Episode 105: Michael Levin's Unseen World of Cell Cognition
Apr 8, 2025
Dive into the revolutionary world of cell cognition and discover how electrical signals influence biological systems. Michael Levin's groundbreaking research challenges traditional evolutionary theories, especially in cancer treatment. Explore the innovative concept of bioelectric intelligence and its implications for regeneration. Plus, hear about the fascinating potential of xenobots, living machines that renew themselves. This conversation redefines evolution by considering adaptability and intelligence beyond just genetics.
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insights INSIGHT
Levin's Decisive Research
Bruce Nielsen will analyze Michael Levin's research to resolve the Neo-Darwinism debate.
Levin's work clarifies evolutionary theory and offers a definitive answer.
insights INSIGHT
Shapiro and Noble's Critique of Neo-Darwinism
James Shapiro and Dennis Noble challenge Neo-Darwinism, arguing against gradualism and gene-centrism.
They emphasize that organisms, not genes, are the units of selection.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Bruce Nielsen's Creationist Past
Bruce Nielsen's creationist past and the evolutionists' flawed response to the origin of life sparked his interest in Levin's work.
This experience shaped his critical perspective on scientific discourse.
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Published in 1949, '1984' is a cautionary tale by George Orwell that explores the dangers of totalitarianism. The novel is set in a dystopian future where the world is divided into three super-states, with the protagonist Winston Smith living in Oceania, ruled by the mysterious and omnipotent leader Big Brother. Winston works at the Ministry of Truth, where he rewrites historical records to conform to the Party's ever-changing narrative. He begins an illicit love affair with Julia and starts to rebel against the Party, but they are eventually caught and subjected to brutal torture and indoctrination. The novel highlights themes of government surveillance, manipulation of language and history, and the suppression of individual freedom and independent thought.
The Music of Life
Denis Noble
In 'The Music of Life', Denis Noble presents a radical alternative to the gene's eye view, arguing that life should be understood as a complex system of interacting levels. He uses musical metaphors to explain how genes, cells, organs, and the environment interact in a symphonic manner. Noble draws on his research in cardiovascular physiology and systems biology to offer a comprehensive view of life beyond genetics.
The Future of AI in Business
Jane Smith
Objective Knowledge
An Evolutionary Approach
Karl Popper
Evolutionary epistemology, rationality, and the sociology of knowledge
Karl Popper
William Warren Bartley
Gerard Radnitzky
This week Bruce speaks about the work or Michael Levin, who is a biologist know for his work on cell cognition and collective intelligence or the idea that electrical signals between cells influence the formation of biological systems. His work has potentially massive implications in cancer research and other fields.
Though rarely identified with 3rd way evolution, his work has more than a passing similarity to it. Like 3rd way evolutionists, he seeks to expand evolutionary theory beyond the alleged reductionism of a gene-centric or neo-Darwinian approach. Presumably, these bioelectric effects could be considered a kind of epigenetic or evolutionary process existing outside the genome.
However, unlike the 3rd Way evolutionists, he's ready to back up his views with clever and shocking experiments that confront popular interpretations of gene-centric evolution head on.
Can Levin's work possibly help us determine who is more right in the argument between 3rd Way evolutionists like Denis Noble or James Shapiro vs mainstream evolutionary biologists like Zach Hancock?
The Theory of Anything 
