CogNation
CogNation is a podcast by Rolf Nelson and Joe Hardy, two cognitive psychologists interested in the future of brain science and technology. We explore relevant topics in the areas of cognitive science, technology, AI, and philosophy. Although we dabble with dystopian implications of new technologies (such as the impending robopocalypse), we are led by our curiosity and try to keep it light and fun.
https://www.facebook.com/CognationPodcast/
email: cognationpodcast@gmail.com
Latest episodes
Feb 12, 2019 • 1h 10min
The Frey Effect (or, When Microwaves Attack)
Rolf and Joe tackle an interesting perceptual phenomenon called the Frey Effect. In the Frey Effect, first discovered in the 1960s, pulsed microwave beams can cause the perception of a high-pitched sound. This has come up in the news recently as an explanation of possible "attacks" on the American embassy in Cuba. How exactly does this work? Should it be something we should worry about? Discussion is based around UC San Diego professor Dr. Beatrice Golomb's paper documenting the case that the Frey Effect is responsible.
Feb 5, 2019 • 51min
Brain-Computer Interfaces, part A
In part A of the episode, Joe and Rolf base discussion around "Rapid calibration of an intracortical brain–computer interface for people with tetraplegia" by Brandman et al., thinking beyond the hype to get a realistic picture of how things work in the field. It's not all like The Matrix (yet).
Feb 5, 2019 • 51min
Brain-Computer Interfaces, part B
In this second part on brain-computer interfaces, discussion goes toward the more speculative. Joe and Rolf talk about Elon Musk's Neuralink project, which aims to fully connect brains with computers. Would this be possible? Could any system really read our thoughts in the way portrayed in science fiction? Should we even want this to happen? And most importantly, how does this affect the coming Robopocalypse?
Jan 27, 2019 • 1h 1min
Episode 2: Using Virtual Reality for Therapy
Today on the show Rolf and Joe discuss the use of virtual reality for the treatment of mental health disorders like phobias and PTSD. They explore research from Dr. Skip Rizzo on the state of the art, discuss limitations of VR, and then engage in some wild and possibly irresponsible speculation.
Jan 20, 2019 • 1h 17min
Episode 1: Building machines that think like us
In the inaugural episode of CogNation, Joe and Rolf talk about artificial intelligence that mimics the way people think. Along the way, they also talk about pneumatic tubes, uploading consciousness, and how we'll spend our time when robots do all the work. They touch on how this all inevetiably leads to robots taking over the world. The discussion is based around the article "Building Machines That Learn and Think Like People" by Brenden Lake, et al. This article focuses on recent progress in cognitive science that suggests that human-like thinking machines should leverage causal models of the world and be endowed with intuitive physics and psychology.
