A World AppearsMichael Pollan
A World Appears
A Journey Into Consciousness
by Michael Pollan · first published 2026
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…exact topic. My favorite quote is that ~"perhaps Descartes was only half-wrong when suggesting I think, therefore I am; it seems rather closer to I FEEL, therefore I am."~ [1] <https://www.amazon.com/World-Appears-Journey-into-Consciousn...> ---- I've grown thousands of plants; I've read two of the author's other books devoted to plants; in this book Pollan makes compelling arguments for plant sentience (over…
on “"They're made out of weights"” ↗>Why I don't Believe in Mr.Lanier's Consciousness - ProllyInfamous See how easy that was? ---- For further reading, consider the excellent <https://www.amazon.com/World-Appears-Journey-into-Consciousn...>
on “Why I Don't Believe in Machine Consciousness – Jaron Lanier” ↗…etc.) but the border cases will be the exceptions. Current research on whether plants are sentient supports this, IMO. (See e.g. "The Light Eaters" and Michael Pollan's new book on consciousness, "A World Appears".) Meditation adds to this sense. We do not control our thoughts; in fact the "we" (i.e. the self) can be seen to be an illusion. Buddhist meditation instead points to general awareness, closer to sentience,…
on “Measuring progress toward AGI: A cognitive framework” ↗…the hard problem of consciousness is no more once you accept that we have souls. Which is essentially giving the problem a new name and burdening it with more historical baggage. Michael Pollan's "A World Appears" is a much more interesting and nuanced take. Very much recommended.
on “There Is No 'Hard Problem of Consciousness'” ↗>>how well you ..[can].. craft non-trivial, novel and creative proofs From A World Appears (Michael Pollan's latest book) <https://www.amazon.com/World-Appears-Journey-into-Consciousn...> : "Creative solutions to novel problems depend on consciousness" [p77] ... "consciousness creates a space…
on “An amateur just solved a 60-year-old math problem–by asking AI” ↗I just picked up my fifth Michael Pollen book, A World Appears: a Journey into Consciousness https://www.amazon.com/World-Appears-Journey-into-Consciousn... Very excited to start turning pages on this one (after his How to Change Your Mind, Botany of Desire, Shedbook,…
on “There is no you in your brain – your identity is a "society of the mind"” ↗…---- I have never had a better bookclub participant than an LLM — if becoming a great reader correlates with becoming a great writer, then no human can compare. ---- Michael Pollen recently released A World Appears [0], which explores consciousness from the minds of writers, scientists, philosophers, and plants (among other "inanimates"). I'm only on page 15, but his introduction explores distinctions between sentience,…
on “A Pascal's Wager for AI Doomers” ↗