Jack Roycroft-Sherry

Jason Ānanda Josephson Storm is a philosopher. We often assume that in our modern world, we have transcended superstition, irrationalism, and magical belief. However, as religion has declined in contemporary society, it has not been replaced by pure rationality but rather by new spiritual and magical beliefs. In this podcast, expect to learn whether belief in magic ever truly disappeared, how the decline of religion has coincided with the proliferation of alternative spiritual beliefs, the origins of science and its engagement with the unexplained, the division between the natural and the supernatural, whether "modernity" is a meaningful concept, and more... Timestamps: 00:00 The Rise of Belief in Magic 13:03 Secularization and the Fragmentation of Belief 26:00 Nature, Culture, and the Supernatural Dichotomy 29:52 Exploring the Preternatural and Its Impact on Science 34:49 The Evolution of Scientific Thought and Its Limitations 39:45 The Nature of Science: Processes and Presuppositions 46:17 Modernity: A Complex and Multifaceted Concept 51:46 Navigating the Future: Challenges and Opportunities

James MacShine is a computational neuroscientist. Consciousness is one of the most challenging problems in neuroscience. What new research is being conducted using the latest computational techniques to understand the role of consciousness in the brain? We explore: the scientific challenges of determining what causes consciousness, the distinction between consciousness and unconscious cognition, the neuroscience of consciousness from the neural to the brain-wide level, the possibility of consciousness in AI, and more... Timestamps: 00:00 Exploring Consciousness: A Computational Neuroscience Perspective 12:56 The Role of Anesthetics in Understanding Consciousness 25:59 Modeling Consciousness: Insights from Computational Neuroscience 29:18 Bridging Animal and Human Neuroscience 34:15 Understanding Brain Function at Different Scales 39:10 The Complexity of Consciousness and Agency 44:30 AI, LLMs, and the Question of Consciousness Find Mac Shine: -Personal Website: https://macshine.github.io/ -Mac's Lab: https://shine-lab.org/people/

Jordan Hall is a writer and thinker focusing on civilizations and technology. Why are we creating AI, and to what end? How does this connect to our intellectualism that dismisses deep myths, failing education systems, and our increasing disconnection from one another? In this podcast, we explore: the relationship between science and mythology, our culture's obsession with AI, the sacrifice of our children to AI and technology, the values that should guide civilization, and more... Timestamps: 00:00 Jordan Post-Hurricane 06:25 Reflecting on Conversations with Pageau and Vervaeke 11:27 The Dawkins-Peterson Conversation 19:52 Religion & Culture 26:32 Science & Values 31:32 The AI Moloch Cult 35:32 How Sacrifice Works 39:11 Proper vs. Improper Sacrifices 43:45 Real vs. Simulated Thinking 56:46 Reorienting Values in the Age of AI 1:04:00 The Future of Human Consciousness and AI 1:07:29 Debating Religion: Utility vs. Experience 1:10:50 Dialogos: Beyond Debate and Dialogue 1:15:30 The Nature of Religion and Christ 1:20:12 Worship and the Golden Calf 1:25:06 Abundance vs. Scarcity Previous Conversations with Jordan: https://youtu.be/AUqfSR9wCCI https://youtu.be/4LB3jN61kDc

Peter Harrison is a philosopher. Science is often seen as a way to understand the natural world, separate from the "supernatural." But does this divide make any sense? In this podcast, expect to learn about the recent origins of supernatural-natural divide, whether science can exist without religion, the historical roots of science in religious thought, how early pioneers of science like Newton were not trying to explain away God, and whether science has the capacity to fully explain everything. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 The Supernatural vs The Natural 04:58 What Makes Science Work? 08:15 Where Do Nature's Laws Come From? 14:05 Science Severed From Philosophy 20:23 Could Science Ever Explain Everything? 27:13 Why Did Science Start in the West? 33:06 Faith in Science Find Peter Harrison: -Webpage: https://philpeople.org/profiles/peter-duncan-harrison - 2024 Book: "Some New World: Myths of Supernatural Belief in a Secular Age"

Alicia Juarrero is a philosopher focused on reductionism in science and complex systems. Science today has become focused on reducing phenomena to their most basic components, like atoms. But it's an open question whether this approach can truly explain everything. What if non-reductionistic concepts such as context, timing and purpose were just as important? In this podcast, expect to learn about the origins of materialism, whether materialism is truly sufficient for understanding the world, the role of complexity and holistic approaches in explaining phenomena, how science is evolving to incorporate higher-level, non-materialist perspectives, and more... 00:00 What are Are The Origins of Materialism? 02:13 The Loss of Purpose and Goal Directedness in Science 05:55 Emergence and the Complexity of Living Systems 11:18 The Dynamic Nature of Equilibrium in Biological Systems 18:05 Identity and the Challenges of Reductionism 24:23 Understanding Relations and Processes 33:06 Understanding Network Dynamics 37:41 Challenging Universal Essences 47:23 The Future of Science and Reductionism 53:23 AI and Context-Dependance

Andrew Richmond: Cognitive Scientist and Philosopher of Mind In recent decades, brain scientists have modeled and studied the mind as if it were a computer, yielding significant results. But does the usefulness of these scientific models justify calling the brain a literal computer? In this podcast, explore what computation truly means, whether it makes sense to describe the brain as a computer, the implications of large language models (LLMs) and AI, the future of neuroscience, and much more. Timestamps: 00:00 The Brain as a Computer In Cognitive Science 01:35 What Is a Computer? 04:19 How We Model the Brain As A Computer Complexity of the Brain and Modeling Challenges 07:23 Complexity in the Brain 15:38 The Utility of Computational Models 18:49 Philosophical Implications of Computational Models 22:28 AI, Computation, and the Mind 26:09 Understanding LLMs and Their Implications 31:03 Future Directions in Neuroscience and AI Research Find Andrew: -Referenced Paper on The Mind and Computation: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mila.12521

Gašper Beguš Is a researcher in AI, cognition and linguistics We are far from fully understanding cognition and language. But what if studying cognition in other animals, like whales, and even in AI—such as how artificial "babies" learn—could help us better unravel the mystery of cognition and language in humans? In this podcast, expect to learn about the origins of language, whether language is unique to humans, whether we can build AI babies that learn like biological agents, how to interpret what is going on within AI systems and their intelligence, the future of AI, and more... TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Where Does Language Come From? 03:47 Can Thought Be Separated From Language? 05:50 AI, Language & Evolution 09:43 Building Artificial Language Learners 12:39 Interpreting AI's Inner World 17:09 Inside AI's Cognition 22:13 Using AI to Understand Animal Language 27:45 What is World of Whales Like? 32:31 AI Can Have New Kinds of Intelligences 36:01 The Path Forward in AI and Language Research Find Gasper: -https://www.gasperbegus.com/ -X @begusgasper

Mazviita is a philosopher specializing in the philosophy of mind and neuroscience. Some say the brain is the most complex object in the universe. If so, is it possible for the brain and mind to be fully understood by science? In this podcast, expect to learn about: the frontiers of neuroscience, the distinction between mere prediction and scientific understanding, the differences between human and artificial intelligence, the true complexity of nature and whether it is possible to fully comprehend it, purpose in nature, and more.... Podcast Timeline: 00:00 - When Was Neuroscience Created? 05:41 - Are There Brain Areas for Specific Tasks? 09:05 - The True Complexity of Neurons 11:04 - Are Neural Networks Enough to Model the Mind? 16:07 - Is There Understanding in Language Models? 20:30 - Brain-like AI 23:45 - Prediction vs. Scientific Understanding 31:40 - What Really Is Science? 37:04 - How Complex Is the World? 39:31 - Is the World Mechanistic? 44:48 - Cognition at Low Levels 52:10 - AI vs. Life 54:00 - Souls ​ ​ Find Mazviita: -Latest Book: "The Brain Abstracted: Simplification in the History and Philosophy of Neuroscience", which has just won the Nayef Al-Rodhan Book Prize from The Royal Institute of Philosophy. Find it here: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262548045/the-brain-abstracted/ -2015 Book: "Outside Color: Perceptual Science and the Puzzle of Color in Philosophy"

Hugo Mercier is a cognitive scientist and evolutionary psychologist. Cognitive science has revealed that human cognition is rife with biases and what are often perceived as "flaws." But why would evolution lead to the development of such traits? This podcast explores how these so-called flaws may not actually be flaws at all, but rather adaptations that serve specific purposes, whose true evolutionary functions we have failed to see. In this podcast, discover what we often misunderstand about cognitive biases, what cognition actually evolved for, how the faculty of reason and higher-order intelligence developed, the power of intuitive reasoning, why we use all of our brain rather than just 10%, and more... TIMESTAMPS 00:00 What We Get Wrong About Reason 03:18 Why Did Reason Evolved if Its Flawed? 07:4 Reason Evolved To Convice Others and Communicate 15:50 Reason as Distributed Cognition For Civilization 20:38 When Reasoning Goes Wrong 25:10 "Intuitive" vs "Rational" dichotomy 31:17 Its Hard to Correct Our Intuition Brain 35:48 Intuitions About Who To Trust 42:35 How Has Science Evolved?

Andreas Wagner is a biologist studying the mechanisms of evolution. Evolution not only generates novel innovations but does so repeatedly. For example, the eye has evolved independently around 50 times across different species throughout evolutionary history. How does evolution consistently discover such innovations? Andreas Wagner's research group explores the underlying structure of genotype spaces to map out the possible innovations that can arise. By examining how evolution navigates this space through genetic mutations, they aim to understand how valuable traits emerge. In this podcast, expect to learn whether evolution operates solely through DNA, how evolution is being studied through lab experiments, the mathematical structure of genotype spaces that evolution explores, whether DNA is the only medium for evolutionary processes, and more... Podcast Timestamps: 00:00 The Current View of How Evolution Works 04:06 How Mutations Create Variation 09:24 Male vs Female Mutation Accumulation 11:33 Evolution Before We Understood DNA 15:10 How Evolution Creates Complexity 17:58 Genotype-Phenotype Mapping 23:48 How Does Evolution Avoid Dead Ends? 28:20 How Does Evolution Explore Genotype Space to Innovate? 33:35 Scientists Exploring Genotype Space in the Lab 39:20 Why Do Genotype Spaces Exist? Find Andreas' Books: - Sleeping Beauties: The mystery of dormant innovations in evolution - Arrival of the Fittest: solving evolution's greatest puzzle