Richard Watson is a biologist and computer scientist.What if there is cognition inherent in the basic fabric of the universe, and what if that helps explain the evolution of complex and intelligent life? Perhaps cognition did not have to evolve from nothing, but is actually what got the process of evolution started in the first place...In this episode, learn about why evolution by natural selection is incomplete, the problem of explaining transitions (such as to multicellular life), whether genes really can explain everything in biology, how cognition could have existed before life, how cognition might be a property of higher-level systems like ecosystems, AI from an evolutionary perspective, and much more...Timestamps:00:00 The Problem with Standard Evolutionary Theory 03:36 The Mystery of Life & other "Major Evolutionary Transitions" 12:46 Natural Selection is Problematic: Can Never Be Proven Wrong 18:28 What do Genes Actually Explain?22:20 Cognition Beyond Brains28:46 Learning before Evolution39:55 Memory and learning beyond DNA52:20 Can Ecosystems Themselves Learn?56:28 AI01:00:20 The Environment Learns as well as Organisms01:07:40 The Theory of Evolution by Natural Induction RICHARD WATSON•https://www.richardawatson.com/JACK• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0DGVMa1qAI1huc87xNDrgy?si=62c281d9e8274694• X: https://twitter.com/jack_roycroft• Substack: https://substack.com/@jackroycroftsherry?utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-page
