No Thinking Without a Thinker: Dr. Mihretu Guta on Consciousness

No Thinking Without a Thinker: Dr. Mihretu Guta on Consciousness

Author: Discovery Institute February 21, 2026 Duration: 1:27:33
Starting this month, ID The Future listeners will get to enjoy a new episode each month (as well as a bingecast archive episode) from our sister podcast Mind Matters News, a production of the Discovery Institute’s Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence. The Mind Matters News podcast brings you interviews and insight from computer scientists, engineers, inventors, neurosurgeons, and other experts who bring sanity to the conversation about natural and artificial intelligence, going beyond the hype to explore the undercurrents of these important ideas. And although the Mind Matters News podcast will not often explicitly discuss intelligent design, it regularly explores the nature of intelligence, the origin of information, and the things that make us uniquely human, concepts that are central to the theory of intelligent design. On this archive "bingecast" episode, hosts Robert J. Marks and Angus Menuge welcome Dr. Mihretu Guta to discuss his contribution to the book Minding the Brain. Dr. Guta discusses the nature of consciousness and the challenges in understanding it from a philosophical perspective. He argues that consciousness is a unique property that is deeply subjective and personal, making it difficult to study scientifically. Guta contrasts first-order and second-order approaches to understanding consciousness, emphasizing the need to go beyond just the empirical observation of mental phenomena and examine the underlying metaphysical and ontological questions. The discussion covers a number of relevant topics, highlighting the profound and puzzling nature of consciousness and the importance of philosophical inquiry in grappling with this fundamental aspect of human experience.

Source


Dive into the ongoing conversation at the intersection of science, philosophy, and culture with Intelligent Design the Future. Produced by the Discovery Institute, this podcast offers a focused exploration of the arguments and discussions surrounding intelligent design and evolutionary theory. Rather than lengthy lectures, it presents concise, digestible episodes that fit into your day, featuring direct conversations with researchers and thinkers actively engaged in this scientific field. You'll hear from scientists, scholars, and institute fellows who break down new developments, analyze recent publications, and address the broader implications of these ideas for education and society. The discussions are grounded in the perspective that nature presents evidence of design, tackling complex topics in astronomy, biology, and the philosophy of science with a specific point of view. Each episode aims to provide clarity on current debates, making the content accessible whether you're deeply familiar with the subject or just beginning to explore these fundamental questions. This is a place for substantive dialogue on one of the most enduring topics in modern thought, all packaged in a brief, engaging format that prioritizes depth over duration. Tune in to hear the voices shaping this particular strand of scientific discourse.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

Intelligent Design the Future
Podcast Episodes
Applying Information Conservation to Biological Origins [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:12
Nothing's free in life. It's a sobering reality we all come to realize in life. And this cold, hard truth also applies to the realm of biology. On today's ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid continues his four-part disc…
Sex: A Masterpiece of Design [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:33
In his landmark book Darwin's Black Box, biochemist Michael Behe wrote that "to appreciate complexity, you have to experience it." On today's ID The Future out of the vault, we conclude a three-part series with Dr. Jonat…
Bill Dembski Reveals the Hidden Cost of Information [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:48
Chances are you’re already familiar with specified complexity, one of the mathematical pillars of the theory of intelligent design. There’s another pillar that is much less well known but equally vital: the law of conser…
Sexual Reproduction: Engineered for Success [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:05
Sexual reproduction depends on an irreducibly complex core of components for its success. But can we really credit a gradual evolutionary process for this remarkable system? On this classic ID The Future from the archive…
Dr. Edward Peltzer: The Messy Reality of Prebiotic Chemistry [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:09
On today's ID the Future, host Casey Luskin continues a deep dive into the mounting hurdles facing origin of life (OOL) research with prebiotic synthesis expert Dr. Edward Peltzer. Peltzer, a seasoned ocean chemist and r…
Sex: A Spicy Problem for Evolutionary Theory [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:04
Sexual reproduction ought to be a recipe for evolutionary disaster. It's a waste of resources producing no short-term advantages. It demands an entirely different form of cell division and requires highly designed interc…
Professor Steve Fuller on the Rich Tradition of Intelligent Design [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:29
On this episode of ID the Future, host Casey Luskin begins a two-part conversation with University of Warwick professor Steve Fuller to reflect on the historical and philosophical foundations of intelligent design (ID) a…