Brain Inspired

BI 111 Kevin Mitchell and Erik Hoel: Agency, Emergence, Consciousness

Jul 28, 2021

01:38:04

Creator website

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Is There Real Indeterminacy in the Universe?

03:39

The Universal Reductionist Position

05:07

I Think the Gap Is Probably a Bit Bigger Than People Think

05:22

Introduction

4min

A Novel Review - The Enlightenment

2min

A Novel About Anxiety

4min

Is It Really Dark?

4min

Writing Non Fiction

3min

The Processes of Development

4min

Do You Find It Harder to Attract Attention When You're Writing From a Non Fiction Perspective?

4min

How to Write a Novel About a Man's Life

4min

Are You Ready for the Big Show Down?

4min

10.

Is There a Scientific Theory of Consciousness?

3min

11.

Neuronal Imaging

4min

12.

Logic, I Think, Is a Very Good Approach to Deep Learning, Right?

3min

13.

Do We Have Very Good Neural Models for How It Works?

5min

14.

Is There a Difference Between Consciousness and Complex Behavior?

4min

15.

Is Conscious Experience Really Consciously Deliberating?

2min

16.

Is There a Difference Between Consciousness and Consciosity?

4min

17.

Is Your Stream of Consciousness a Reflex Arc?

3min

18.

Is Consciousness Basely Dependentn the Findanity?

1min

19.

I Think the Gap Is Probably a Bit Bigger Than People Think

5min

20.

The Reductionist Drive Within Nero Sience

2min

21.

Is There a Universal Reductionist in Science?

5min

22.

The Universal Reductionist Position

5min

23.

Is There a Connection Between Causation and Meaning?

3min

24.

Is There Real Indeterminacy in the Universe?

4min

25.

A Very Simple Example of a Macrostate

5min

26.

Do We Need to Understand Life to Build Artificial Intelligence?

3min

27.

How to Get the Right Answers on Multiple Choice Questions

3min

28.

I'd Love for It to Be Conscious

3min

Erik, Kevin, and I discuss... well a lot of things.

Erik's recent novel The Revelations is a story about a group of neuroscientists trying to develop a good theory of consciousness (with a murder mystery plot).

Kevin's book Innate - How the Wiring of Our Brains Shapes Who We Are describes the messy process of getting from DNA, traversing epigenetics and development, to our personalities.

We talk about both books, then dive deeper into topics like whether brains evolved for moving our bodies vs. consciousness, how information theory is lending insights to emergent phenomena, and the role of agency with respect to what counts as intelligence.

Kevin's website.
Eriks' website.
Twitter: @WiringtheBrain (Kevin); @erikphoel (Erik)
Books:
- INNATE – How the Wiring of Our Brains Shapes Who We Are
- The Revelations
Papers
- Erik

Timestamps

0:00 - Intro 3:28 - The Revelations - Erik's novel 15:15 - Innate - Kevin's book 22:56 - Cycle of progress 29:05 - Brains for movement or consciousness? 46:46 - Freud's influence 59:18 - Theories of consciousness 1:02:02 - Meaning and emergence 1:05:50 - Reduction in neuroscience 1:23:03 - Micro and macro - emergence 1:29:35 - Agency and intelligence