How did consciousness evolve? - with Nicholas Humphrey

Find out how consciousness is generated in the human brain - and discover the evidence suggesting some animals are also sentient. Read Nicholas’s book ’Sentience: The Invention of Consciousness’ here: Watch the Q&A here: Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: Join renowned psychologist and philosopher Nicholas Humphrey as he presents his theory of ’phenomenal consciousness’, in full for the first time. Weaving together leading-edge science and personal breakthrough experiences, Nicholas provides a comprehensive look at the evolution of consciousness. He discusses discovering blindsight in monkeys, hanging out with mountain gorillas in Rwanda, to becoming a leading philosopher of the mind; all leading to a scientific understanding of consciousness and his theory as to how conscious feeling is generated in the human brain. This theory also provides the foundation for Nicholas’ controversial opinion - in contrast to broad scientific opinion - that phenomenal consciousness is only present in warm-blooded creatures such as mammals and birds, and not invertebrates like octopuses and bees, despite their known intelligence. This lecture was recorded at the Ri on 21 June 2023. 00:00 Intro 03:20 Blind sight – seeing without a visual cortex 09:51 The difference between sensation and perception 11:37 Can consciousness be physically found in the brain? 16:58 How did natural selection lead to sensations? 22:28 How did this lead to consciousness in the human brain? 24:58 What is the point of phenomenal consciousness? 28:14 How human sentience led to theory of mind 30:17 Could animals also be sentient? 33:32 Body temperature and its effect on brain speed 34:45 Evidence for sentience in the animal kingdom 40:40 Mammals and birds show sentience – what about octopuses? 42:25 Can machines ever reach consciousness? 45:05 Could there be sentient aliens? 46:42 The extinction of consciousness on Earth Nicholas Keynes Humphrey is an English neuropsychologist based in Cambridge, known for his work on evolution of primate intelligence and consciousness. He has been lecturer in psychology at Oxford, assistant director of the Subdepartment of Animal Behaviour at Cambridge, senior research fellow at Cambridge, professor of psychology at the New School for Social Research, New York, and school professor at the London School of Economics. Humphrey played a significant role in the anti-nuclear movement in the late 1970s and delivered the BBC Bronowski memorial lecture titled “Four Minutes to Midnight“ in 1981. He has written 10 books and received several honours, including the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize, the Pufendorf Medal and the British Psychological Society’s book award. He is the only scientist to have edited the literary journal Granta. -- A very special thank you to our Patreon supporters who help make these videos happen, especially: modsiw, Anton Ragin, Edward Unthank, Robert L Winer, Andy Carpenter, William Hudson Don McLaughlin, efkinel lo, Martin Paull, Ben Wynne-Simmons, Ivo Danihelka, Kevin Winoto, Jonathan Killin, Stephan Giersche, William Billy Robillard, Jeffrey Schweitzer, Frances Dunne, , Tim Karr, Alan Latteri, David Crowner, Matt Townsend, THOMAS N TAMADA, Andrew McGhee, Paul Brown, David Schick, Dave Ostler, Osian Gwyn Williams, David Lindo, Roger Baker, Rebecca Pan -- The Ri is on Twitter: and Facebook: and TikTok: @ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: Our editorial policy: Subscribe for the latest science videos: Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won’t cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.