Best Benjamin Pollak Podcasts (2025)

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“The Unreasonable Effectiveness of the Behavioral Sciences in Developmental Biology and Biomedicine” 46:35

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15d ago46:35

46:35

This is a ~46 minute talk by Michael Levin titled “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of the Behavioral Sciences in Developmental Biology and Biomedicine” given at a developmental biology/bioengineering symposium, explaining the connections between the cognitive/behavioral sciences and the study of morphogenesis, from the lens of our framework and new …

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Discussion #1 with Katrina Schleisman and David Burke 54:56

19d ago54:56

54:56

This is a ~54 minute conversation with Katrina Schleisman (https://www.galois.com/team/katrina-schleisman) and David Burke (https://www.galois.com/team/david-burke) about issues related to memory, Platonism, diverse intelligence, and similar topics. CHAPTERS: (00:00) Paper comments and impetus (01:38) Math-physics causal dualism (06:19) Unreasonabl…

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Conversation with David Resnik 1 52:40

28d ago52:40

52:40

This is a ~52 minute conversation with philosopher David Resnik (https://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/resources/bioethics/bioethicist) about the Platonic Space model and our plan for a new paper about a different variant of it than what I've been writing so far. CHAPTERS: (00:00) Morphogenesis and latent space (15:19) Platonism's scientific utility (…

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Discussion #1 with Elan Barenholtz 57:56

30d ago57:56

57:56

This is a ~57 minute discussion with Elan Barenholtz (https://mpcrlab.com/people/Elan-Barenholtz/) about language and its possible autonomy in brains, AI models, and other systems linking to our lab's work on active data and the thoughts-thinkers continuum. CHAPTERS: (00:00) Language As Auto-Generator (21:14) Virtual Governors In Physiology (30:37)…

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Conversation 1 with Diana Moga, Alexey Tolchinsky, and Chris Fields 52:19

1M ago52:19

52:19

This is a ~52 minute discussion between Diana Moga (https://www.dianamogamd.com/), Alexey Tolchinsky (https://montgomerycountypsychologist.com/), Chris Fields (https://chrisfieldsresearch.com/), and I on topics related to autism, ketamine-assisted therapy, and the linking of these concepts to somatic biology. CHAPTERS: (00:00) Ketamine, Trauma, Def…

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Conversation 1 with Nora Belrose: AI, sentience, and Platonic Space 1:05:49

1M ago1:05:49

1:05:49

This is a ~1 hour 5 minute conversation between Nora Belrose (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=p_oBc64AAAAJ&hl=en) and me on the topics of consciousness, AI, and different views of the Platonic Space. CHAPTERS: (00:00) Introductions and Moral Risks (09:11) Intelligence, Sentience, Irreversibility (16:38) Digital Copies and Value (24:54) Dy…

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Discussion with Alexey Tolchinsky and Thomas Pollak 2 55:43

1M ago55:43

55:43

This is a ~1 hour conversation between Alexey Tolchinsky (https://montgomerycountypsychologist.com/), a clinical psychologist and Adjunct Professor at The George Washington University, Center for Professional Psychology, and Thomas Pollak (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6171-0810), a neuropsychiatrist and researcher working at the Institute of Psychia…

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Discussion #1 with Chris Fields, Mark Solms, Karl Friston, and Thomas Pollak: introspection & more 1:05:02

1M ago1:05:02

1:05:02

This is a ~1 hour 5 minute working conversation with Chris Fields (https://chrisfieldsresearch.com/), Mark Solms (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=vD4p8rQAAAAJ&hl=en), Karl Friston (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=q_4u0aoAAAAJ&hl=en), and Thomas Pollak (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/thomas-pollak) starting on the topic of variable…

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"Entropic motivation and the roots of agency"by Alex Kiefer 1:03:28

1M ago1:03:28

1:03:28

This is a ~35 min talk titled "Entropic motivation and the roots of agency" by Alex Kiefer (https://philpeople.org/profiles/alex-kiefer) + ~25 min discussion of the issues of motivation in artificial and natural agents. CHAPTERS: (00:00) Entropy, Motivation, Psychophysical Identity (35:45) Willpower, Purpose, Buddhist Motivation (45:57) Emergent Go…

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"Unconventional Embodiments: model systems & strategies addressing mind-blindness" by Michael Levin 46:40

2M ago46:40

46:40

This is a ~45 minute talk for an embodied cognition audience, covering my framework for diverse intelligence, our use of morphogenesis as a model system for communicating with unconventional minds, and my views on our new MomBot platform and how it helps understand the symmetries between science and agency, and the novel group minds consisting of t…

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"Platonic Space: brief argument and research agenda" by Michael Levin 17:46

2M ago17:46

17:46

This is a brief (~17 minute) introduction to my argument about Platonic space in biology, using a 1-page simplified argument format and then a quick overview of the research program entailed by it. CHAPTERS: (00:00) Mathematical facts and patterns (01:46) Math explains physical reality (04:28) Physicalism and Platonic space (06:17) Structured space…

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Against Mind-Blindness: recognizing and communicating with unconventional beings by Michael Levin 50:08

2M ago50:08

50:08

This ~50 minute talk given at a futurism/AI gathering is a variant of my recent talks on diverse intelligence, focusing on ways to expand our perspective via considerations of non-brain-based intelligence in the body, patterns as agents, synthetic beings as model systems for learning to predict and communicate with agents that do not share our sele…

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Conversation with Benjamin Lyons, Eli Sennesh, and Jordan Theriault 1:00:49

2M ago1:00:49

1:00:49

This is a ~1 hour discussion with Ben Lyons (https://interestingessays.substack.com/), Eli Sennesh (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=3z4ALYgAAAAJ&hl=en), and Jordan Theriault (http://www.jordan-theriault.com/), where they each give talks and then we have a brief Q&A on topics related to neuroscience, economics, and specifically the interoc…

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Why bioelectricity in morphogenesis matters: an introduction in 3 slides by Michael Levin 8:50

2M ago8:50

8:50

This is an ~8 minute very quick introduction about the context for developmental bioelectricity and some examples of how we use it as an interface to control growth and form. In this very short 3 slide introduction at a discussion forum, I tried to explain that bioelectricity is not just more physics we need to keep track of in morphogenesis, nor i…

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"What the physiological software of life means for patient-specific interventions" by Michael Levin 5:14

3M ago5:14

5:14

This is a very brief (~5 minute) explanation I made at a conference on next generation biomedicine about the topic of physiological learning and reprogrammability. I was commenting on the fact that differences in patient responses to interventions are not only due to genetics and epigenetics, but also to the memories made by cells and tissues of pa…

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"The biology of apparent selves" by Michael Levin 52:08

3M ago52:08

52:08

This is a ~52-minute talk titled "The Biology of Apparent Selves: Bioengineering Model Systems for the Contemplative Sciences" that I have at the CSCSC 25 (Complex Systems and Contemplative Studies Conference) symposium (https://luma.com/3vyrtz4j?utm_source=ep-g2M2JDmWHB). CHAPTERS: (00:01) Embodied Minds And TAME (03:30) Beyond Human-Centric Minds…

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Discussion with Alexey Tolchinsky and Patricia Silveira 1 48:29

3M ago48:29

48:29

This is a ~48 minute discussion between Alexey Tolchinsky (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=tiBKmrsAAAAJ&hl=en), Patricia Silveira (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VexSZ40AAAAJ&hl=en), and me on the topic of molecular markers of trauma and how to extend ideas about the psychology of trauma to minimal models of cognition such as X…

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"The Embodied Mind of a New Robot Scientist" by Michael Levin 58:34

3M ago58:34

58:34

This is a ~58 minute talk titled "The Embodied Mind of a New Robot Scientist: symmetries between AI and bioengineering the agential material of life and their impact on technology and on our future" which I gave as a closing Keynote to the ALIFE conference in Japan (https://2025.alife.org/). This is a different talk than any I've done before, in th…

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"Bioelectricity: a bridge between physics and cognition, by way of biology" by Michael Levin 22:19

3M ago22:19

22:19

This is a ~22 minute talk that I gave remotely at the Tech For Impact Summit 2025 in Japan (https://tech4impactsummit.com/). It goes very quickly over the idea of bioelectricity as the cognitive glue between different scales of intelligence at the body, allowing top-down control and transduction of high-level goals down to the chemistry. I discuss …

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Bioelectricity: A Bridge Between Physics and Cognition, by Way of Biology 54:07

3M ago54:07

54:07

This is a ~54 minute talk I gave, titled ""Bioelectricity: a bridge between physics and cognition, by way of biology", at the National Institute of Health Interest Group "Quantum SIG" (https://oir.nih.gov/sigs/qis-quantum-sensing-biology-interest-group). My talk doesn't contain any quantum biology content per se, but I discuss the idea of top-down …

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Intrinsic Motivation in Evolved, Engineered, and Hybrid Systems 57:26

3M ago57:26

57:26

This is a ~1 hour talk I gave at the Oxford Robotics Institute called "Intrinsic motivation in evolved, engineered, and hybrid systems: the interface of biophysics, computer science, and behavioral science". It covers our work from the perspective of motivations - what are they (in various unconventional agents, spaces, and scales), how can we pred…

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Discussion between Elliot Murphy and Michael Levin 1 57:31

3M ago57:31

57:31

This is a a ~1 hour discussion between Elliot Murphy (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=4AYNRj0AAAAJ&hl=en) and me on the topic of language, evolution, neuroscience, and language models. Elliot's paper: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17588928.2025.2523875 CHAPTERS: (00:00) Neural Basis Of Syntax (19:00) Signatures Of Structure…

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Discussion with Chris Fields and Julian Gough #1 1:04:08

4M ago1:04:08

1:04:08

This is a conversation between Chris Fields (https://allencenter.tufts.edu/our-team/christopher-a-chris-fields-ph-d/), Julian Gough (https://theeggandtherock.com/), and me about the theory of selection on the scale of universes and analogies to biology. CHAPTERS: (00:00) Evolutionary Cosmology Overview (10:03) Universe Heredity And Environment (20:…

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Discussion with Jordi Vallverdú #1 49:36

4M ago49:36

49:36

This is a discussion between Jordi Vallverdú (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Y_Q8AQkAAAAJ&hl=en) and me, around the topic of transferring information from the minds of embodied humans into LLM AI's, and natural, biological analogs of this process (moving cognitive patterns across embodiments). The paper Jordi was referring to: https://jo…

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Aastha Jain and I interview Robert Gatenby 1:03:51

4M ago1:03:51

1:03:51

This is a ~1 hour interview by Aastha Jain Simes (https://www.livelongerworld.com/) and I of leading cancer researcher Robert Gatenby (https://www.moffitt.org/inspiring-stories/dr.-gatenbys-story). Bob talks about the evolutionary and physiology approach to understanding cancer. CHAPTERS: (00:00) Evolutionary Hallmarks of Cancer (12:02) Cooperation…

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"Mapping Diverse Intelligence Spaces" by Janet Wiles - discussion 1:03:47

4M ago1:03:47

1:03:47

This is a ~36 minute talk by Janet Wiles (https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/13) "Mapping Diverse Intelligence Spaces: looking for xenobots in computational models of memory and language", followed by a ~24 minute discussion of her work on the intersection of cognitive science, language, robotics, and computer science, and some of our work on evolutio…

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Against Mind-Blindness: Recognizing and Communicating with Agential Materials by Michael Levin 1:11:24

4M ago1:11:24

1:11:24

This is a 1 hour 11 minute talk by me called "Against Mind-Blindness: recognizing and communicating with Agential Materials and Beyond". It is a slightly longer, updated version of this talk from last month, containing a bit of new material and a somewhat differently-ordered presentation. CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spot…

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Patterns of Form and Behavior Beyond Emergence by Michael Levin 1:13:34

4M ago1:13:34

1:13:34

This is a ~1 hour 15 minute talk titled "Patterns of Form and Behavior Beyond Emergence: how Platonic Space in-forms evolved, engineered, and hybrid embodied minds", which is the kickoff talk for our Symposium on Platonic Space (https://thoughtforms.life/symposium-on-the-platonic-space/). Here I go slowly step by step to review the data that motiva…

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Biological and Technological Information Processing 35:54

4M ago35:54

35:54

This is a ~35 minute talk on commonalities and differences between biological and technological information processing, and the implications for AI (given at the AGI-25 conference in Iceland). The full program, including Hananel Hazan's talk (which is the 2nd half of mine), is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdftA37yZJw. CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast…

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Unconventional Embodiments of Consciousness: A Diverse Intelligence Research Program - Michael Levin 46:46

5M ago46:46

46:46

This is a ~46 minute talk given at a conference on consciousness, presenting my lab's data on cognition in body organs outside the brain and then some speculations about the mind-body connection more generally (fleshing out my Platonic space model with symmetries between brain:mind relationships and mathematics:physics relationships). CONNECT WITH …

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Against Mind-blindness: Recognizing and Communicating with Agential Materials and Beyond - Michael Levin 1:07:08

5M ago1:07:08

1:07:08

This is a ~1 hour 7 minute talk I gave at the SEMF Interdisciplinary School (July 2025, https://semf.org.es/school2025/#speakers-container) on agency ways to think about expanding our ability to detect and communicate with unconventional minds. The same talk but with a lengthy Q&A will be up on the SEMF website. CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website You…

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Beyond Complexity & Emergence: Taming Multiscale Competency in Agential Materials 54:05

5M ago54:05

54:05

This is a ~54 minute talk given at a workshop on complexity. Many of the examples are the same ones I often talk about but this talk is focused on explaining how biology deals with complexity, and ways to think about complex patterns of form and behavior beyond the conventional approach of emergence. CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple P…

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Engineering Agential Materials 27:20

6M ago27:20

27:20

This is a ~18 min talk plus ~10 min Q&A on a top-down approach to bioengineering and robotics that I gave at the Biohybrid Robotics Symposium in Switzerland in July 2025 (https://biohybrid-robotics.com/). CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Blog The Levin LabBy Michael Levin

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Discussion with Michael Johnson 55:20

6M ago55:20

55:20

This is a ~55 minute conversation with Michael Johnson (https://t.co/YxAOZif0V2) covering topics of spectrum of consciousness down to the cell (and below) level, implicit memory and cellular pixels of experience, Platonic space, symmetry breaking, and intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation in systems. CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podc…

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Unconventional Selves - a Diverse Intelligence Perspective on Consciousness by Michael Levin 1:11:51

6M ago1:11:51

1:11:51

"Unconventional selves in novel spaces, scales, and embodiments - a diverse intelligence perspective on a continuum of cognition and consciousness" is a ~1 hour 12 min talk I gave at a conference on consciousness (https://www.hardproblem.it/), as it relates to our work on diverse intelligence and unconventional cognition. CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast W…

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Nothing in Biology Makes Sense without Teleology 1:18:54

6M ago1:18:54

1:18:54

This is a deliberately provocative talk (~1 hour 20 minutes) I gave on teleology (a pretty taboo subject in a lot of the life sciences) delivered at Caltech. I try to go step by step and show the philosophical background of how I think about goal-directedness in physically embodied agents (cells and tissues etc.) and then the data - classic example…

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Discussion with Murray Shanahan 25:24

6M ago25:24

25:24

This is a ~25 minute discussion with Murray Shanahan (https://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~mpsha/) on topics following up on his talk in our Center (https://youtu.be/ZlKc3ebLgEI?si=Tmq5gOwVDi4t-pip). CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Blog The Levin LabBy Michael Levin

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Discussion between Adam Safron, Max Shen, and Michael Levin 59:14

6M ago59:14

59:14

This is a ~1 hour discussion with Adam Safron (https://www.adamsafron.com/) and Max Shen (https://www.maxkshen.com/home), and Michael Levinabout diverse intelligence and its relevance for pain. CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Blog The Levin LabBy Michael Levin

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Discussion with David Spivak 57:14

6M ago57:14

57:14

This is a ~1 hour discussion with mathematician David Spivak (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Spivak) about issues related to goal-directedness and some puzzles around mathematical vs. physical constants (see https://thoughtforms.life/why-the-tight-clustering-of-mathematical-constants/ for more details on that question). CONNECT WITH ME: Podcas…

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Endogenous Bioelectrical Networks: An Interface to Somatic Intelligence 51:00

6M ago51:00

51:00

This is a ~55 min talk by Michael Levin "Endogenous Bioelectrical Networks: an interface to somatic intelligence for regenerative medicine", going over the state of the art in developmental bioelectricity in the context of collaborating with the cellular collective intelligence for applications in birth defects, regeneration, and cancer. It has som…

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Against Mind-Blindness 56:35

6M ago56:35

56:35

This is a new ~1 hour talk by me on the concept of diverse intelligence, and morphogenesis as a model system with which to practice identifying and communicating with unconventional minds. This is a bit different than previous ones because I explicitly go over examples of how some of our various data on bioelectrics addresses each of several key pr…

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Chemical AI: An Unconventional Strategy for Mimicking Biological Intelligence - Pier Luigi Gentili 58:25

7M ago58:25

58:25

This is a ~1 hour total presentation by Pier Luigi Gentili (https://www.pierluigigentili.com/) and brainstorming session about chemical intelligence and its relationship to the broader field of diverse intelligence. CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Blog The Levin Lab…

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Bioelectric Networks as the Interface to Somatic Intelligence: Toward a New Regenerative Medicine 50:53

7M ago50:53

50:53

This is a ~50 minute talk by me (given at IIT Mandi yesterday) on bioelectricity from the perspective of both, a path to regenerative medicine of birth defects, injury repair, and cancer, and a model system for learning to communicate with unconventional collective intelligences. CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitt…

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Conversation with Benjamin Lyons, Mark Blumberg, and Karen Adolph: Motor Development and Cognition 36:00

7M ago36:00

36:00

This is a ~30 minute conversation with Benjamin Lyons (https://benjaminflyons.com/), Mark Blumberg (https://blumberg.lab.uiowa.edu), and Karen Adolph (https://as.nyu.edu/faculty/karen-adolph.html) on the field of motor development and behavior in humans and other animals, and the ties between that field and the morphogenetic intelligence of embryog…

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Against Mind-Blindness: Recognizing and Communicating With Diverse Intelligences 35:49

8M ago35:49

35:49

This is a ~35 minute talk about diverse intelligence and our efforts to establish formalisms and methods for communicating with unconventional biological intelligences. CHAPTERS: (00:00) Expanding Mind Blindness (02:50) Recognizing Diverse Minds (05:00) Embodied Agent Origins (08:40) Anatomical Intelligence Spaces (12:40) Bioelectricity: Body's Glu…

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Scaling Intelligence in Biology, Artificial Life, and Beyond 24:04

8M ago24:04

24:04

This is a ~20 minute very rapid talk reviewing ideas around the scaling of intelligence in unconventional substrates. CHAPTERS: (00:00) Intro & Unconventional Concepts (00:40) Challenging Traditional Worldviews (01:40) Life as Continua (03:00) Electromagnetic Spectrum Analogy (04:30) Spectrum of Mind Applications (05:50) Single Cell to Mind (07:10)…

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Culture as an Additional Scale of Biological Organisation with Ivan Kroupin and Tian Chen Zeng 56:54

8M ago56:54

56:54

This is a short summary talk by Ivan Kroupin (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=XjxueRYAAAAJ&hl=en) and Tian Chen Zeng (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tian-Chen-Zeng) and then a discussion of issues around biological and cultural multi-scale intelligence. Their longer talk is here: https://youtu.be/dYuNJSilRMo?si=gVvMV_N4pjloe0iX CONN…

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Ethics and the New Biology 32:33

8M ago32:33

32:33

This is a ~30 minute talk to an Ethics class (undergraduates) about aspects of our work that have implications for ethics. CHAPTERS: (00:00) Intelligence All The Way Down (06:30) Scaling Up Cognition (13:40) Communicating With Cellular Intelligence (20:00) Freedom of Embodiment (27:40) Ethics of Future Beings CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTub…

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Conversation with Frank Putnam and Alexey Tolchinsky 56:30

8M ago56:30

56:30

This is a ~1 hour conversation with Frank Putnam (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KLGgJg4AAAAJ&hl=en) and Alexey Tolchinsky (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=tiBKmrsAAAAJ&hl=en) about dissociative disorders, clinical psychology, and their applications to the cell biology of regenerative medicine and cancer. CONNECT WITH ME: Podca…

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Discussion with Michael Johnson 50:34

9M ago50:34

50:34

This is a ~50 minute conversation with Michael Johnson (https://t.co/YxAOZif0V2) on vasocomputation, stress as cognitive glue, and more generally computation and cognition in unconventional substrates. CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Blog The Levin LabBy Michael Levin