Thoughtforms Life Mark Solms and Michael Levin Discuss Explicit and Implicit Behavioral Drives
Feb 3, 2024
In this intriguing discussion, Mark Solms, a neuropsychologist known for his insights into consciousness, shares the virtual stage with Michael Levin, a computational biologist. They explore the fascinating link between algorithms and behavior, examining how simple sorting algorithms might reflect implicit drives and motivations. Solms highlights the emergence of cognitive processes from uncertainty and discusses the implications for understanding social phenomena like prejudice. They delve into the interplay between explicit and implicit behaviors, raising thought-provoking questions about cognition and the nature of consciousness.
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Emergent Goal-Directed Behavior In Simple Algorithms
- Simple deterministic sorting algorithms can exhibit unexpected goal-directed behaviors like backing off from a blocked path to gain later progress.
- These behaviors emerge without any explicit monitoring or self-checking coded into the algorithm.
Transient Self-Organization Among Mixed Agents
- Distributing the sorting policy to individual cells still yields global order and allows mixed 'algotypes' to coexist and interact.
- During sorting, like-with-like clustering emerges transiently even though no cell encodes a preference for same-type neighbors.
Constraints Reveal Hidden Preferences
- Clustering strength rises when constraints relax (e.g., allowing repeated digits), showing emergent drives can conflict with global optimization.
- Emergent preferences can be enhanced by reducing external pressure to achieve the final goal.