Thoughtforms Life A Discussion Between John Vervaeke, Gregg Henriques, Justin McSweeny, and Mike Levin
Mar 16, 2024
In this engaging discussion, biologist Mike Levin, cognitive scientist John Vervaeke, and psychologist Gregg Henriques explore the intersections of mind, selfhood, and diverse intelligence. Levin introduces the TAME framework and cognitive light cones, linking biology with cognition. Vervaeke delves into relevance realization and its connection to self-care. Henriques presents his Tree of Knowledge model, discussing the relation of culture, mind, and evolution. Together, they tackle profound topics like the meaning crisis, participatory knowing, and the essence of human intelligence.
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Cognitive Light Cones Explain Goal Scale
- Cognitive light cones map the scale of an agent's goals across space and time.
- Mike Levin uses this to compare bacteria, dogs, humans, and hypothesized larger minds by their goal reach and memory horizon.
Life As Scaled-Up Cognitive Goals
- Life emerges as systems that scale up component cognitive light cones into larger collective ones.
- Levin argues life is defined by arrangements that multiplex small goals into broader, novel goal spaces.
Reach Versus Clarity In Cognition
- Reach and clarity are two parameters of a cognitive light cone that trade off.
- John Vervaeke links reach (anticipation) and clarity (optimal grip via relevance realization) as core adaptive problems.