Complex systems, such as human beings, economies, and galaxies, raise the question of whether there are commonalities in their complexity. There is currently no fully established theory to address complexity as a separate field of study. Narrowing in on a specific complex system, such as the human brain, or the concept of intelligence, can offer insights into the general principles of cognition. This exploration extends to biological evolution, design, and diverse systems like the flight of starlings and ant colonies. Rick Hard Solle, from the Complex Systems Lab, delves into understanding how complexity develops and the architectures for intelligent systems, aiming to apply these insights to artificial intelligence and synthetic biology.
Octopuses, artificial intelligence, and advanced alien civilizations: for many reasons, it's interesting to contemplate ways of thinking other than whatever it is we humans do. How should we think about the space of all possible cognitions? One aspect is simply the physics of the underlying substrate, the physical stuff that is actually doing the thinking. We are used to brains being solid -- squishy, perhaps, but consisting of units in an essentially fixed array. What about liquid brains, where the units can move around? Would an ant colony count? We talk with complexity theorist Ricard Solé about complexity, criticality, and cognition.
Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2024/01/01/260-ricard-sole-on-the-space-of-cognitions/
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Ricard Solé received his Ph.D. in physics from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. He is currently ICREA research professor at the Catalan Institute for research and Advanced Studies, currently working at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, where he is head of the Complex Systems Lab. He is also an External Professor of the Santa Fe Institute, Fellow of the European centre for Living Technology, external faculty at the Center for Evolution and Cancer at UCSF, and a member of the Vienna Complex Systems Hub. He is the author of several technical books.
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