Noam Chomsky: Why Consciousness Cannot Be Reduced to Brain Activity

Curt Jaimungal interviews Noam Chomsky, diving into consciousness, free will, and the nature of God before tackling moral relativism, activism, and the challenges of modern education. The conversation also examines neoliberal influences, Black Lives Matter, and Chomsky’s personal reflections on religion and politics.- 0:00 - Introduction- 0:32 - Consciousness and free will- 6:04 - Views on God- 8:02 - Moral relativism vs objectivism- 9:55 - Mythology and religious upbringing- 13:30 - Childhood and religion comment- 17:53 - Christianity as pacifism, liberation theology- 22:12 - Liberation of the poor activism- 24:02 - Neoliberalism origins- 30:40 - Job as autocrat control- 36:48 - Democratic education ideas- 39:32 - Neoliberal crisis- 42:20 - Schools vs learning instinct- 49:00 - Illich de‑schooling critique- 52:15 - Multiple school systems- 54:52 - Charter schools problems- 57:36 - Openness, diversity, BLM- 1:00:28 - Imprisonment fear- 1:01:38 - Trump war crimesSPONSORS:- Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal- Crypto: https://nowpayments.io/donation/TOE- PayPal: https://bit.ly/2EOR0M4- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt- iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/better-left-unsaid-with-curt-jaimungal/id1521758802- Pandora: https://pdora.co/33b9lfP- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e- Google Podcasts: https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/Id3k7k7mfzahfx2fjqmw3vufb44Every episode days early, ad-free, plus my essays: https://curtjaimungal.substack.com/subscribeRESOURCES:- Better Left Unsaid documentary: http://betterleftunsaidfilm.com Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal features long-form, technically detailed interviews with leading researchers in physics, mathematics, consciousness, and philosophy, exploring topics at the level of active research. For academics, graduate students, and anyone seeking depth beyond popular science. SPONSOR: I personally subscribe to The Economist. TOE listeners get 35% off the annual subscription. No other podcast has this! https://economist.com/TOE FOLLOW: Substack | Spotify | YouTube | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices