Animism and sensing intelligence in ecosystems

What if the purpose of life is to find ways of harmonizing the forces of nature, including the nature of ourselves?

My guest this week thinks so. I sat down with systems thinker and "True Human" author Samantha Sweetwater to talk about the metacrisis and the future of civilization in the age of AI. Samantha’s work bridges complexity science, indigenous wisdom, embodiment, and systems theory to explore how humans might transition from domination and extraction toward relationship, reciprocity, and long-term resilience.

We discuss why modern institutions are struggling to adapt, how technology differs fundamentally from biological systems, and why aligning AI without accounting for the biosphere may be a category error. The conversation also explores kinship versus the hero’s journey, power over life versus the power of life, and what a truly win-win civilization might require.

If you’re interested in AI alignment, systems change, ecology, or the deeper roots of the meta-crisis, this conversation offers a radically different lens.

Chapters:

02:18 – Samantha’s Backstory

11:55 – Finite And Infinite Games

17:00 – True Human

21:55 – Exploring Dreams

34:28 – The Great Separation

38:51 – Power Of Life vs Power OVER life

44:36 – The Balance Between Masculine And Feminine

1:05:23 – Observing An Animate World

1:14:45 – Achieving Transmigration

1:24:28 – Practices To Become More True Human

1:42:14 – On AI Alignment

1:59:58 – Begin To Embody Intelligence

2:06:31 – Why Homo Sapiens Exist To Serve Sentience

Links:

♾️ True Human Book: https: //www.samanthasweetwater.com/truehuman

♾️ Samantha’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthasweetwater

♾️ Samantha's Substack: https://enlifenment.substack.com

♾️ Daniel Schmachtenberger x Win-Win: https: //youtu.be/KCSsKV5F4xc?si=lM7urTngFNuJ4oZx

♾️ Silent Spring: https: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Spring

Credits:

♾️ Hosted by Liv Boeree

♾️ Produced by Luca de Vico

The Win-Win Podcast:

Poker champion Liv Boeree takes to the interview chair to tease apart the complexities of one of the most fundamental parts of human nature: competition. Liv is joined by top philosophers, gamers, artists, technologists, CEOs, scientists, politicians and more to understand how competition manifests in their world, and how to change seemingly win-lose systems into Win-Wins.

Podcast links:

♾️ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWgq0OZMtwtOIyMsVM_vksqdfWcM-b68S

♾️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/03bGVUaFZmJUmEvSHNDPdI?si=64379cc23696454f

♾️ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-with-liv-boeree/id1724791350

♾️ Pocketcast: https://play.pocketcasts.com/podcasts/7f708340-d17c-013b-f46e-0acc26574db2

#AI #indigenouswisdom