Mentorship and Influence in the Study of Consciousness

The chapter explores the impact of mentorship and influential figures on the speaker's journey into studying consciousness, focusing on the guidance and teachings of Dr. McCulloch and Warren. It discusses the contrast between Freudianism and hard mathematics, highlighting the speaker's decision to pursue a mathematical approach to understanding consciousness. The chapter also emphasizes the importance of diverse perspectives and connections in personal and intellectual growth.

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Episode 132

I spoke with Manuel and Lenore Blum about:

* Their early influences and mentors

* The Conscious Turing Machine and what theoretical computer science can tell us about consciousness

Enjoy—and let me know what you think!

Manuel is a pioneer in the field of theoretical computer science and the winner of the 1995 Turing Award in recognition of his contributions to the foundations of computational complexity theory and its applications to cryptography and program checking, a mathematical approach to writing programs that check their work. He worked as a professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley until 2001. From 2001 to 2018, he was the Bruce Nelson Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University.

Lenore is a Distinguished Career Professor of Computer Science, Emeritus at Carnegie Mellon University and former Professor-in-Residence in EECS at UC Berkeley. She is president of the Association for Mathematical Consciousness Science and newly elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Lenore is internationally recognized for her work in increasing the participation of girls and women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields. She was a founder of the Association for Women in Mathematics, and founding Co-Director (with Nancy Kreinberg) of the Math/Science Network and its Expanding Your Horizons conferences for middle- and high-school girls.

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Outline:

* (00:00) Intro

* (03:09) Manuel’s interest in consciousness

* (05:55) More of the story — from memorization to derivation

* (11:15) Warren McCulloch’s mentorship

* (14:00) McCulloch’s anti-Freudianism

* (15:57) More on McCulloch’s influence

* (27:10) On McCulloch and telling stories

* (32:35) The Conscious Turing Machine (CTM)

* (33:55) A last word on McCulloch

* (35:20) Components of the CTM