

Jack Roycroft-Sherry
Jack Roycroft-Sherry
I'm Jack, an Economics and Data Science student in the beautiful town of Nottingham, England. Stick around if you like hearing from cognitive scientists, psychologists, economists and philosophers.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jun 26, 2024 • 54min
Hybrid Organisms, Cyborgs, Chimeras & AI | Wesley Clawson (#57)
Wesley Clawson is a neuroscientist working with Michael Levin at Tufts
University.
What happens when you merge two organisms together? What happens when
you merge organisms with AI? This podcast explores the growing field of
synthetic and artificial biology—biology that doesn't exist naturally.
Expect to learn about the future of human-technology hybrids, the
implications of artificial biology for medicine, the goal-directedness
of biology, the limits of biological intelligence, evolution, and
more...
Timestamps:
00:00 Endless Forms Most Beautiful Paper with Dr. Levin
05:28 Fusion of Biology and Technology
10:02 Biology Merged with AI
13:42 How Synthetic Organisms Change Our Understanding of Biology
25:00 Trying to Understand Natural Selection in Light of Synthetic Organisms
28:16 Natural Selection & Collective Intelligences
33:19 The Benefits and Dangers of Synthetic Organisms
43:35 Technology and Cyborgs
48:08 Future of Human-Technology Fusions
Find Wesley:
X: @wesleyclawson6891
Website: https://www.wesleyclawson.com/
Papers Mentioned:
-Endless Formles Most Beautiful: https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/article/139/4/457/6643577?login=false
-Technological Approach to Mind Everywhere: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnsys.2022.768201/full

Jun 19, 2024 • 56min
Cognitive Economics, Consciousness, Extended Minds - Patrick Schotanus (EP 56)
Patrick Schotanus is an academic developing his Market Mind Hypothesis, a
theory that uses cognitive science and philosophy to understand the
market as a form of collective consciousness.
We often hear the term "the mind of the market" to describe the wild
emotions, fears, and animal spirits driving market behavior. Is this
just a metaphor? Or is there a deeper truth in understanding economics
as a kind of mind?
Expect to learn about consciousness in the economy, how cognitive
science can be applied to economics, the importance of creativity and
discovery in economics, the nature of consciousness in collective
entities, and more...
Timestamps:
00:00 The Market Mind Hypothesis
06:19 The Role of Consciousness in Economics
12:38 Mind-Body Problem in Economics
17:37 Why We Must Have Economics Education From a Young Age
20:52 What Does the Market Being Conscious Mean?
28:12 The Market as a Distributed Cognitive System
33:36 The Influence of Money on Perception and Values
40:06 The Importance of Free Markets and Transparency
42:23 Does the Economy Change Who We Are?
52:03 The Future of the Market Mind Hypothesis
Patrick and the Market-Mind Hypothesis:
-Youtube: @marketmindhypothesis7363
-Website: marketmind.org

Jun 12, 2024 • 33min
Memory Engrams, DNA, Evolution, Platonic Realms - Michael Levin (#55)
Michael Levin is a cognitive scientist and biologist at Tufts
University.
Conventional biology posits that most of biology's competence and
intelligence are encoded in DNA. But what if there is much more to
biology?
In this podcast, learn about how the DNA-only view of biology is
crumbling, the means of information encoding beyond DNA, the
reinterpretive nature of memory, the inherent goal-directedness of
biology, and how biology leverages innate intelligent capacities across
all scales.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - What is Wrong With DNA-Centric Biology
04:25 - Re-Understanding Cancer and New Approaches to Biology
10:44 - How Biological Collectives Remain Together and Innate Problem-Solving
12:48 - Memory and Platonic Spaces: Why Are Biological Patterns Stored?
17:28 - Butterfly-Caterpillar Memory Transmutation
23:03 - Evolvability and Goal-Directedness Across Different Levels of Evolution
27:22 - Emergent Goal-Directedness and Surprising System Properties
Find Michael and His Lab's Work:
-X: @drmichaellevin
-Youtube: @drmichaellevin
Levin Lab Podcasts:
-Hananel Hazan: Computation in Biology: https://youtu.be/4iR6lVxioHs
-Randy Ellis: Intelligence, Causality, Metascience: https://youtu.be/hJaMtYcJQIM
-Juanita Mathews: Cancer and Collective Intelligence: https://youtu.be/Dh89CfYUmgM

Jun 12, 2024 • 39min
Meditation, Psychopathology & Neuroscience | Nicholas Van Dam (#54)
Nicholas Van Dam is a neuroscientist and the inaugural Director of the
Contemplative Studies Centre.
Meditative practices have been around for millennia. However, it is only
recently that have we studied them scientifically. What does science
say about them? Moreover, what does the study of them reveal about
science itself?
In this podcast, we discuss the recent scientific study of meditation,
the problems encountered, how meditation can benefit people but also
what the dangers are, neuroscience and our current understanding of the
mind, and more...
Find Nicholas
-The Contemplative Studies Centre:
https://psychologicalsciences.unimelb.edu.au/CSC
-Nicholas' Website: https://www.nicholastvandam.com/
Timestamps:
00:00 - Interesting History of Science and Meditation
06:36 - Challenges Studying Meditation
11:16 - Placebo in Meditation
17:34 - Problems in How We Practice Medicine
21:22 - Meditation Benefits and Challenges
24:33 - Challenges of Studying the Brain
32:00 - Bringing Together Different Disciplines

Jun 12, 2024 • 1h 3min
Post-Materialist Metaphysics, Causality and God | Jean-Philippe Marceau (#53)
Jean-Philippe is a writer and philosopher helping to resolve the
"Meaning Crisis".
Modern science increasingly suggests that materialism may not fully
explain reality, yet it remains deeply entrenched in our culture. What's
wrong with materialism and what can replace it?
We discuss the issues with materialism, the opposite of materialism
(idealism), ancient metaphysical views of reality, the nature of God,
miracles, and more...
00:00 - Problems of Materialism
12:00 - Why We're Materialists
16:50 - How to Think Non-Materialistically
25:08 - Form vs Potential & Christian Metaphysics
35:35 - God
39:50 - Miracles and Causality
46:00 - Could Adam and Eve Have Not Sinned? Determinism and Agency
50:50 - The Incarnation and Making Sense of Reality
JEAN-PHILIPPE MARCEAU
Read his work: https://thesymbolicworld.com/team/jean-philippe-marceau
His Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@j.p.marceau5146

Jun 12, 2024 • 53min
Digital Economics, Machine Learning, Science & Personality | Paul X. McCarthy (EP 52)
Paul X. McCarthy is an economist and social scientist.
Big data and machine learning is changing the world. How are they
changing real-world economies and the social sciences?
This podcast explores: How economics has changed in the digital age, how
science is evolving with access to new data and computational power,
studies on personality types using big data, how new forms of data will
change science, and more...
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Economics is Changing Due To The Internet
07:00 New Kinds of Competition Online
16:05 New Questions Economists Can Answer
22:04 Analysing Personality Using Big Data
28:00 Big 5 and Personality
35:00 How Different Personality Types Complement Each Other
42:00 Learning Your Own Personality for Benefit
45:24 Future of Big Data in Economics
Paul X. McCarthy:
Website: https://www.onlinegravity.com/
Research: https://research.unsw.edu.au/people/adjunct-professor-paul-x-mccarthy
X: https://twitter.com/paulxmccarthy

Jun 12, 2024 • 1h 7min
Active Inference, Psychopathology & the Nature of Self | Darius Parvizi-Wayne (EP 51)
Darius Parvizi-Wayne is a philosopher of cognitive science and host of
the Active Inference Insights podcast.
What are the best theories in cognitive science and how are they helping
us understand the mind, the self, psychopathology and well-being? Find
out in this podcast.
Expect to learn about the free energy principle and active inference,
the relevance realization theory of consciousness, why the self exists,
what mental illness really is, and more...
00:00 - Why An Active Inference Podcast
06:03 - Relevance Realization Vs Active Inference
08:19 - How Active Inference Actually Works
14:12 - Well Being and Psychopathology
24:35 - Why Are Video Games are so Addictive?
30:20 - Turrets Syndrome
46:23 - Future of Active Inference and Darius' Work
50:53 - Why Does The Self Exist?
58:59 - Jack's Journey To Podcasting

Apr 17, 2024 • 1h 14min
The Phenomenology and Psychology of Human Action | Garri Hovhannisyan (EP 49) (EP 49)
In this podcast, I speak with clinical psychologist Garri Hovahissayan
about integrating the Big 5 Personality theory with economics to better
understand decision-making from a phenomenological and evolutionary
psychological perspective.
We delve into economic decision theory, the impact of behavioral
economics, the bio-economic constraints faced by all humans, and
personality theory from a phenomenological perspective, among other
topics.
00:00 - Economists View Of Preferences, Risk, & Decision Making
7:47 - Behavioural economics and biases
16:55 - Enactivist Big 5 Theory
25:43 - Bio-Economics and Facing Uncertainty
42:00 - Conscientiousness and Discovering The Future
00:58:26 - Stability-Plasticity vs Autism-Schizotype
01:06:00 - Conclusion: Economics Talking To Personality Theory

Mar 25, 2024 • 1h 24min
Egregores, Hyperobjects, AI, Money & The Sacred - Jordan Hall (EP 48)
The modern world is a strange place. AI is rapidly progressing, science is changing, economics and money are evolving. What forces are at play that are shaping the world?
Expect to understand how the scientific revolution changed our civilization's worldview, how our civilization fails to understand complexity, game theory, the power higher agencies exert over us, the sacred, and more..
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Jordan Converting To Christianity - Introduction
02:00 - Problems of Western Civilization
05:13 - How The West Fails To Understand Complexity
13:37 - Game Theory, Machiavelli, & Technology
22:00 - Efficiency Over Resiliency
30:00 - Personalities and Egregores and Mammon
41:06 - Spirits and Identities
55:00 - Bitcoin, Hyperobjects and Agent-Arena Niches
01:06:20 - Identities, Ai & Sacrifice
JORDAN HALL
-https://substack.com/@jgreenhall

Mar 21, 2024 • 1h 2min
Dynamical Systems Theory Applied to Humans, Societies, & Nations | Alexandra Paxton (EP 47)
Alexandra Paxton is a social psychologist and cognitive scientist.
Psychology in the past often viewed humans as isolated selves,
individually rational, and separable from the world. However, much of
the field is now re-conceptualizing the nature of humans and the mind.
Learn more in this podcast.
We tackle topics such as how to think about humans in terms of dynamical
systems rather than as computer-like, how humans are embedded in their
environment and context, the mutable boundary of the self, how to apply
dynamical systems ideas to systems larger than humans, and more...
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Humans As Complex Systems
05:37 - Anti-Reductionism: Why We're Not Computers
10:30 - Understanding Systems At Different Levels
22:25 - The Mutable Boundary of Self
29:00 - Communication and Language
40:00 - "Tight" Vs "Loose" Cultures
50:15 - AI & Impact on Humans
ALEXANDRA:
-website: https://alexandrapaxton.com/
JACK:
-Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0DGVMa1qAI1huc87xNDrgy?si=62c281d9e8274694
-X: https://twitter.com/jack_roycroft
-Medium: https://medium.com/@jackroycroftsherry