Views on Cognition, Functionalism, and Open-Endedness

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John Krakauer has been on the podcast multiple times (see links below). Today we discuss some topics framed around what he's been working on and thinking about lately. Things like

• Whether brains actually reorganize after damage
• The role of brain plasticity in general
• The path toward and the path not toward understanding higher cognition
• How to fix motor problems after strokes
• AGI
• Functionalism, consciousness, and much more.

Relevant links:

• John's Lab.
• Twitter: @blamlab
• Related papers
  • What are we talking about? Clarifying the fuzzy concept of representation in neuroscience and beyond.
  • Against cortical reorganisation.
• Other episodes with John:
  • BI 025 John Krakauer: Understanding Cognition
  • BI 077 David and John Krakauer: Part 1
  • BI 078 David and John Krakauer: Part 2
  • BI 113 David Barack and John Krakauer: Two Views On Cognition

Time stamps 0:00 - Intro 2:07 - It's a podcast episode! 6:47 - Stroke and Sherrington neuroscience 19:26 - Thinking vs. moving, representations 34:15 - What's special about humans? 56:35 - Does cortical reorganization happen? 1:14:08 - Current era in neuroscience