The Mystery of Consciousness
About the project
What is consciousness, really—and how close are we to understanding it? In this live conversation from Oxford, Big Think’s Jonny Thomson—author of Mini Philosophy and longtime philosophy educator—sat down with celebrated neuroscientist Anil Seth to explore the cutting edge of mind science. From perception and the self to the latest theories of how consciousness emerges from the brain, Seth brought clarity to questions that have long puzzled science and philosophy alike. If you’re curious about how we make sense of the world—and ourselves—this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.
Client
Editorial
Services
Conversation — Oxford, UK
Year
2025
In 1995, philosopher David Chalmers made a provocative distinction: there were easy problems of consciousness—and hard ones.
The easy problems were challenging but solvable. How humans process color, for instance, could be explained by light wavelengths, retinal activity, and neural pathways.
But the hard problem? That was the mystery of experience itself. What was it like to see the color blue? Why should any physical process feel like anything at all?
In a live Big Think conversation, neuroscientist Anil Seth of the University of Sussex took the audience to the frontier of this enduring mystery. Drawing on ideas from his bestselling book Being You, he unpacked what modern science could—and still could not—say about the nature of subjective experience.
The conversation was moderated by Jonny Thomson, philosopher and senior editor at Big Think, best known for Mini Philosophy, the viral platform and book making philosophy accessible to millions. Following their discussion, the audience had the chance to pose their own questions, deepening the exploration of one of science’s most profound challenges.
