youtu.be/FRFT3PeiWwkApple - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-giants-shoulder/id1752486249SKOOLWant a full breakdown of your own conscious inner experience? Join the Giant's Shoulder community: https://www.skool.com/the-giants-shoulder-6526/aboutFOLLOW EVANhttps://x.com/evan_mcglTIMESTAMPS0:00:00 Trailer0:02:26 The Skull Scientist Who Studies UFOs0:03:46 "They Could Be Us From The Future"0:07:21 The Book On The Shelf That Started It All0:09:10 Whitley Strieber And Communion0:10:49 Abductees Who Never Told Their Own Families0:17:13 The Archetypal Abduction Story0:19:38 The Nimitz: 80,000ft In Under Two Seconds0:20:37 The Farmer Who Had Sex With An Alien0:22:22 "I Just Floated Right Through The Ceiling"0:24:06 Did Sci-Fi Invent Alien Abductions?0:29:15 DMT Entities, Machine Elves And UFOs0:37:32 The 2017 Story That Broke UFOs Open0:42:08 "The Disc-Shaped Craft Are The Time Machine"0:44:39 Why The Greys Are Built Like Hominins0:47:26 Can You Really Fast-Forward Evolution?0:49:30 Brain Up, Face Back: 6 Million Years Of Skulls0:56:04 Are We Just Projecting Human Faces?1:00:13 How Far In The Future Are They From?1:03:23 Why Would We Evolve To Look Like That?1:06:51 Falling Sperm Counts And The Gamete Mystery1:15:01 How Do You Falsify Time-Travelling Aliens?1:22:27 Teaching A University Class On UFOs1:30:13 Is The US Government Hiding Something Huge?1:32:40 Keeping UFOs Quiet Through Grad School.....Email for sponsorship enquiries: evan@thegiantsshoulder.com
- 2 weeks ago1h 23m
#163 - Meet The Greatest Near-Death-Experience Scientist You’ve Never Heard Of
🧠 JOIN THE GIANT'S SHOULDER FAMILYBecome a YouTube Member for exclusive episodes, early access + ad-free viewing 👇https://www.youtube.com/@thegiantsshoulder/joinJanice Holden is a near-death-experience researcher who designed the first hospital experiment to catch consciousness outside the body, edits the Journal of Near-Death Studies and spent 31 years on the University of North Texas faculty. For nearly 40 years she has tested one claim: that patients whose hearts have stopped can see the room from above. Surgeons have corroborated some of those details. No controlled study has caught one yet.Expect to learn:- The Leg In The Yellow Bag: an anaesthetised patient described an amputation in the next operating room- The Post-it Notes: a heart patient saw a detail only his surgeon would know- The Hidden-Target Experiment: pictures hidden near hospital ceilings, visible only from above- The Life Review: reliving every moment of your life as the people you affected- DMT Vs Near-Death: why the brain may interpret reality rather than create itSPONSORSGet One Month Free of Consensus (The Best Ai Science Tool) - https://get.consensus.app/we00d2cmjpqeGS EPISODES MENTIONEDRick Strassman - Meet The Father Of Modern DMT Research: https://youtu.be/KeAZOj7tYscAnil Seth - No. 1 Consciousness Expert: Optical Illusions that Prove Reality is a Lie, Emotions, Books and AI!: https://youtu.be/lOSA06K0l1oKarl Friston - Meet The Neuroscientist Who Created The Best Universal Theory Of Brain Function: https://youtu.be/R-IZOFs4qmYMarjorie Woollacott - Neuroscientist: "Your Brain Doesn't Create Consciousness" — NDEs, Telepathy and Terminal Lucidity: https://youtu.be/mDWtmfmIUHAGUEST LINKSWebsite: https://www.janholden.comThe Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0313358648Journal of Near-Death Studies: https://www.janholden.com/jndsIANDS: https://iands.orgArticles: https://www.janholden.com/copy-of-articlesLISTEN ONYouTube - https://youtu.be/RAXr5ZavLk4Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-giants-shoulder/id1752486249SKOOLWant a full breakdown of your own conscious inner experience? Join the Giant's Shoulder community: https://www.skool.com/the-giants-shoulder-6526/aboutFOLLOW EVANhttps://x.com/evan_mcglTIMESTAMPS0:00:00 Trailer0:02:15 From Doctoral Student To 40 Years Of Near-Death Research0:03:38 How Resuscitation Created The Near-Death Experience0:09:06 What Actually Happens During A Near-Death Experience0:11:03 Moving At The Speed Of Thought0:11:41 The Tunnel And The City Of Light0:13:18 The Life Review: Feeling What Everyone Else Felt0:14:55 "It's Not Your Time": Why People Come Back0:19:27 Why Near-Death Experiences Aren't Just Dreams0:21:09 The Woman Who Watched Her Own Surgery0:27:11 The Post-it Notes A Dead Patient Saw0:32:31 The Doctors Who Corroborated These Cases0:33:39 The Harvard Neurosurgeon Who Changed His Mind0:37:38 Why "False Memory" Doesn't Explain It0:40:08 The Patient Who Floated Into The CPR Training Room0:45:05 Hiding Pictures On Hospital Ceilings0:49:35 Seven Studies, No Hits Yet0:53:32 Is Humanity Ready For Proof?0:58:08 DMT Vs Near-Death Experiences1:06:35 Does The Brain Create Reality Or Interpret It?1:10:27 Consciousness Before Birth And After Death1:14:47 Why Don't We See This All The Time?1:17:30 Karma And The Afterlife In Southeast Asia.....Email for sponsorship enquiries: evan@thegiantsshoulder.com
- 3 weeks ago1h 11m
#162 - Meet The Scientist Who Says We've Gotten Cancer Completely Wrong
🧠 JOIN THE GIANT'S SHOULDER FAMILYBecome a YouTube Member for exclusive episodes, early access + ad-free viewing 👇https://www.youtube.com/@thegiantsshoulder/joinCarlos Sonnenschein is Professor of Integrative Physiology and Pathobiology at Tufts University School of Medicine. With Ana Soto, he developed the tissue organisation field theory of cancer: the idea that a tumour begins not in a rogue cell, but in the breakdown of the tissue around it. For fifty years he has argued that cancer research has been looking one level too low. Here he explains why the mutations we find in tumours may be the wreckage, not the cause.Expect to learn:- The default state: why every cell's natural tendency is to proliferate- Growth factors: why he argued they don't exist, and why people laughed- Mutations without cancer: why he says no gene has been shown to cause a cancer- Targeted therapy: why he believes the target was never really there- Cellular agency: how life, proliferation and motility fit togetherSPONSORSGet Jenni Your Intelligent Research Assistant (GIANT20 for 20% off) - http://jenni.ai/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=inf&utm_campaign=thegiantsshoulderGS EPISODES MENTIONEDMichael Levin - Michael Levin: Bioelectricity, Morphogenesis, Platonic Spaces & Xenobots: https://youtu.be/LTBZRVKUwyMGUEST LINKSGoogle Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VmTCfroAAAAJIEA Nantes Fellow Profile: https://www.iea-nantes.fr/en/fellows/carlos-sonnenscheinBiological Purpose Project: https://www.biologicalpurpose.org/people/carlos-sonnenscheinResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Carlos-SonnenscheinAn Integrative Approach Toward Biology, Organisms, and Cancer (2018): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29119499LISTEN ONYouTube - https://youtu.be/AypMhvhWwjgApple - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-giants-shoulder/id1752486249SKOOLWant a full breakdown of your own conscious inner experience? Join the Giant's Shoulder community: https://www.skool.com/the-giants-shoulder-6526/aboutFOLLOW EVANhttps://x.com/evan_mcglTIMESTAMPS0:00:00 Trailer0:02:26 From Paediatrics to Cancer Research0:05:23 The Oestrogen Paradox0:08:43 Proliferation Is the Default State of Every Cell0:12:27 Inhibitors of Inhibitors0:14:06 "Growth Factors Don't Exist"0:15:31 The Somatic Mutation Theory0:17:41 The Society of Cells and the Tissue Theory of Cancer0:21:44 Stars and Dogs: Funding a Minority View0:23:49 Teaching Cancer Through Genetics0:25:01 How Does Tissue Keep Cells in Check?0:26:04 Metastasis0:28:34 Prostate Cancer and Spontaneous Regression0:30:38 The Cost of Cancer Treatment0:31:49 Melanoma, UV and the Standard Model0:32:24 Mutations Without Cancer0:35:17 No Gene Causes Cancer: BRCA1, p53 and RAS0:37:00 Why Targeted Therapy Isn't Targeted0:38:03 When Treatment Causes Cancer0:40:39 What Does Genome Sequencing Tell You?0:42:24 Why Does Cancer Run in Families?0:45:41 Trauma, Healing and Tissue Robustness0:47:59 A Theory of Organisms0:50:59 What Is Life?0:52:18 Economics Is a Branch of Biology0:53:36 Cellular Agency0:58:36 Defining Life: Proliferation and Motility1:01:36 When Did Cells Become Agents?1:04:49 The Future of Cancer Research1:09:52 Final Thoughts.....Email for sponsorship enquiries: evan@thegiantsshoulder.com
- 3 weeks ago1h 0m
#161 - Meet The Psychonaut Who Survived Extended-State DMT
🧠 JOIN THE GIANT'S SHOULDER FAMILYBecome a YouTube Member for exclusive episodes, early access + ad-free viewing 👇https://www.youtube.com/@thegiantsshoulder/joinAlexander Beiner is the writer who volunteered as a guinea pig for the world's first extended-state DMT trial. At Imperial College London, he was one of eleven people kept on a continuous DMT drip for thirty minutes. He is a co-Executive Director of Breaking Convention, Europe's largest psychedelic conference, and the author of The Bigger Picture.Expect to learn- The Chinchillas: hyperdimensional beings he had never seen in real life, speaking a visible language- The Reply: he sent a symbol back, they went ballistic, then got bored and left- The Pharmacology Problem: why tolerance to LSD and psilocybin does nothing to DMT- The Synchronicity: the stranger across a London road, and what he learned that night- The Spider Queen: a planet-sized entity that wrapped him in a webSPONSORSGet Jenni Your Intelligent Research Assistant (GIANT20 for 20% off) - http://jenni.ai/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=inf&utm_campaign=thegiantsshoulderGS EPISODES MENTIONEDRick Strassman - Meet The Father Of Modern DMT Research: https://youtu.be/KeAZOj7tYscRobin Carhart-Harris - No. 1 Psychedelic Scientist: The Entropic Brain Hypothesis, Consciousness & DMT Entities: https://youtu.be/t-GkE4YtLRkDavid Luke - Meet the Professor of Paranormal Consciousness - DMT Entities, Telepathy Tapes & OBE's: https://youtu.be/qLKD1gt1X5oGUEST LINKSX: https://x.com/AlexanderBeinerKainos (Substack): https://beiner.substack.com/Personal Site: https://www.alexanderbeiner.com/Breaking Convention: https://breakingconvention.co.uk/performers/alexander-beinerThe Bigger Picture - Author Page: https://www.penguin.com.au/authors/alexander-beinerLISTEN ONYouTube - https://youtu.be/aZnvPt9X3DcApple - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-giants-shoulder/id1752486249SKOOLWant a full breakdown of your own conscious inner experience? Join the Giant's Shoulder community: https://www.skool.com/the-giants-shoulder-6526/aboutFOLLOW EVANhttps://x.com/evan_mcglTIMESTAMPS0:00:00 Trailer0:01:59 Why Changing Minds Isn't Enough0:02:54 A Magic Mushroom Homecoming In Holland0:05:33 Joining Europe's Largest Psychedelic Conference0:06:44 Why He Signed Up To Be A DMT Guinea Pig0:08:03 Half Of DMT Users Meet Autonomous Entities0:10:38 Meeting The Hyperdimensional Chinchillas0:14:25 He'd Never Seen A Chinchilla In Real Life0:15:14 "They Were Speaking A Visible Language"0:17:47 Why Priming Can't Explain The Chinchillas0:21:33 The Metaphysical Shift After 100 Episodes0:26:21 DMT Immunity And The Cross-Tolerance Mystery0:28:07 Why Psychedelics Make Avoiding Pain Harder0:29:28 The Placebo Dose And The Prank Paranoia0:32:24 Three Heartbeats To The Deepest Trip0:35:06 Wired Up: The Hidden Rituals Of The Lab0:39:29 Would He Ever Come Back?0:40:22 Psychedelic PTSD And The Fear Of Madness0:41:31 The Synchronicity He Still Can't Explain0:46:37 If Everything's Conscious, Where's The Telepathy?0:49:16 Why The East Talks Openly About Ghosts0:53:45 The Planet-Sized Spider Queen0:58:51 "This Is So Similar To What McKenna Described".....Email for sponsorship enquiries: evan@thegiantsshoulder.com
- 4 weeks ago1h 25m
#160 - Meet The Physicist Proving The Universe Builds Itself Out Of Information
🧠 JOIN THE GIANT'S SHOULDER FAMILYBecome a YouTube Member for exclusive episodes, early access + ad-free viewing 👇 https://www.youtube.com/@thegiantsshoulder/joinGordana Dodig-Crnkovic is a physicist turned cognitive scientist and Professor Emeritus at Chalmers University of Technology, with doctorates in both physics and computer science. Across three careers she built info-computationalism: the idea that nature is information and computation at every level, from particles to minds. Her conclusion puts her at odds with much of her own field. Cognition arrives with life itself, which puts consciousness in a single bacterium and nowhere in today's AI.Expect to learn:- Info-computationalism: why nature is information and computation all the way down- Cell consciousness: why a single cell is already sensing, deciding and minimally aware- The Levin divide: where she draws the line Michael Levin won't- Anaesthetised bacteria: why ether switches off organisms with no brain- Machines that can't feel: why today's AI has intelligence but no goals of its ownSPONSORSGet Jenni Your Intelligent Research Assistant (GIANT20 for 20% off) - http://jenni.ai/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=inf&utm_campaign=thegiantsshoulderGS EPISODES MENTIONEDMichael Levin - Michael Levin: Bioelectricity, Morphogenesis, Platonic Spaces & Xenobots: https://youtu.be/LTBZRVKUwyMMichael Levin & Earl Miller - Michael Levin & Earl Miller: Platonic Space of Minds, Bioelectricity, Cell Intelligence & Neurobots: https://youtu.be/6mU5nN5nlLAWilliam B. Miller Jr. - Meet The Scientist Proving Your Cells Are Conscious and Intelligent: https://youtu.be/xrV5oGyyKSIMark Solms - Meet the Scientist Proving Dreams Hold the Key to Consciousness! Dr Mark Solms: https://youtu.be/nMWaQ1U6dccGUEST LINKSChalmers Profile: https://www.chalmers.se/en/persons/dodig/X: https://x.com/DodigGordanaChalmers Research Publications: https://research.chalmers.se/en/person/dodigGoogle Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=bvc5bBsAAAAJORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9881-400XLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordana-dodig-crnkovic/LISTEN ONYouTube - https://youtu.be/D4jBgWV8BoYApple - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-giants-shoulder/id1752486249SKOOLWant a full breakdown of your own conscious inner experience? Join the Giant's Shoulder community: https://www.skool.com/the-giants-shoulder-6526/aboutFOLLOW EVANhttps://x.com/evan_mcglTIMESTAMPS0:00:00 Trailer0:02:44 Physicist, Computer Scientist, Cognitive Scientist0:08:05 What Is Information, Really?0:13:16 You Can't Observe Without Changing The System0:16:14 Are Conscious Agents The Most Fundamental Thing?0:20:06 A Single Cell Is Already Conscious0:27:16 Where She Parts Ways With Michael Levin0:28:41 Can We Build A Machine That Creates Itself?0:33:38 Why A Book Is Just Food To An Insect0:39:40 You Are Trillions Of Information Agents0:44:09 Science's Obsession With Measurement0:46:40 Xenobots And The Cells Nobody Programmed0:51:02 Agency Or Just Complicated Chemistry?0:55:58 Why No Experiment Can Settle This0:57:22 Where Computation Ends And Cognition Begins1:01:08 Would Levin Say Gene Networks Think?1:03:37 Why Survival Might Be Essential For Consciousness1:07:07 You Can Anaesthetise A Bacterium1:11:08 Can Consciousness Be Written Down As Maths?1:19:31 How AI Could Help Us Understand Minds1:22:35 Should We Ever Build Conscious AI?.....Email for sponsorship enquiries: evan@thegiantsshoulder.com
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About Giants Shoulder
A Biology & Consciousness podcast chronicling the bio-singularity. I speak with leading scientists at the bleeding edge of Neuroscience, Consciousness and Biology. No idea is too strange, tackled with genuine curiosity and technical rigour. Come follow the journey as I have my brain melted and ontology warped on a regular basis. Evan has a Neuroscience degree from Trinity College Dublin and is founder of Giants Shoulder.
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