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Best Consciousness & cognition videos, as recommended on Hacker News

56 videos about consciousness & cognition that Hacker News commenters keep recommending, mentioned between 2009 and 2026. Mostly talk, lecture, explainer. Channels that come up most: TED, Lex Fridman, The Royal Institution, CGP Grey. Sorted by how consistently HN recommended them over the years.

The most recommended is George Lakoff: Moral Politics: HN commenters repeatedly say it changed how they hear political speech and recommend it for understanding why opponents are not simply stupid.

• lectureGeorge Lakoff: Moral PoliticsUniversity of California Television (UCTV) · 3 HN recommenders · 2016–2024
• talkWhat Bodies Think About: Bioelectric Computation Outside the Nervous System - NeurIPS 2018The Artificial Intelligence Channel · 12 HN recommenders · 2018–2024
• lectureAnalogy as the Core of CognitionStanford · 7 HN recommenders · 2012–2025
• otherThe Egg - A Short StoryKurzgesagt – In a Nutshell · 7 HN recommenders · 2020–2024
• lectureEp. 1 - Awakening from the Meaning Crisis - IntroductionJohn Vervaeke’s Lectern · 6 HN recommenders · 2019–2022
• explainerYou Actually Share Your Brain With a Silent StrangerCGP Grey · 7 HN recommenders · 2016–2025
• interviewDebate Noam Chomsky & Michel Foucault - On human nature [Subtitled]withDefiance · 6 HN recommenders · 2015–2026
• podcastJoscha Bach: Artificial Consciousness and the Nature of Reality | Lex Fridman Podcast #101Lex Fridman · 6 HN recommenders · 2020–2021
• lectureThe Neuroscience of Consciousness – with Anil SethThe Royal Institution · 4 HN recommenders · 2017–2018
• interviewFeynman: How to think 1 of 2 FUN TO IMAGINE 11Christopher Sykes · 5 HN recommenders · 2011–2024
• lectureIf Brains are Computers, Who Designs the Software? - with Daniel DennettThe Royal Institution · 3 HN recommenders · 2018–2024
• interviewMichael Levin: Consciousness, Biology, Universal Mind, Emergence, Cancer ResearchCurt Jaimungal · 3 HN recommenders · 2025–2026
• documentaryYour Brain: Who's in Control? | Full Documentary | NOVA | PBSNOVA PBS Official · 2 HN recommenders · 2023–2025
• talkTerence Mckenna - Culture is your operating systemDani Dögenigt · 1 HN recommender · 2009–2023
• talkWhy our IQ levels are higher than our grandparents' | James FlynnTED · 3 HN recommenders · 2020–2024
• talkInformation, Evolution, and intelligent Design - With Daniel DennettThe Royal Institution · 3 HN recommenders · 2017–2024
• documentaryCouldn't Care Less. Cormac McCarthy in conversation with David KrakauerKarol Jałochowski · 3 HN recommenders · 2023–2025
• talkMy stroke of insight | Jill Bolte Taylor | TEDTED · 2 HN recommenders · 2010–2024
• podcastLee Cronin: Origin of Life, Aliens, Complexity, and Consciousness | Lex Fridman Podcast #269Lex Fridman · 2 HN recommenders · 2022–2022
• explainerRSA ANIMATE: The Divided BrainRoyal Society of Arts · 3 HN recommenders · 2017–2021
• talk35C3 - The Ghost in the Machinemedia.ccc.de · 3 HN recommenders · 2020–2023
• talkDo we see reality as it is? | Donald Hoffman | TEDTED · 3 HN recommenders · 2016–2024
• lectureHow did consciousness evolve? - with Nicholas HumphreyThe Royal Institution · 3 HN recommenders · 2023–2024
• podcastConsciousness is Not a Computation (Roger Penrose) | AI Podcast ClipsLex Fridman · 3 HN recommenders · 2020–2025
• lectureJordan Peterson - Controversial Facts about IQBite-sized Philosophy · 3 HN recommenders · 2017–2025
• talkJoscha: From Computation to Consciousness (31c3)Joscha Bach · 3 HN recommenders · 2016–2019
• lectureThe Hyperbolic Geometry of DMT Experiences (@Harvard Science of Psychedelics Club)Qualia Research Institute · 3 HN recommenders · 2021–2023
• podcastRoger Penrose: Physics of Consciousness and the Infinite Universe | Lex Fridman Podcast #85Lex Fridman · 3 HN recommenders · 2020–2022
• lectureNoam Chomsky - "The machine, the ghost, and the limits of understanding"Andy80o · 2 HN recommenders · 2013–2022
• lectureFree Energy Principle — Karl FristonSerious Science · 2 HN recommenders · 2018–2023
• interviewThe Default Mode Network & End of Suffering - Gary WeberNon-Dual Couch · 2 HN recommenders · 2017–2020
• talkJoscha: Computational Meta-Psychologymedia.ccc.de · 2 HN recommenders · 2018–2020
• lectureLecture by Douglas Hofstadter: Albert Einstein on Light; Light on Albert EinsteinUppsala universitet · 2 HN recommenders · 2022–2025
• commentaryI have APHANTASIA (and you may too...without realising it!)JAMIEvstheVOID · 2 HN recommenders · 2019–2023
• lectureSir Roger Penrose & Dr. Stuart Hameroff: CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE PHYSICS OF THE BRAINThe Qualcomm Institute · 2 HN recommenders · 2020–2024
• explainerThe Braitenberg VehiclesBrian Douglas · 2 HN recommenders · 2020–2024
• talkSebastian Seung: I am my connectomeTED · 2 HN recommenders · 2013–2015
• explainerThe Future Of ReasoningVsauce · 2 HN recommenders · 2024–2024
• lectureSwami Sarvapriyananda at IITK - "Who Am I?" according to Mandukya Upanishad-Part 1Vivekananda Samiti, IIT Kanpur · 2 HN recommenders · 2020–2022
• explainerIs Your Red The Same as My Red?Vsauce · 2 HN recommenders · 2018–2024
• talkThe illusion of consciousness | Dan DennettTED · 2 HN recommenders · 2020–2023
• talkYour Brain Hallucinates Your Conscious Reality | Anil Seth | TEDTED · 2 HN recommenders · 2017–2026
• explainerWhy Teleportation Would Kill YouCGP Grey · 2 HN recommenders · 2016–2020
• podcastMichael Levin: Biology, Life, Aliens, Evolution, Embryogenesis & Xenobots | Lex Fridman Podcast #325Lex Fridman · 3 HN recommenders · 2022–2026
• talkConsciousness in Artificial Intelligence | John Searle | Talks at GoogleTalks at Google · 2 HN recommenders · 2015–2017
• explainerWas Penrose Right? NEW EVIDENCE For Quantum Effects In The BrainPBS Space Time · 2 HN recommenders · 2024–2026
• explainerDoes Superdeterminism save Quantum Mechanics? Or does it kill free will and destroy science?Sabine Hossenfelder · 2 HN recommenders · 2021–2024
• interviewQ&A with a person who does not have an internal monologuePA Struggles · 1 HN recommender · 2020–2025
• talkIntuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking | Daniel Dennett | Talks at GoogleTalks at Google · 1 HN recommender · 2013–2024
• explainerDoes the language you speak change how you think?Tom Scott · 1 HN recommender · 2023–2024
• talkMike Levin - Live ALife 2020 Keynote - Robot CancerALife 2020 Conference · 1 HN recommender · 2021–2023
• otherOrwell comes to america - clip - reason 1rTests334 · 1 HN recommender · 2014–2022
• otherWestworld - Consciousness does not exist, Anthony HopkinsDozenal Tauist · 1 HN recommender · 2017–2023
• lectureRichard Feynman: Can Machines Think?Lex Clips · 1 HN recommender · 2022–2025
• talkOptical illusions show how we see | Beau LottoTED · 1 HN recommender · 2017–2023
• talkIs the Universe a Simulation? | 2016 Isaac Asimov Memorial DebateAmerican Museum of Natural History · 1 HN recommender · 2016–2020