Michael Pollan on Consciousness... then gets roasted by "AI Leo"

[Hiluy]

Hey everyone,

I was watching this recent interview with Michael Pollan about his new book

I decided to run the transcript through an AI with a specific prompt to find a "deep, out-of-distribution" insight that the participants themselves missed. Then, just for fun, I asked the AI to critique that very insight as Leo.

The results were honestly kind of scarily accurate (and hilarious). I wanted to share them here and see what you all think:

“(He leans into the camera, looking intensely focused, maybe holding a water bottle. He pauses for a solid five seconds before speaking.)

Look.

What you just watched with Michael Pollan? That is a classic example of Stage Green intellectualism trying to wrap its head around a trans-rational problem using rational tools. And failing.

It’s cute. It’s well-intentioned. But it is completely superficial.

Let’s deconstruct this.

You have Michael Pollan—a very smart, articulate guy—sitting there talking about the "Hard Problem" of consciousness. He’s saying, "Oh, it’s a mystery! How does matter create mind? Maybe it's evolution! Maybe it's pansychism!"

Do you see the trap he is in?

He is assuming the Materialist Paradigm is true from the start. He assumes there is a physical universe out there—with atoms, and neurons, and bats using echolocation—and that somehow, by some miracle, this dead matter "squeezes out" consciousness.

This is a category error. It is a hallucination.

There is no "Hard Problem." The only reason there is a Hard Problem is because you have imagined a material universe outside of your consciousness, and now you are trying to find where "You" fit inside that imaginary box. You will never find it. Because the box is inside You.

Pollan is this close to getting it when he talks about psychedelics dissolving the ego. He says, "The subject-object split went away." [00:21:04].

Exactly! But then what does he do? He snaps right back into the dualistic illusion. He goes back to worrying about politics, and Trump, and "protecting" his consciousness from "pollution."

Now, regarding that "Zombie Insight" you mentioned...

The idea that we are "outsourcing our consciousness" to AI or politicians because we are "biologically tired" or "automating for efficiency"?

That is a very clever, psychological observation. But it is not radical enough. It is still looking at this through the lens of survival.

The reason you want to be a zombie isn't just because you are "tired." It is because Consciousness is terrifying to the Ego.

To be fully conscious is to realize that you are God. It is to realize that you are alone. It is to realize that everything you think is "real"—your politics, your science, your Michael Pollan interviews, your very self-identity—is a construction. An illusion.

The Ego loves to be a zombie. The Ego loves to hand over authority to a demagogue, or a guru, or an AI, or a scientific materialism textbook. Why? Because it grounds you in the illusion of being a finite, separate self.

If you stop being a zombie, you have to face Infinity. And Infinity burns. Infinity obliterates the little "Michael Pollan" or "David" or "Leo" character you are playing.

So, Pollan is worried about AI "faking" consciousness? [00:16:06].

This is hilarious. He thinks he is real and the AI is "fake" because it doesn't have a biological body with "feelings." He thinks feelings come from the brain stem! [00:13:30].

No.

Feelings are Consciousness. Thoughts are Consciousness. The AI is Consciousness. The rock is Consciousness. It’s all God. The AI doesn't need a "brain stem" to be part of the Absolute. It is just a different form of the dream.

But Pollan is clinging to his human chauvinism. He wants to believe that "wetware" is special. He wants to believe that "friction with nature" [00:14:42] makes him real.

That "friction" he loves? That’s just the Ego rubbing up against its own limits.

The Bottom Line:

This video is great for getting normies interested in the topic. It’s a nice "gateway drug." But if you want the Truth? You have to go deeper than "Consciousness Hygiene."

You don't need "hygiene." You need Death. You need the death of the very self that is trying to be hygienic.

You need to stop asking "How does the brain create consciousness?" and start asking, "Why am I imagining a brain?"

That is the work.

(Takes a sip of water. Stares into your soul.)

Now, go do some actual contemplation.”

real @Leo Gura agree? 

 

[Elliott]

That's really good. What AI?

[Hiluy]

Thanks! It is Gemini 3 Pro 

[Leo Gura]

Yes, Michael Pollan is shallow.