Can machines ever truly feel? Michael Pollan doesn't think so. His explanation will change how you think about AI, consciousness, and what makes us human.
Michael Pollan is a New York Times bestselling author and one of the most influential thinkers on the human mind and how we heal. His book How to Change Your Mind brought psychedelic therapy into the mainstream conversation and changed how the world thinks about mental health.
In this episode of No Magic Pill, we go deep on psychedelics, ego dissolution, and why the dose that changed everything for me wasn't the biggest one I ever took.
Do you think a machine could ever truly be conscious?
No Magic Pill is live now. Link in bio to subscribe. @michael.pollan
Indie Bookstore Appreciation Post! Thank you to all the wonderful independent bookstores and booksellers who helped A WORLD APPEARS spend 4 weeks at #1 on the Indie Bestseller List, where it remains on the list. From hosting Michael on his book tour, to hand selling signed copies, to sharing your impassioned endorsements on social media, you deserve credit for this book’s success. Shop local!
🧠 Comment “MIND” to watch Michael Pollan’s full #Bioneers2026 keynote!
What if consciousness isn’t something humans uniquely possess, but something widely shared across life — and even being attributed to some AI systems?
In this sweeping keynote, journalist and author @Michael.Pollan explores a profound shift underway in science and culture: the expanding recognition of consciousness in animals (and perhaps beyond), alongside the rise of artificial intelligence. As these two forces converge, he invites us into a deeper question: not just what consciousness is, but who belongs within our circle of moral concern. The answer, he suggests, may reshape how we understand intelligence, ethics, and our relationship to the living world.
Are chatbots fracturing our society? 🤖
In the latest episode, @mrevgenylebedev and @michael.pollan explore how social media and AI are not just competing for our attention, but beginning to shape our sense of self
Their conversation can be found across all platforms now 🎧
#michaelpollan #consciousness #bravenewworld
Welcoming Michael Pollan (@michael.pollan ) to Harvest Kaplankaya 10: The Imagination Chapter.
A writer and cultural observer, Michael’s work continues to evolve, moving beyond how we eat to explore how we think, perceive, and relate to the world around us. In his forthcoming book ‘A World Appears’, he turns toward new frontiers of consciousness, asking how shifts in awareness can reshape not only individual experience, but collective possibility.
Michael invites us to reimagine imagination itself, not as escape, but as a tool for insight, transformation, and deeper connection. He opens a space to question what we take for granted, and to consider how expanding our inner worlds might influence the outer one.
From Michael Pollan, Journalist and Bestselling Author of “A World Appears,” at #Bioneers2026:
“I take this expansion of the circle of sentient beings as a very positive development. Basically, I think what we’re seeing is that science is helping us reanimate a world that we treated as dead for too long.”
#AWorldAppears #MichaelPollan #Consciousness #Neuroscience
@michael.pollan@penguinpress
“The plants in my garden seemed much more conscious than I’d ever thought. They seemed to be returning my gaze.”
Michael Pollan (@michael.pollan ) tells Janna Levin (@JannaLevin ) about the psychedelic trip that partly inspired his latest book, A WORLD APPEARS—and explores the truth of plant consciousness that his vision intimated.
🔗🌱Watch the rest of their dialogue at the link in bio.
Through his writing, Michael Pollan (@michael.pollan ) has helped millions around across the globe rethink their relationship with nature, consciousness, and the hidden intelligence that shapes our lives. His work continues to invite us to slow down, look closer, and rediscover the profound mystery of being alive.
Pollan asks us to consider consciousness not just as a phenomenon to study, but as an inner realm worthy of care and protection. This excerpt, from his most recent book, ‘A World Appears’, published just last month, reflects his core idea that consciousness is far richer and more mysterious than the machine metaphors we often use to explain it.
We are thrilled to welcome Michael Pollan to Harvest Chapter 10: The Imagination Chapter.
🔁 Share this with someone who loves big questions about the mind.
We tend to assume we understand consciousness, until we start looking closely. While writing “A World Appears,” Michael Pollan discovered just how little scientists and philosophers actually know about the nature of awareness.
The deeper you go, the stranger it becomes…from meditation as a way to cultivate attention to radical ideas like panpsychism, which asks whether consciousness might exist everywhere.
If you enjoy books that challenge what you think you know and invite you to look at the ordinary experience of being alive with fresh curiosity, this one is well worth the read.
Follow @with.rooh to discover more ideas, books, and experiences that inspire deeper thinking and reflection.
#consciousness #booksthatmakeyouthink #booksbooksbooks #deepconversations #expandyourmind
Can AI ever be conscious?
Michael Pollan (@michael.pollan ) on the “hard problem” — and why the question isn’t as simple as it sounds.
Full conversation on YouTube (link in bio).
#MichaelPollan #Consciousness #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #HardProblem #Neuroscience #Philosophy #publicmedia
