This week, I revisit the classic inverting goggles experiments. How does the brain adapt when the world gets flipped upside-down? Does it rebuild an representation — or simply adjust its predictions? 🧪 What are we really doing when we say we’re seeing? suzitravis.substack.com/p/is-seeing-...

We talk about meaning all the time. It feels obvious that meaning is something we have. Probably in the brain. Somewhere. But it’s not clear what “means” really means in this context. What is meaning? And where does it really come from? 🧪 suzitravis.substack.com/p/looking-fo...

The usual story is: the brain takes in information, represents it, and uses that representation to take action. But what if we’ve got it backwards? This week, I wrote a gentle intro to enactivism -- What if minds aren’t things we have but things we do? 🧪 suzitravis.substack.com/p/does-the-m...

You can think about a dog. Or a snake. Or why freedom of speech matters. Your brain can think about all sorts of things. Even things that aren’t there — or things that aren't even things. But how? How can brain activity be about anything? 🧪 #consciousness suzitravis.substack.com/p/what-gives...

You see a dog. Something happens in your brain. We say your brain “represents” the dog. But is that really what’s happening? We know your brain isn’t creating literal pictures — so what is it doing? 🧪 #neuroscience #consciousness #philosophyofmind suzitravis.substack.com/p/representa...

LLMs can describe what it feels like to pet a dog — without eyes, ears, or hands. Some say they don’t understand because they lack grounding in the world. But not everyone’s convinced. Do LLMs have a grounding problem? Or are we asking the wrong question? 🧪 suzitravis.substack.com/p/the-ground...

In 1972, NASA pinned a message to a spaceship, hoping one day an alien life form might find it and understand it. The plaque was full of symbols. Those symbols mean something to us. But could an alien understand them too? What gives a symbol its meaning? 🧪 suzitravis.substack.com/p/how-to-tal...

This week, I wrote an essay on Searle’s Chinese Room. This thought experiment might be the most famous thought experiment of the 20th century. But is it any good? And can it tell us whether LLMs could ever really understand? 🧪 #consciousness #ai #philosophy suzitravis.substack.com/p/searles-ch...

Brains predict. LLMs predict. But does that mean they’re doing the same thing? We used to think intelligence was all about reasoning. Then we said it was biological. Now we’re told maybe it’s about... prediction? 🧪 #ai #consciousness suzitravis.substack.com/p/if-it-pred...

Could a neural network ever grow like a brain? Would it matter? What happens when we stop trying to build artificial brains — and we start trying to grow them? It's worth asking, because the line between what's built and what grows is starting to blur. 🧪 suzitravis.substack.com/p/how-to-bui...

It’s a tempting idea, isn’t it?: consciousness is just what happens when things get complicated enough. Like it’s an automatic bonus that comes with a powerful brain — or a powerful AI. But the science tells a messier story. 🧪 #consciousness suzitravis.substack.com/p/does-consc...

Complexity is difficult to define — which is odd, really, because it seems pretty easy to recognise -- we know complexity when we see it, right!? So, why is it so hard to define? This week, I explore why complexity is so complex. 🧪 suzitravis.substack.com/p/why-is-com...

What if consciousness can only exist in a universe where entropy increases? Entropy explains why eggs break and time moves forward — but could it also explain memory, life, and consciousness? 🧪 suzitravis.substack.com/p/could-entr...

This week, I explore Maxwell’s Demon, a famous thought experiment that puzzled physicists for more than a century. Solving it changed how we understanding what information really is. 🧪 #consciousness suzitravis.substack.com/p/maxwells-d...

Today, if you tune into a podcast on the mind, you won’t hear much about what the mind is made of. Instead, the focus is on what it does. How did we get here? This week, I explore how we went from the mind as soul to the mind as information processing. 🧪 suzitravis.substack.com/p/history-of...

Was inspired to reflect on my own thoughts on the topic after reading the attached.

If physics explains everything, why do we need biology to understand life and psychology to understand human behaviour? What's left if physics covers everything? And what does this have to do with the possibility of artificial minds? 🧪 #consciousness suzitravis.substack.com/p/consciousn...

There is no now.

When you catch a ball, are you seeing it in real time or guessing where it will be? The brain is too slow to react instantly, so it relies on predictions to stay ahead. If this is true, it raises some strange questions: When exactly are we? 🧪 #consciousness suzitravis.substack.com/p/when-does-...

Information feels both abstract and tangible. We can't hold information in our hands, but we store it on hard drives. Every time we create or alter information—even just saving a file—it requires energy. This raises the question: is information physical? suzitravis.substack.com/p/is-informa...

What’s the right level of focus when studying something as complex as the brain? Should we zoom out to things like behaviour or dive deep into the molecular and cellular? What can we safely ignore in our quest to understand? And what might we lose if we do? 🧪 suzitravis.substack.com/p/the-proble...

Fantastic news that Andy Clark is the inaugural winner of the #DennettPrize, in honour of Daniel Dennett. Congrats Andy 🍾🍾🍾 super-well deserved @sussexuni.bsky.social hardproblem.it/projects/the...

Happy New Year! This week, I start a mini-series of little essays about BIG questions. From genes to butterfly migration routes to human brains - there seems to be more information in biological systems than what's in their genes. But how is this possible? 🧪 suzitravis.substack.com/p/what-is-in...

Can you trust your own experiences? This week it's Dennett vs Qualia -- the latest in our series on the thought experiments in the philosophy of mind. 🧪 #consciousness suzitravis.substack.com/p/coffee-wit...

Useful. “A memory system that focuses on what’s useful right now (rather than storing everything perfectly) gives us an incredible advantage.”

Do you think your memories are reliable? Science suggests our brain's tendency to misremember might be its secret superpower. False memories are not a flaw in the system at all. 🧪 suzitravis.substack.com/p/false-memo...

If you could erase your most painful memories, would you? What parts of you would be lost if you did? 🧪 #neuroscience #memory This week, I explore the science and the fiction of memory manipulation. suzitravis.substack.com/p/eternal-su...

We know memories aren't stored like computer files. They are actively reconstructed each time we recall them. But if memory is reconstructed, how much can we trust them? What if our most remembered memories are the ones that have been changed the most? 🧪 suzitravis.substack.com/p/memory-is-...

Mary's Room thought experiment has been used to argue that science can't explain consciousness. But what if science already knows what would happen to Mary? And what does this tell us about consciousness? 🧪 #consciousness suzitravis.substack.com/p/marys-room...

Do we need eyes to see? Blind individuals can ride bikes, and blind babies can learn to see using sound. So, what if seeing isn't really about having eyes at all? The answer might just change how you think about what it means to see. 🧪 #consciousness suzitravis.substack.com/p/human-echo...

This month marks exactly 50 years since Nagel first asked us to imagine what it is like to be a bat. This week, to celebrate, I discuss this 1974 classic. What does it tell us about consciousness? 🧪 #consciousness #philosophyofmind suzitravis.substack.com/p/what-is-it...

This week, I explore phantom limb pain. Why do some amputees feel pain in limbs they no longer have? The answer might have something to do with how our brain constructs our reality. 🧪 #neuroscience suzitravis.substack.com/p/the-phanto...

This week, I watched the movie Her (again). And I got wondering… if Samantha were real, would she be an intelligence so unlike our own it would force us to rethink what it means to experience the world? 🧪 #Consciousness #PhilosophyofMind #neuroscience suzitravis.substack.com/p/the-movie-...

Ever wondered why you can’t tickle yourself? The answer has a lot to do with why you need your body to perceive the world. 🧪 #consciousness #philosophyofmind suzitravis.substack.com/p/can-we-hav...

Are you a zombie? This week, I explore the idea of philosophical zombies—creatures just like you but with no consciousness. If we can imagine beings without inner lives, does that mean consciousness is something more than just brain activity? #consciousness 🧪 suzitravis.substack.com/p/the-p-zomb...

Crows are surprisingly brainy birds. This week, I got curious about the fascinating world of crow intelligence. I wanted to explore just how smart these black-feathered birds really are and whether we can detect consciousness in crows. 🧪 #animalintelligence suzitravis.substack.com/p/the-mind-o...

We humans love to imagine what's possible. From time travel to conscious AI, our imaginations wonder about what could be. But is our ability to imagine a reliable guide to what's truly possible? 🧪 #consciousness suzitravis.substack.com/p/is-everyth...

Ex Machina raises fascinating philosophical questions about consciousness, humanity, and the ethics of AI. At its core, the film is a modern take on the Turing test. But Ex Machina also raises questions about what it means to be human. 🧪 #consciousness suzitravis.substack.com/p/ex-machina...

Do out-of-body experiences prove that consciousness can exist separately from the physical body? How do scientists explain out-of-body experiences? 🧪 #consciousness suzitravis.substack.com/p/the-scienc...

As a theory of consciousness, non-reductive materialism tries to give us everything -- our intuitive ideas about consciousness and a scientific explanation. But does it succeed? Can we have it all? 🧪 #consciousness suzitravis.substack.com/p/non-reduct...

Defining consciousness can be challenging. Attempts to pin it down often ignite heated debates that frequently end in stalemates. This week, I explore how science thinks about consciousness. 🧪 #consciousness suzitravis.substack.com/p/how-scienc...

What if everything you think you know about your own mind is an illusion? Eliminative materialism makes this claim. Seems absurd, doesn't it!? But despite apparent absurdity, it's a significant theory in philosophy. This week, we ask, why? #consciousness 🧪 suzitravis.substack.com/p/eliminativ...

We perceive the world as a seemingly coherent unified stream of awareness. This apparent unity is so fundamental to our experience that we rarely question it. But there is a problem with this intuitive view. 🧪 #consciousness suzitravis.substack.com/p/the-unity-...

Are the differences between brains and digital computers the differences that truly matter when it comes to consciousness? Why ‘mortality’ might be the biological edge that AI can’t replicate (yet). 🧪 #consciousness #AI suzitravis.substack.com/p/will-ai-ev...

Functionalism is the most popular consciousness theory and the theory behind the idea that AI could (one day) be conscious. But despite its popularity, not everyone is convinced by its claims. So, what's the issue with functionalism? 🧪 #consciousness suzitravis.substack.com/p/functional...

This week, we’re exploring functionalism — currently the most popular theory among academics who study consciousness. But just because a theory is popular doesn’t make it true. So, let’s explore the merits of functionalism. 🧪 #philosophyofmind #consciousness suzitravis.substack.com/p/functional...

How intelligent are octopuses? And how many brains do they actually have? This week we are exploring the wonderful mind of the octopus. 🐙 🧪 #consciousness #science suzitravis.substack.com/p/the-mind-o...

On a cold winter morning, the bustling courtyard in Oxford filled with townspeople. They had come for one reason — to watch a young woman be hanged for murdering her newborn child. The problem was she was led to the gallows for a crime she did not commit. 🧪 suzitravis.substack.com/p/cognitive-...

This week we explore how scientists are using computer code and optogenetics to restore sight to the blind and improve computer vision. 🧪 #science #neuroscience #BCI suzitravis.substack.com/p/the-code-t...