Thoughtforms Life

Michael Levin
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Jun 6, 2024 • 1h 2min

Conversation between Joscha Bach, Chris Fields, and Michael Levin

This is an ~1 hour conversation with Joscha Bach (http://bach.ai/) and Chris Fields (https://chrisfieldsresearch.com/), touching on computation, cognition, error correcting codes, physics, AI, consciousness, etc. CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Blog The Levin Lab
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Jun 6, 2024 • 1h

Conversation between Donald Hoffman and Richard Watson

Don Hoffman, Richard Watson, and I discuss the nature of scientific theories, time, and the physics of cognition. ~1 hour CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Blog The Levin Lab
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May 25, 2024 • 59min

Discussion on Mortal Computations with Alexander Ororbia, Karl Friston, and Chris Fields

This is a 1-hour working meeting discussing Alexander Ororbia's and Karl Friston's paper on Mortal Computations and their relevance to our work in reprogramming biology and cognition more generally. A few papers: Alexander and Karl's paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.09589 Michael Levin's paper to which they referred a couple of times: https://osf.io/preprints/osf/4b2wj CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Blog The Levin Lab
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May 24, 2024 • 47min

Tom Froese and Michael Levin Discuss Tom's Irruption Theory

This is a meeting discussion, ~40 minutes, between Tom Froese (Cognitive Scientist at OIST, https://groups.oist.jp/ecsu/tom-froese) and Michael Levin, going over Tom's recent paper on Irruption theory and discussing embodied minds, agency, and models of mind-body interaction. The paper is here: https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/26/4/288 CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Blog The Levin Lab
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May 9, 2024 • 1h 19min

Discussion with Michael Pollan of New Ideas on Memories and Selves

This is a discussion meeting (~1 hour 20 minutes) between Michael Levin and Michael Pollan (https://michaelpollan.com/) of the new ideas in this paper: https://osf.io/preprints/osf/4b2wj CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Blog The Levin Lab
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May 5, 2024 • 56min

Biorobotics: Engineering with Agential Materials

This is an ~1 hour talk by Michael Levin on the topic of engineering with agential (living) materials, given for the students and other members of the ETHZ Zurich Soft Robotics Lab led by Prof. Robert Katzschmann). CHAPTERS:(00:00) Introduction: Biorobotics & Materials(02:20) The Anatomical Compiler(04:15) Agential Materials & Competency(07:00) Biological Plasticity Examples(11:50) Navigating Anatomical Space(15:00) Beyond Molecular Medicine(17:40) Intelligence in Development(21:00) Newt Tubule Plasticity(24:00) Picasso Tadpole Experiment(27:00) Pattern Homeostasis & Setpoints(29:40) Bioelectricity as Interface(32:00) Reading Electrical Patterns(34:00) Manipulating Bioelectric Info(35:40) Bioelectric Organ Triggers(38:30) Frog Leg Regeneration(40:00) Planarian Pattern Memory(43:30) Properties of Memory(45:00) Modeling Anatomical Decisions(46:30) Head Shape Plasticity(49:00) Hacking Plant Morphogenesis(50:30) Full Stack Modeling(51:30) Cancer & Cognitive Cone(54:00) Synthetic Xenobots(57:30) Human Anthrobots(59:30) Future of Life Forms(01:03:00) Summary & Acknowledgements CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Blog The Levin Lab
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Apr 26, 2024 • 55min

Where Minds Come From: The Scaling of Collective Intelligence, and What It Means for AI and You

This is a ~45 minute talk I gave to some undergraduate students about ideas from biology that might help them think about AI and related topics. CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Blog The Levin Lab
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Apr 25, 2024 • 57min

Aastha Jain Simes & I Interview Min Zhao, a Leader in the Role of Bioelectricity in Wound Healing

This is the second of several interviews we will do with significant contributors to the field of developmental bioelectricity. Min Zhao's work focused on the role of ion currents and applied electric fields in cell migration and wound repair. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=G7-zWBcAAAAJ&hl=en https://health.ucdavis.edu/dermatology/faculty/zhao.html Aastha Jain: https://www.livelongerworld.com/ CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Blog The Levin Lab
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Apr 21, 2024 • 57min

A Conversation with Alison Hanson on Cognitive Science and Her Trajectory in Neurobiology

This is a 1-hour conversation with Ali Hanson (https://braininitiative.nih.gov/ali-hanson-md-phd) on her path in science, including a ~45 minute presentation of her data in Hydra. This is the first of a series of videos I will do to highlight some exceptional junior scientists' work. More information will be provided on a blog post on Ali's work at https://thoughtforms.org/ CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Blog The Levin Lab
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Apr 10, 2024 • 48min

What Can Worms and Frogs Teach Us About Collective Intelligence?

This is a talk I gave at a large tech company for non-specialists interested in the intersection of computation, biology, and fundamental questions about Selfhood. It's about 48 minutes long and unfortunately does not capture my cursor movement so you can't see the things on the slides at which I am pointing. CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Blog The Levin Lab

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