Last night, just after three o'clock in the morning, I regained enough consciousness to answer a call of nature - my leg is sufficiently healed and I no longer use "the bottle" - and found myself smack-bang in the middle of a stimulating discussion about our internal experience of consciousness.
Anil Seth, Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience, Director Sussex Centre for Consciousness Science, at the University of Sussex, and author of the book "Being You: A New Science of Consciousness", was discussing with Olivia Carter, Professor of psychology, how your brain's 100 billion neurons conjure up that distinct sense you have of being YOU.
That's what happens when you have a weak bladder and your radio is switched on to ABC Radio National all night: you learn an awful lot!
I was so totally fascinated that I hung on and hung on - how I wished I still had "the bottle" by my bedside! - but in the end I became conscious of the fact that I had to go and stumbled down the hallwall to relieve myself.
I listened to the rest of the hour-long discussion by podcast this morning, and so can you: click here.
(please listen to the whole podcast but then relisten to the experiment at 10:25; also, have a little play with this)
P.S. I could listen to this man all day - and I did: click here.
