Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Sam Harris, Roger Penrose, and Sophie Scott discuss consciousness, free will, multiples selves, and the collapse of the wave function.
Are we the same thing as our minds, or just the consciousness which witnesses mental activity?
With a free trial, you can watch the full debate NOW at iai.tv/video/the-divided-self-sam-harris-roger-penrose?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=description
Many have sought to divide the self into separate parts. From Aristotle's distinction between the rational and irrational self to Freud's separation of the conscious and unconscious mind, from Kahneman's fast and slow self to McGilchrist's selves of the left and right brain. But critics argue it makes no sense to see the self as divided. From Descartes to Sartre, many philosophers have concluded that to be conscious is to be conscious of something and there can be no further self hiding within consciousness. After all, if there are two aspects of the self does it not require a third to oversee or combine them? Meanwhile, neuroscience has been unable to identify a self at all let alone multiple selves.
Should we give up the idea of distinct selves as simply incoherent? Should we conclude that a single self is necessary to account for conscious experience and to enable responsibility for action? Or are multiple selves a better way to explain the wildly divergent thoughts and contradictory behaviours that we can sometimes exhibit?
#consciousness #philosophy #neuroscience #psychology #science #buddhism
Neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris, Nobel Prize winner Roger Penrose, and director of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience Sophie Scott discuss whether the self is divided.
The Institute of Art and Ideas features videos and articles from cutting edge thinkers discussing the ideas that are shaping the world, from metaphysics to string theory, technology to democracy, aesthetics to genetics. Subscribe today! iai.tv/subscribe?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=https://iai.tv/video/the-divided-self-sam-harris-roger-penrose
00:00 You don't control your own thoughts
00:46 Is there a single Self that persists across time?
01:51 Sophie Scott on the ephemeral nature of identity
03:36 Sam Harris on hallucinating reality
06:30 The difference between the mind and consciousness
08:36 Roger Penrose on qualia, computation, and the collapse of the wave function
14:30 Mysticism and subjective experience
17:26 Morality, psychopathy, and free will
20:33 Biology determines our personality and actions
For debates and talks: iai.tv
For articles: iai.tv/articles
For courses: iai.tv/iai-academy/courses
Sam Harris, Roger Penrose, and Sophie Scott discuss consciousness, free will, multiples selves, and the collapse of the wave function.
Are we the same thing as our minds, or just the consciousness which witnesses mental activity?
With a free trial, you can watch the full debate NOW at iai.tv/video/the-divided-self-sam-harris-roger-penrose?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=description
Many have sought to divide the self into separate parts. From Aristotle's distinction between the rational and irrational self to Freud's separation of the conscious and unconscious mind, from Kahneman's fast and slow self to McGilchrist's selves of the left and right brain. But critics argue it makes no sense to see the self as divided. From Descartes to Sartre, many philosophers have concluded that to be conscious is to be conscious of something and there can be no further self hiding within consciousness. After all, if there are two aspects of the self does it not require a third to oversee or combine them? Meanwhile, neuroscience has been unable to identify a self at all let alone multiple selves.
Should we give up the idea of distinct selves as simply incoherent? Should we conclude that a single self is necessary to account for conscious experience and to enable responsibility for action? Or are multiple selves a better way to explain the wildly divergent thoughts and contradictory behaviours that we can sometimes exhibit?
#consciousness #philosophy #neuroscience #psychology #science #buddhism
Neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris, Nobel Prize winner Roger Penrose, and director of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience Sophie Scott discuss whether the self is divided.
The Institute of Art and Ideas features videos and articles from cutting edge thinkers discussing the ideas that are shaping the world, from metaphysics to string theory, technology to democracy, aesthetics to genetics. Subscribe today! iai.tv/subscribe?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=https://iai.tv/video/the-divided-self-sam-harris-roger-penrose
00:00 You don't control your own thoughts
00:46 Is there a single Self that persists across time?
01:51 Sophie Scott on the ephemeral nature of identity
03:36 Sam Harris on hallucinating reality
06:30 The difference between the mind and consciousness
08:36 Roger Penrose on qualia, computation, and the collapse of the wave function
14:30 Mysticism and subjective experience
17:26 Morality, psychopathy, and free will
20:33 Biology determines our personality and actions
For debates and talks: iai.tv
For articles: iai.tv/articles
For courses: iai.tv/iai-academy/courses
