Is the brain really the source of mind — or is consciousness something more deeply biological?In this conversation, Anna Ciaunica challenges neurocentrism and explores the idea that cognition may not begin with neurons at all. We examine neuroimmune coupling, pregnancy as a nested model of subjectivity, basal intelligence before brains, and the fragile embodied self revealed in depersonalization experiences.We also explore biological idealism, multiscale intelligence, and whether artificial systems can ever replicate the ontological structure of living organisms.Topics include:• Neurocentrism and its limits• Immune systems as fact-checkers for survival• Basal cognition before neurons• Pregnancy and nested subjectivity• The fragile embodied self• Depersonalization & active inference• Touch and self-other boundaries• Biological idealism explained• Ontological differences between AI and life• Multiscale intelligence and self-organizationThis episode moves from cells to selves to artificial systems — and asks whether experience might be more fundamental than we assume.TIMESTAMPS:(0:00) – Introduction & The Challenge to Brain-Centrism(4:33) – Philosophy’s Role in Questioning Scientific Assumptions(8:47) – Neuroimmune Coupling & The Origins of Thought(14:56) – Pregnancy, Nested Systems & Cellular Perception(17:18) – Embodiment in Early Development(23:47) – Phenomenal vs Grounded Experience(29:46) – Fetal Sensory Processing & Early Cognition(36:20) – Layered Analogies for Cognition(40:09) – Basal Intelligence Before Neurons(46:24) – Soma-Sema Theory & Death Anxiety(51:23) – Birth, Death & Ontological Boundaries(55:25) – Depersonalization & The Fragile Self(1:03:39) – Cracks in Transparency & Self-Perception(1:10:50) – Touch, Interaction & Self-Other Boundaries(1:16:45) – The “No Body” Problem(1:21:08) – Brain ≠ Mind: The Neuroimmune Challenge(1:29:09) – Biological Idealism Explained(1:37:59) – AI vs Biological Ontology(1:46:43) – Hidden Assumptions in AI Discourse(2:00:05) – Final ThoughtsEPISODE LINKS:- Anna's Website: https://annaciaunica.fr/- Anna's X: https://x.com/AnnaCiaunica- Anna's Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/annaciaunica.bsky.social- Anna's Publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ZUMz7EAAAAAJ&hl=en- From Cells to Selves: https://aeon.co/essays/why-you-need-your-whole-body-from-head-to-toes-to-think- When The Self Slips: https://aeon.co/essays/what-can-depersonalisation-disorder-say-about-the-selfCONNECT:- Website: https://mindbodysolution.org - YouTube: https://youtube.com/@MindBodySolution- Podcast: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/mindbodysolution- Twitter: https://twitter.com/drtevinnaidu- Facebook: https://facebook.com/drtevinnaidu - Instagram: https://instagram.com/drtevinnaidu- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/drtevinnaidu- Website: https://tevinnaidu.com=============================Disclaimer: The information provided on this channel is for educational purposes only. The content is shared in the spirit of open discourse and does not constitute, nor does it substitute, professional or medical advice. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred from you acting or not acting as a result of listening/watching any of our contents. You acknowledge that you use the information provided at your own risk. Listeners/viewers are advised to conduct their own research and consult with their own experts in the respective fields.

What is consciousness — and how should biology explain it?In this second conversation with Professor Kevin Mitchell, we examine whether consciousness can be fully accounted for within physics alone — or whether biological organization introduces new levels of explanation.Mitchell develops a non-reductive naturalist framework in which organisms are genuine agents, higher-level causal structures matter, and subjectivity cannot be ignored in any adequate theory of mind.We explore:• What needs explaining when we talk about consciousness• The limits and strengths of physicalist reduction• Weak vs strong emergence• Biological organization as a causal framework• Downward causation and levels of explanation• Organisms as agents rather than passive mechanisms• The role of the conscious subject• Mental causation and explanatory gaps• Teleology in evolutionary systems• Whether artificial systems could instantiate subjectivityTIMESTAMPS:(0:00) – Introduction(0:32) – Kevin’s Approach to Consciousness(1:12) – Consciousness and the Requirement of a Subject(3:59) – AI, Functionalism, & Biological Naturalism(7:37) – Embodiment, In-Mindedness & Experiential Bedrock(11:19) – Control Architectures, Attention, and Illusionism(15:21) – Selfhood Perspectives: Jennings, Graziano & Humphrey(19:08) – Temporal Continuity & Brains as Semantic Engines(23:03) – Top-Down Causation and Dynamical Self(27:00) – Levels of Selfhood & Autobiographical Continuity(30:43) – Neuroscience, Psychiatry & Emergent Mental Phenomena(38:15) – Altered Subjectivity & Embodiment in Injury(44:06) – Life, Consciousness, and AI Agents(50:23) – Philosophy, Science & Indeterminacy(56:28) – Neural Noise, Decision-Making & Agency(1:10:48) – Reasons, Choices & Moral Development(1:20:43) – Emergence, Transcendence & First-Person Neuroscience(1:26:50) – Kantian Structures & Perception(1:30:35) – Defining Mind & Relational Perspectives(1:34:52) – Final ThoughtsEPISODE LINKS:- Kevin's Round 1: https://youtu.be/UdlkYGbuD7Q- Kevin's Website: https://www.kjmitchell.com/- Kevin's Blog: http://www.wiringthebrain.com- Kevin's Books: https://tinyurl.com/2p9yjzxr- Kevin's Publications: https://tinyurl.com/mskdpvce- Kevin's Twitter: https://twitter.com/wiringthebrain- Consciousness needs a subject:https://philpapers.org/rec/MITCNA-2- Reframing the free will debate: the universe is not deterministic:https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11229-026-05455-7- Beyond Mechanism—Extending Our Concepts of Causation in Neuroscience:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ejn.70064- Undetermined: Free will in real time and through time:https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=10358095- The origins of meaning - from pragmatic control signals to semantic representations:https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/dfkrvCONNECT:- Website: https://mindbodysolution.org - YouTube: https://youtube.com/@mindbodysolution- Podcast: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/mindbodysolution- Twitter: https://twitter.com/drtevinnaidu- Facebook: https://facebook.com/drtevinnaidu - Instagram: https://instagram.com/drtevinnaidu- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/drtevinnaidu- Website: https://tevinnaidu.com=============================Disclaimer: The information provided on this channel is for educational purposes only. The content is shared in the spirit of open discourse and does not constitute, nor does it substitute, professional or medical advice. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred from you acting or not acting as a result of listening/watching any of our contents. You acknowledge that you use the information provided at your own risk. Listeners/viewers are advised to conduct their own research and consult with their own experts in the respective fields.

In this landmark Mind-Body Solution Colloquia, cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman and neuroscientist Karl Friston engage in a deep, rigorous dialogue on the foundations of reality, perception, and consciousness.Hoffman argues that spacetime and physical objects are not fundamental, but evolved interfaces shaped by fitness rather than truth. Friston presents the Free Energy Principle and Active Inference as a unifying framework for life, mind, and meaning — raising the question of whether inference itself can ground reality.Together, they explore:- Why spacetime may be derived, not fundamental- Whether consciousness must come before physics- Markov blankets, trace logic, and system boundaries- Probability, inference, and non-equilibrium dynamics- The limits of scientific explanation- Implications for AI, evolution, and ontologyThis is not a debate — it is a serious attempt to understand reality at its deepest level.TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) - What is Ultimately Real? Consciousness vs Physicalism Debate(00:51) - Why Consciousness is Fundamental Beyond Spacetime(03:06) - High Energy Physics: Spacetime is Doomed Explained(05:06 - Challenges of Physicalist Theories in Explaining Consciousness(07:11 - Ontological Views: Free Energy Principle Integration(08:20) - Background-Free Explanations of Lived Experience(10:06) - Parsimony and Data Compression in Scientific Models(12:21) - Discoveries in Simpler Scattering Amplitude Solutions(14:09) - Free Energy Principle Guiding Beyond Spacetime Physics(16:06) - Why Physicalism Fails to Boot Up Consciousness(19:05) - Probability Theory's Role in Consciousness Frameworks(26:05) - Trace Logic Applied to Markov Chains Dynamics(34:51) - Markov Blankets and Insulation from the Past(39:07) - Minimizing Surprise in Non-Equilibrium Processes(53:32) - Spacetime as a Derived Projection from Fundamentals(1:04:15) - Constructing Simpler Explanations of Reality(1:20:50) - State Spaces and Dimensionality in Consciousness(1:41:30) - Non-Unique Bounds in AI Design Using Trace Logic(2:02:00) - From Classical Probability to Quantum Mechanics Transition(2:10:26) - Inferring Hidden Realities Through Relationships(2:18:54) - Time as a Computational Resource in Inference(2:24:09) - Scope and Limits of Scientific Explanations(2:32:32) - Agreements on Constructed Realities and Perceptions(2:40:01) - Closing Thoughts: Joint ManifestoEPISODE LINKS:- Karl's Round 1: https://youtu.be/Kb5X8xOWgpc- Karl's Round 2: https://youtu.be/mqzyKs2Qvug- Karl's Round 3 (Ft Mark Solms): https://youtu.be/Jtp426wQ-JI- Karl's Lecture 1: https://youtu.be/Gp9Sqvx4H7w- Karl's Lecture 2: https://youtu.be/Sfjw41TBnRM- Karl's Lecture 3: https://youtu.be/dM3YINvDZsY- Don's Round 1: https://youtu.be/M5Hz1giUUT8- Don's Round 2: https://youtu.be/Toq9YLl49KM- Don's Round 3: https://youtu.be/QRa8r5xOaAA- Don's Round 4: https://youtu.be/Hf1q-bZMEo4- Don's Lecture 1: https://youtu.be/r_UFm8GbSvU- Don's Lecture 2: https://youtu.be/YBmzqNIlbcICONNECT:- Website: https://mindbodysolution.org - YouTube: https://youtube.com/@MindBodySolution- Podcast: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/mindbodysolution- Twitter: https://twitter.com/drtevinnaidu- Facebook: https://facebook.com/drtevinnaidu - Instagram: https://instagram.com/drtevinnaidu- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/drtevinnaidu- Website: https://tevinnaidu.com=============================Disclaimer: The information provided on this channel is for educational purposes only. The content is shared in the spirit of open discourse and does not constitute, nor does it substitute, professional or medical advice. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred from you acting or not acting as a result of listening/watching any of our contents. You acknowledge that you use the information provided at your own risk. Listeners/viewers are advised to conduct their own research and consult with their own experts in the respective fields.