Wednesday, January 28, 2009

MindBlog's first PodCast: "The I-Illusion"

Posting the podcast of the web radio show this past Monday motivated me to follow through on composing a few of my own podcasts for MindBlog. When I asked for opinions on this possibility last Oct. 31, most respondents indicated a preference for 5-30 min chunks of material. I decided to warm up by translating a lecture I have given, "The I-Illusion," into podcast form. (Here is the mp3 (10 Mb) download.) You can find the web version here. The podcast version is a condensed form of the web lecture (It is 45 min instead of 1 hr), but it has more recent material not included in the web lecture.

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:25 PM

    Here are some post-listening thoughts per your end of podcast request (remember you asked):

    1.) The vast majority of podcasts I subscribe to are interview type podcasts. I do subscribe to some monologue/lecture type podcasts. I'm much more likely to get to those that are 10 minutes or less.

    2.) Your voice is great for radio/podcasting and the topic was interesting.

    3.) The audio quality was good but the 1 minute of silence highlighted the amount of "fuzz" in the rest of the recording. I doubt you can do anything about this.

    4.) Maybe if your preference is a more formal lecture (versus interviews) a second person or some music would be helpful.

    5.) Maybe I simply need to work on my own attentional skills.

    Great job and I look forward to the next installment.

    Jon Newman

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  2. Thanks very much for your comments!

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  3. Thanks. It took me a while to get around to it but this was not due to a lack of interest rather to a lot of other stuff going on over the last few weeks. I like to get a feel for the bloggers I read so it was great to hear your voice - that other side that only seeps through in a blog that says it through quotes rather than long-winded commentary. (Your piano pieces fill out the picture too, don't give them up.)

    Length was good for me but then I'm fascinated by this stuff. It was great to hear it all - including some stuff new to me - put together into a whole argument. It continues to amaze me how little insight the majority of people - including some who are otherwise intelligent and perceptive - have into the process of mind, as if their conscious narrative was the substantive content of their person, the source of their values, and a scientific proof for whatever it was that just popped into their heads. The view you are presenting almost demands a higher level humility - and a requirement for using real evidence in important decisions - that's often missing. It doesn't seem to me like we can go on trapped in the I-illusion for too much longer, but who knows?

    If I were running a school your talk would be on the program. I'll try it on my kids!

    Regards
    Jim

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  4. Anonymous11:09 AM

    Thank you for starting to do podcasts, Deric - it's a great way to get this kind of info out and around. One day it may be so familiar it will have become "common knowledge."

    I've linked your podcast (along with the blogpost and the on-line lecture) to Ginger Campbell's BrainSciencePodcast Forum.
    http://www.docartemis.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi

    You'll find it under "Other Resources," under a section called "Podcasts."

    I have followed your blog for years now - read it almost every day. Thank you for this, for all of it.

    Diane

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  5. And thank you for your comments and support. I'm glad people are finding this useful.

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  6. Hi Deric, can't believe I missed this when you posted it, excellent first subject! The excerpt from the EDGE you quoted prompted me to catch up (I read the entire EDGE Question for 2009 and most were fantastic).

    Some tech tips first as I've yet to listen to this fully. You want to encode your MP3's at 44.1kHz (even if you record them at a lower rate) because some players (like the default on linux) don't always like anything else. Take a listen to Doug Kaye for tips: http://podcastacademy.com/shows/detail1600/

    Looking forward to listening when I have time.

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  7. Thanks. I can replace the mp3 file currently posted with one done at 44.1 kHz.

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  8. Anonymous12:06 AM

    I know I am late in the game, but I really enjoyed this!

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