If consciousness can't be explained within the conceptual toolbox of physicalism, then what's an alternative theory? Are we stuck with dualism?

This is my breakdown of the interview with Professor Bram about consciousness, machine intelligence, and the implications of rejecting reductive physicalism.

Since recorded history, people have been talking about "religious" or "spiritual" experiences. It's a shame that intellectuals are no longer able to discuss them openly. It's become taboo.

Fortunately, my guest doesn't care about taboos, and he shares some details about his own religious experiences, and I do as well.

We're not the only intellectuals with these experiences, and it's about time we start talking about it. The ideas are too important to leave unexamined.

Cultures are not delicate flowers that must be preserved until the end of time. Cultures emerge from different individuals trying to best navigate life. Cultures have positive traits and negative traits. As humans, we should steal the positive and leave the negative behind.

It all started with mashed potatoes...

Buddhist philosophy focuses on some of the most difficult questions in philosophy - what is the "self"? What is the self's relationship to consciousness? Are there meaningful boundaries in the universe, or is everything a mental construction?

To help me answer these questions, I'm joined by Dr. Janet Gyatso of Harvard University, who is the Hershey Professor of Buddhist Studies.

What's the difference between sex and gender? Is "being a woman" different than "identifying as a woman"?

I suspect that a great deal of controversy surrounding transgender people comes down to the way we use language. If we keep a sharp distinction between sex and gender, any tension resolves itself.