#1236 Paul Thagard - Dreams, Jokes, and Songs: How Brains Build Consciousness
RECORDED ON MARCH 24th 2026.
Dr. Paul Thagard is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Waterloo and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Cognitive Science Society, and the Association for Psychological Science. The Canada Council awarded him a Molson Prize (2007) and a Killam Prize (2013). He is a philosopher, cognitive scientist, and author of many interdisciplinary books, the latest one being Dreams, Jokes, and Songs: How Brains Build Consciousness.
In this episode, we focus on Dreams, Jokes, and Songs. We start by talking about how to approach consciousness philosophically and scientifically. We discuss several theories of consciousness, and why we need a new one. We explore Dr. Thagard’s NBC (Neural representation, Binding, Coherence, and Competition) theory of consciousness. We talk about how social factors influence consciousness. We discuss explanations for dreams and jokes. We talk about consciousness in non-human animals. We discuss whether machines or AI systems can become conscious. Finally, we talk about the mind-body problem, and how to solve the hard problem of consciousness.
Time Links:
Intro
How to approach consciousness
Theories of consciousness
Dr. Thagard’s NBC theory of consciousness
How social factors influence consciousness
Explaining dreams
Explaining jokes
Consciousness in non-human animals
Can machines or AI systems become conscious?
The mind-body problem
The hard problem of consciousness
Follow Dr. Thagard’s work!
Follow Dr. Thagard’s work:
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/47FJoDX
Website: https://bit.ly/47BtnyT
ResearchGate profile: https://bit.ly/3R6h1JC
Dreams, Jokes, and Songs: https://tinyurl.com/ypujfxne