Abstract: As you read these words, and understand them, what can you say about the reality of this ordinary experience? There is an “I” (yourself) - the “perceiver/ experiencer/ knower” and the “perceived/ experienced/ known”. In other words, there is Consciousness (“I” or “Being”) and its experiential contents (these words you see, the sounds you hear, bodily sensations you feel, the thoughts you think etc.). In this talk, we shall explore two types of models that attempt to fit this datum of experience (Consciousness & Contents) but are very different in their implications to daily life. Current Scientific Theories of Consciousness invariably build on these two types of models with vastly different philosophical underpinnings. Each model has its own strengths, limitations, utility and at best is an approximation to Reality (‘What-Is’). Finally, we shall attempt a live experiment to determine the borders of consciousness. Do we really know the borders of our own Consciousness?
About the speaker: Dr. Nithin Nagaraj is an Associate Professor with the Consciousness Studies Programme, School of Humanities, NIAS. His interests lie in scientific theories of consciousness, causality, brain-inspired artificial intelligence, information & complexity science and Indic approaches to mathematics and computation. He is also drawn to the Vedanta teachings with an abiding interest in Atma Vichara.