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PHILOSOPHY GROUP

ARE YOU REALLY CONSCIOUS?

Dr Susan Blackmore,
UWE, Author & Broadcaster

Tuesday 08 January 2008 at 7.30pm

Everyone knows what consciousness is. It is a stream of thoughts, ideas and images that pass through the mind, experienced by a conscious self who watches them come and go. The trouble is this cannot be true. There is no place in the brain for an observer, not enough time for us to act on our conscious impressions, and no way of explaining why some brain activity should be conscious while most is not. So perhaps consciousness is an illusion, but, if so, what kind of illusion and why should we be deluded? With demonstrations of change blindness, inattentional blindness, free will and help from the audience Dr Blackmore will explore some of the ways in which we misunderstand our own minds.