What Is Consciousness Really?
- Bernard Beitman, MD
- Dec 29, 2025
- 2 min read
Updated: 3 hours ago
Subjectivity, Self-Observation, and Why the Inner World May Shape Our Future, with Matt Colborn.
What if the most important frontier for humanity isn’t technological—but internal?
In this episode of Connecting with Coincidence, Dr. Bernard Beitman sits down with Matt Colborn to explore one of the most elusive questions in science and philosophy: what is consciousness, and why does it matter right now? Drawing from biology, cognitive science, and lived contemplative experience, the conversation moves beyond abstraction into something surprisingly practical—and urgent.
Matt introduces listeners to the “hard problem” of consciousness: subjective experience itself. From there, the discussion turns toward the self-observer—the part of us capable of watching our own thoughts, emotions, and reactions in real time. This capacity, cultivated through practices like meditation, may be more than a personal wellness tool. It may be foundational to how individuals, societies, and even civilizations evolve.
As the conversation unfolds, Matt and Bernie explore how inner states quietly shape outer systems: identity, time perception, decision-making, empathy, and conflict. Rather than focusing solely on fixing broken structures, Matt argues for developing psychological maturity—learning to pause, reflect, and respond rather than react. This shift, he suggests, could be key to navigating an increasingly complex world.
The episode closes with a grounded but hopeful vision of a more benign future: rewilding and restoring the biosphere, building trust-based communities, embracing play, and fostering deeper self-understanding. Consciousness, in this view, isn’t just something we study—it’s something we practice, moment by moment.
Meet Matt now on the Connecting with Coincidence podcast:
About Matt Colborn
Matt Colborn is an author, lecturer, and podcaster with a D.Phil in biology and an MSc in cognitive science. He currently teaches consciousness studies and explores the nature of subjective experience through both rigorous scientific inquiry and lived practice. His published works include the nonfiction book What Lies Beyond: Consciousness, Science, the Paranormal, and the Post-Material Future and the short story collection City in the Dusk. In 2023, he also reached Everest Base Camp.
And be sure to check out our other fascinating podcast guests in our Connecting with Coincidence library of episodes:
Dr. Beitman - have you talked elsewhere about the outermost observer?