Michael Levin, a Tufts University biologist and pioneer in developmental and synthetic biology, explores the fascinating concept of collective intelligence. He discusses how intelligence emerges from the collaboration of cells, highlighting that each cell has its own evolutionary competencies. Levin shares mind-blowing experiments with organisms like planaria, which exhibit remarkable adaptability, shedding light on the cognitive capabilities across different scales of life. This perspective invites us to rethink our understanding of intelligence in the natural world.
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insights INSIGHT
Intelligence Is Inherently Collective
Michael Levin argues all intelligence is collective because organisms are made of competent parts.
Cells retain competencies from unicellular ancestors and cooperate to build bodies and minds.
insights INSIGHT
Multi-Scale Competency Architecture
Levin describes a multi-scale competency architecture where each layer solves problems in its own space.
Higher levels shape landscapes while lower levels act cleverly so the system needn't micromanage.
insights INSIGHT
Biases Limit Recognizing Unconventional Minds
Humans are biased to recognize intelligence only in medium-sized, familiar forms.
Unconventional embodiments can be intelligent in other spaces we lack intuition for.
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The strange science experiment that blew a worm’s head off… and blew our minds.
Michael Levin, a developmental biologist at Tufts University, challenges conventional notions of intelligence, arguing that it is inherently collective rather than individual.
Levin explains that we are collections of cells, with each cell possessing competencies developed from their evolution from unicellular organisms. This forms a multi-scale competency architecture, where each level, from cells to tissues to organs, is solving problems within their unique spaces.
Levin emphasizes that properly recognizing intelligence, which spans different scales of existence, is vital for understanding life's complexities. And this perspective suggests a radical shift in understanding ourselves and the world around us, acknowledging the cognitive abilities present at every level of our existence.
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About Michael Levin:
Michael Levin is a developmental and synthetic biologist at Tufts University, where he is the Vannevar Bush Distinguished Professor and serves as director of the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts and the Tufts Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology.
Prior to college, Michael Levin worked as a software engineer and independent contractor in the field of scientific computing. He attended Tufts University, interested in artificial intelligence and unconventional computation. To explore the algorithms by which the biological world implemented complex adaptive behavior, he got dual B.S. Degrees, in CS and in Biology and then received a PhD from Harvard University.
He led an independent laboratory from 2000 to 2007 at Forsyth Institute, Harvard. Now, his lab at Tufts studies anatomical and behavioral decision-making at multiple scales of biological, artificial, and hybrid systems.
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