Alex O’Connor on Death, Meaning & Why Our Brains Lie to Us

Get ready for a collective existential crisis. TommyInnit puts on his big brain thinking cap as Cosmic Skeptic Alex O’Connor joins the Shut Up I’m Talking podcast for a mind-bending deep dive into consciousness, free will, fear of death, religion, and why our brains lie to us.

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The boys dig into Alex’s Catholic upbringing, how he got from three U grades to Oxford University via his YouTube channel and how debating Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens shaped him.Tom admits he’s terrified of death, Jack questions whether meaning is something we create or discover, and Alex explains philosophical zombies, panpsychism, and what it feels like to lose your sense of self on psychedelics. They explore consciousness, blind sight, ego death, split-brain experiments, why the self might be an illusion, and whether a worm or a bat experiences reality anything like we do. Alex also opens up about burnout, grounding himself, and trying to keep philosophy fun rather than content-driven.

Topics: 00:00 - Intro 02:20 - Alex O’Connor introduces himself 04:25 - Alex’s worst moment of the week 06:30 - Early life & journey into philosophy and theology 11:15 - What happens when we die? 15:10 - How to stop fearing death 19:40 - What is meaning? 23:50 - Alex’s view on purpose 27:00 - Conscious experience and why it exists 29:23 - The Philosophical Zombie 30:14 - Do plants feel pain? 33:00 - What is consciousness? 37:55 - What is Jack Manifold? 41:28 - Ego death and psychedelic experiences 44:12 - Left brain & right brain 46:01 - Crazy split brain experiments 51:00 - Alien hand syndrome 52:00 - Does Alex get tired of debating? 53:15 - How to switch off from thinking so deeply 54:20 - How Alex winds down 55:55 - Playing Warzone whilst talking about the bible 58:30 - Bruce Springsteen & free will 1:00:00 - How philosophy can help with anxiety 1:02:00 - Everyone is going to play PUBG together 1:03:40 - Content, social media & control 1:04:42 - How’s the worm doing? 1:05:35 - How to get into philosophy 1:05:56 - The mystery of consciousness 1:07:24 - ‘Mary’s Room’ thought experiment 1:09:38 - TommyInnit invites Alex O’Connor for a pint 1:09:50 - Transition over to Patreon

Written & presented by: Tom Simons & Jack Manifold Executive producer: Mirren Mace Directed by: Mirren Mace Producer: Russell Noon Production coordinator: Tori Sheard Social media: Tori Sheard Camera, sound & lighting: Owen Rogers & Hazar Ayyildiz Editor: Owen Rogers Shorts editor & Thumbnail: Snikrep Set design: Mirren Mace

This podcast episode was recorded on 25/10/25 Follow us on social media: IG: https://instagram.com/shutuplmtalking X: https://x.com/shutup1mtalking TikTok: https://tiktok.com/shutup1mtalking