Here are some things that are aimed at a more general, non-specialist audience. These are a bit more accessible than my published papers, and don’t require any prior knowledge of philosophy or psychology.
I am a passionate believer in public philosophy. If you have a public engagement event in mind and you would like me to do something, please email me (email address on the homepage).
Articles
- Why robots can be culturally insensitive – and how scientists are trying to fix it. The Conversation. This is about cultural robotics: the practice of designing robots to fit with differing cultural norms and expectations. It’s written by me and Masoumeh Mansouri.
- Sometimes, paying attention means we see the world less clearly. Aeon/Psyche. This is about the way that attention can distort our conscious experience of the world, and what this means for our knowledge of the world.
- Visual illusion that may help explain consciousness: new study. The Conversation. This is about a new visual illusion that Bilge Sayim and I discovered, and which may help us understand peripheral vision. This was republished in The Independent, which is available here.
- Blindsight: a strange neurological condition that could help explain consciousness. The Conversation. This is about blindsight and the problem of consciousness. This article was traslated into Arabic.
- What is a species? The most important concept in all of biology is a complete mystery. The Conversation. This is about the species problem in biology. The biologist and blogger Jerry Coyne wrote an aggressive response to this article. A reply to his criticisms (as well as a link to his response) is available here.
Podcasts
- I was a guest on the Parker’s Pensees podcast in 2023. The episode is called ‘the philosophy of mind vs the science of consciousness’. We talk about my work on natural kinds, global workspace theory and the science of consciousness. We also talk about whether you could have been a poached egg, or a desk. It’s available here. This podcast is aimed at advanced undergraduate/postgraduate level.
- I have been interviewed here, by Mike Livemore for the Free Range podcast. We talk about attention, perception, species, scientific concepts, and Jaffa Cakes. This podcast is aimed at a general academic audience, so it’s a little less accessible than some of the other stuff on this page.
- I interviewed Mike Livermore here for the Free Range podcast. Mike is a Law Professor at the University of Virginia. We talk about the ethics of artificial intelligence being used in the law, whether AI can recognise when law is being applied too literally, and whether AI is better than human judges and juries.
- I have interviewed Dr Nikk Effingham for a podcast on time travel for the University of Birmingham.
Events
- On 15th May 2024 (7-9.30pm), I’ll be doing Pint of Science. This will be at the Moseley Hive in Birmingham. Me and Andrew Bremner will be chatting about when infants become conscious, and there will also be talks about brain rhythms and the link between brain and heart. Details here.
- On 13-14th February 2024, there was a ‘BotBuilders’ event at The Exchange in Birmingham City Centre. This is a free family-oriented event, where children created and designed their very own robot using old materials, guided by local artist Tat Vision. This is based on myself and Masoumeh Mansouri’s work on culture in robotics (we were there for some of it to chat about robots!). This is part of the University of Birmingham’s ‘AI Futures’ project: a series of public engagement events based around the theme of AI and the future.
- On 22nd November 2023, I gave a public talk at The Exchange in Birmingham City Centre. The title is What is Consciousness: two answers. It introduces the public to two of the mainstream views of consciousness in cognitive science. The event was hosted by The Philosophers‘ Yard. The talk was recorded, and is here. Philosophers’ Yard also did a short interview with me, which is available here.
- I co-organised New Directions for a Science of Consciousness. We heard three talks on various aspects of consciousness studies, including how to study consciousness after brain injury, how to study consciousness in animals, and how to establish consciousness in other people. This event featured talks by Davinia Fernandez-Espejo (Neuroscience, University of Birmingham), Jack Lyons (Philosophy, University of Glasgow) and Heather Browning (Philosophy, University of Southampton). The videos of the talks are available here. Sponsored by the Royal Institute of Philosophy. This was co-organised with Francesco Antilici.
- In December 2016, I gave a public lecture for the Royal Institute of Philosophy titled ‘what can zombies teach us about consciousness?’.
Interviews
- A short interview with me will be part of the University of Birmingham’s ‘AI Futures’ exhibition from February to November 2024, at The Exchange in Birmingham City Centre.
- I have been interviewed by The Voice of Islam, radio twice, about the influence of Aristotle’s metaphysics on Islamic Philosophy, and about the role of emotions in our moral judgements.
Blogposts and press releases
- What does it mean for a robot to be cultured? Imperfect Cognitions. This blogpost is about my work with Masoumeh Mansouri on ‘cultural robotics’: the project of making robots more culturally sensitive.
- Researchers propose a new way to identify when babies become conscious. This is a press release based around a letter in Trends in Cognitive Sciences written by me and Andy Bremner. It’s about using natural kinds to study infant consciousness.
- What is the relationship between your conscious mind, and yourself? Accessible summary of one of my recent articles on the relation between subjects and their conscious experiences.
- Computational indeterminacy: what is your computer really doing? This is a blogpost for the Intercontinental Academia 4 Project on Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence. It’s about how best to interpret which algorithms a computer is computing, when there are at least two algorithms that in principle accurately describe its activity. This is sometimes called ‘computational indeterminacy’, and it has ramifications to whether rocks are computers.
Other
- I have organised and run a Summer School in Durham to introduce A-level students to philosophy.
- In 2011, I did some voluntary A-level philosophy teaching at Hills Road Sixth Form College
Henry Taylor 