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Michael Pollan’s Journey into Consciousness with Sarah Kanowski

  • Talks and Ideas
  • Curious

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  • Concert Hall
  • Run time: 90 minutes Subject to change
  • Seating map

The closer we look at consciousness, the weirder it gets

Consciousness colours every thought you’ve ever had, every memory you’ve ever made and every moment you’ve ever experienced. Yet there’s no agreement where it comes from.

Does the brain create consciousness or does it receive it? Could plants have it? Might artificial intelligence one day feel something? Or have we been asking the wrong questions all along?

In his latest book, A World Appears, Michael Pollan turns his attention to one of science’s greatest mysteries. Drawing on neuroscience, philosophy, meditation, psychedelics and theoretical physics, he charts the elusive continent of consciousness, exploring radical perspectives on how we might begin to understand it.

In this fascinating conversation, Pollan explores the surprising ideas emerging at the frontiers of consciousness research, where altered states, ancient philosophies and modern science collide. Are we on the brink of what Pollan calls a “Copernican moment”, where we’re starting to see a universe around us more animated than we ever imagined? 

From grey spongy matter to vast metaphysical questions, you’re invited into the strange, fascinating terrain where biology meets imagination.

Presented by Sydney Opera House. Event Partner The University of Sydney.

Event details

The man who turned a generation on to hallucinogens returns with a head-spinning book about consciousness.

The Guardian

Event Partner

  • The University of Sydney

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Plan your visit

Address

Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia

Getting to the venue

The Opera House is a 7-10 minute walk from Circular Quay, and is easily accessible by car, train, ferry, lightrail, bus, bike and on foot.

Location and access

Concert Hall

The Concert Hall is located beneath the largest of Sydney Opera House’s roof sails, filling the upper levels of the west side of the building. Best accessed through the covered concourse. 

All Sydney Opera House foyers are accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to all foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators).

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