Thoughtforms Life Conversation with David Resnik 1
Dec 1, 2025
David Resnik, a philosopher and bioethics researcher affiliated with NIEHS, dives into the intriguing intersection of Platonism and biology. He and Michael Levin explore how mathematical structures underpin scientific explanations and shape evolutionary patterns. They discuss goal-directed morphogenesis, the limitations of chemistry-only perspectives, and the predictive power of mapping morphospace. Their conversation emphasizes the utility of Platonism in framing research strategies, while also pondering the broader implications for understanding life's complexities.
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Latent Spaces Explain Novel Morphologies
- Levin argues goal-directed morphogenesis doesn't by itself imply Platonic explanations and can fit within reductionist frameworks.
- He introduces latent spaces to explain novel organisms (xenobots) whose set points lack long evolutionary histories.
Quantify The Computational Cost
- Levin emphasizes quantifying computational cost: when and where the information specifying form was paid for matters scientifically.
- He uses minimal computational models to make the cost-versus-gain question tractable and testable.
Math Provides Nonphysical Constraints
- Levin sees mathematical truths (like e or Feigenbaum constants) as not fully reducible to physical facts and causally interacting with the physical world.
- He argues physicalism can't account for all explanatory facts relevant to biology and morphogenesis.