Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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AI, Suffering, Remedy and Love as the voluntary suspension of habitual responses into awareness: This episode is with philosopher and cognitive scientist Thomas Metzinger (thomasmetzinger.com/) , a Professor Emeritus at Johannes Gutenberg University (forschungsprofil.uni-mainz.de/en/) in Mainz and a member of the German National Academy Leopoldina (leopoldina.org/mitgliederverzeichnis/mitglieder/member/Member/show/thomas-metzinger/) . He has worked mainly in philosophy of mind, cognitive science, and applied ethics, particularly focusing on neurotechnology, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. The conversation explores a wide range of topics including the critical intersection of philosophy, neuroscience, meditation, and artificial intelligence. Metzinger shares his skepticism about separating deep philosophical inquiries from meditation and psychedelics, and the dialogue touches upon the impact of AI on human cognition, the concept of suffering in both humans and machines, and the responsibility of philosophers in an age of epistemic crisis. The discussion underscores the need for a balanced and multifaceted approach to understanding consciousness and suggests that new paradigms may emerge from current technological and philosophical shifts. This episode aims to foster an expansive and hopeful outlook as we move into the new year. The idea of pure consciousness as used in phenomenology via Husserl is to be discussed later.
00:00 Introduction to Fundamental Issues and Meditation
00:44 Epistemic Crisis and AI Concerns
01:15 Buddhism and Suffering
02:09 Philosophical Insights on Suffering and Awareness
04:47 Welcome to Love and Philosophy
05:43 Introducing Thomas Metzinger
07:43 Thomas Metzinger's Contributions to Philosophy and AI
09:53 Exploring Minimal Phenomenal Experience (MPE)
13:49 Narrative and Pure Awareness
22:09 Philosophical and Scientific Exploration of Consciousness
29:30 Thomas Metzinger's Personal Journey in Philosophy
56:11 Criticism and Meditation
56:55 Epistemic Authority and Consciousness
59:27 Embodiment in AI and Philosophy
01:01:52 Challenges in Academia
01:05:31 AI, Critical Thinking, and Future Concerns
01:15:29 The Nature of Suffering
01:22:50 Compassion and Love
01:44:12 Closing Thoughts and Reflections
01:44:30 A Poetic Farewell
Thomas Metzinger (thomasmetzinger.com/)
phenomenology of 'pure' consciousness (philosophie.fb05.uni-mainz.de/files/2020/03/Metzinger_MPE1_PMS_2020.pdf)
Link to Elephant and the Blind full book (https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/5725/The-Elephant-and-the-BlindThe-Experience-of-Pure)
New book Bewusstseinkultur (piper.de/buecher/bewusstseinskultur-isbn-978-3-8270-8064-6-ebook)
MPE discussion mentioned in Intro (philosophie.fb05.uni-mainz.de/files/2019/09/MPE_discussion_paper_August_2019.pdf)
MPE project (mpe-project.info/the-mpe-project/)
Philosophy Babble (youtube.com/@philosophybabble) conversations
Beyond Nondual (communityphilosophy.substack.com/p/beyond-non-dual-not-one-not-two)
Thomas Metzinger (*1958 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany) was Full Professor of Theoretical Philosophy at the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz until 2019. He is past president of the German Cognitive Science Society (2005-2007) and of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (2009-2011). As of 2011, he is an Adjunct Fellow at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt_Institute_for_Advanced_Studies) , a co-founder of the German Effective Altruism Foundation (effektiveraltruismus.de/) ...
Andrea Hiott is a philosopher and cognitive scientist developing the navigational approach to mind — the view that mind is “the body’s navigational action in all spaces of life, from the geographical to the emotional to the social to the virtual.” She hosts the Love & Philosophy (Beyond Dichotomy) podcast and Substack, and her work draws on hippocampal research, 4E cognition (embodied, embedded, extended, enactive), and the ecological tradition. Her book Holding Paradox: A Navigational Approach to Mind and Consciousness is forthcoming. Her recurring interests — holding apparent contradictions open, “way-making,” the importance of care and 'mattering', constellation/kaleidoscopic thinking, and moving beyond either/or — frame her questions throughout.
Support the show (loveandphilosophy.com/giving-page)
Buy Holding Paradox: The Navigational Approach to Mind and Consciousness (simonandschuster.net/books/Holding-Paradox/Andrea-Hiott/9781917991636) by Andrea Hiott
Sign up for Making Ways newsletter and projects. (making-ways.com/)
Please rate and review with love.
YouTube (youtube.com/@waymaking23) , Facebook (facebook.com/waymaking/) , Instagram (http...
Send a love message (buzzsprout.com/2229994/fan_mail/new)
AI, Suffering, Remedy and Love as the voluntary suspension of habitual responses into awareness: This episode is with philosopher and cognitive scientist Thomas Metzinger (thomasmetzinger.com/) , a Professor Emeritus at Johannes Gutenberg University (forschungsprofil.uni-mainz.de/en/) in Mainz and a member of the German National Academy Leopoldina (leopoldina.org/mitgliederverzeichnis/mitglieder/member/Member/show/thomas-metzinger/) . He has worked mainly in philosophy of mind, cognitive science, and applied ethics, particularly focusing on neurotechnology, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. The conversation explores a wide range of topics including the critical intersection of philosophy, neuroscience, meditation, and artificial intelligence. Metzinger shares his skepticism about separating deep philosophical inquiries from meditation and psychedelics, and the dialogue touches upon the impact of AI on human cognition, the concept of suffering in both humans and machines, and the responsibility of philosophers in an age of epistemic crisis. The discussion underscores the need for a balanced and multifaceted approach to understanding consciousness and suggests that new paradigms may emerge from current technological and philosophical shifts. This episode aims to foster an expansive and hopeful outlook as we move into the new year. The idea of pure consciousness as used in phenomenology via Husserl is to be discussed later.
00:00 Introduction to Fundamental Issues and Meditation
00:44 Epistemic Crisis and AI Concerns
01:15 Buddhism and Suffering
02:09 Philosophical Insights on Suffering and Awareness
04:47 Welcome to Love and Philosophy
05:43 Introducing Thomas Metzinger
07:43 Thomas Metzinger's Contributions to Philosophy and AI
09:53 Exploring Minimal Phenomenal Experience (MPE)
13:49 Narrative and Pure Awareness
22:09 Philosophical and Scientific Exploration of Consciousness
29:30 Thomas Metzinger's Personal Journey in Philosophy
56:11 Criticism and Meditation
56:55 Epistemic Authority and Consciousness
59:27 Embodiment in AI and Philosophy
01:01:52 Challenges in Academia
01:05:31 AI, Critical Thinking, and Future Concerns
01:15:29 The Nature of Suffering
01:22:50 Compassion and Love
01:44:12 Closing Thoughts and Reflections
01:44:30 A Poetic Farewell
Thomas Metzinger (thomasmetzinger.com/)
phenomenology of 'pure' consciousness (philosophie.fb05.uni-mainz.de/files/2020/03/Metzinger_MPE1_PMS_2020.pdf)
Link to Elephant and the Blind full book (https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/5725/The-Elephant-and-the-BlindThe-Experience-of-Pure)
New book Bewusstseinkultur (piper.de/buecher/bewusstseinskultur-isbn-978-3-8270-8064-6-ebook)
MPE discussion mentioned in Intro (philosophie.fb05.uni-mainz.de/files/2019/09/MPE_discussion_paper_August_2019.pdf)
MPE project (mpe-project.info/the-mpe-project/)
Philosophy Babble (youtube.com/@philosophybabble) conversations
Beyond Nondual (communityphilosophy.substack.com/p/beyond-non-dual-not-one-not-two)
Thomas Metzinger (*1958 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany) was Full Professor of Theoretical Philosophy at the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz until 2019. He is past president of the German Cognitive Science Society (2005-2007) and of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (2009-2011). As of 2011, he is an Adjunct Fellow at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt_Institute_for_Advanced_Studies) , a co-founder of the German Effective Altruism Foundation (effektiveraltruismus.de/) ...
Andrea Hiott is a philosopher and cognitive scientist developing the navigational approach to mind — the view that mind is “the body’s navigational action in all spaces of life, from the geographical to the emotional to the social to the virtual.” She hosts the Love & Philosophy (Beyond Dichotomy) podcast and Substack, and her work draws on hippocampal research, 4E cognition (embodied, embedded, extended, enactive), and the ecological tradition. Her book Holding Paradox: A Navigational Approach to Mind and Consciousness is forthcoming. Her recurring interests — holding apparent contradictions open, “way-making,” the importance of care and 'mattering', constellation/kaleidoscopic thinking, and moving beyond either/or — frame her questions throughout.
Support the show (loveandphilosophy.com/giving-page)
Buy Holding Paradox: The Navigational Approach to Mind and Consciousness (simonandschuster.net/books/Holding-Paradox/Andrea-Hiott/9781917991636) by Andrea Hiott
Sign up for Making Ways newsletter and projects. (making-ways.com/)
Please rate and review with love.
YouTube (youtube.com/@waymaking23) , Facebook (facebook.com/waymaking/) , Instagram (http...
