Is It Awareness All the Way Down? (with Annaka Harris and Grant Slater)

Science studies the world from the outside. But for thousands of years, meditators have been running a different experiment: sit still, pay close attention, and watch what reality does. The results of those experiments can feel unintuitive. The self is an illusion. Free will too. There is no thing that exists without other things. Here's the strange part: at the frontiers of physics, the science is catching up to this ancient wisdom. In this episode, author Annaka Harris tells the story of a lifetime spent watching her own mind, from the childhood migraines that taught her to meditate to the formation of the question she now asks leading physicists and philosophers. What if it's awareness all the way down? Her forthcoming book is Unlocking Consciousness: How Solving the Mystery Could Provoke a Scientific Revolution. That revolution begins with a wager: that felt experience is not something the brain produces but what the universe is made of. Subscribe to Futurology on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Futurologypod The Futurology Podcast — full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwkiuf1eRbAAHP4p--2IFJbn0CIdaZMva Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/futurology/id1821718921 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2I38HvHP6KlXrD5ysfygxk Mentioned in this Episode: Unlocking Consciousness: How Solving the Mystery Could Provoke a Scientific Revolution — Annaka Harris (Book, Forthcoming, 2027) Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind — Annaka Harris (Book, 2019) The Gift of Fear — Gavin de Becker (Book, 1997) Helgoland: Making Sense of the Quantum Revolution — Carlo Rovelli (Book, 2021) Life as No One Knows It: The Physics of Life's Emergence — Sara Imari Walker (Book, 2024) Lights On – Annaka Harris (Audio documentary, 2024) "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" – Thomas Nagel (Essay, 1974) Mindful Games Activity Cards – Susan Kaiser Greenland with Annaka Harris (Cards, 2017) "Lifelike chemicals may hold the secret to the origin of life" — Adam Frank (Article, 2023) Lights On: How Understanding Consciousness Helps Us Understand the Universe — Annaka Harris (Audio documentary series, 2025) Where to Find Annaka Harris: Website Lights On (audio documentary) Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind Unlocking Consciousness: How Solving the Mystery Could Provoke a Scientific Revolution (forthcoming, April 2027) Newsletter I Wonder (children's book, 2013) Show ideas and feedback? Email: futurology@berggruen.org Learn more about the Berggruen Institute https://www.berggruen.org Follow Futurology! Instagram: / futurologypod Twitter/X: / futurologypod Tiktok: / futurologypod Facebook: / berggrueninst LinkedIn: / berggrueninst Bluesky: / futurologypod Credits Executive Producers: Nicolas Berggruen, Nathan Gardels, Nils Gilman, Dawn Nakagawa, & Jason Hoch Producers: Grant Slater, Alex Gardels, & Nathalia Ramos Associate Producer: Elissa Mardiney Theme Music: Marcus Bagala Audio Engineer: Kyle Scott Wilson Futurology is a production of Studio B and Wavland for the Berggruen Institute in Los Angeles, California.

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