The Next Big Idea WHAT IS LIFE? (Part 2): Consciousness, AI, and Aliens
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Dec 19, 2024 
In a thought-provoking discussion, astrobiologist Sarah Walker, author of "Life as No One Knows It," dives into the mysteries of consciousness and the origins of life. She ponders whether free will exists on a sliding scale and discusses the potential for co-evolution between humans and AI. The conversation explores the paradoxes of technology's advancement, the concept of planetary intelligence, and the implications of language as an evolving life form, all while questioning if aliens might already be among us.
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Consciousness as a Concentrated Form of Life
- Consciousness is a concentrated example of life's broader function, emerging from deep lineages of constructive processes.
- Our abstract thinking stems from a vast causal structure rooted in time, making much of human reality seem abstract.
Collective Consciousness
- Consciousness is best understood as a collective property, measurable through its effects on groups of minds.
- Individual consciousness is shaped by social interaction and shared experiences through language over generations.
Free Will on a Spectrum
- Free will exists on a spectrum, influenced by determinism from lineage and indeterminism from an undetermined future.
- It's an interplay of existing deterministic structures and the open possibilities of a not-yet-determined future.
