Ep113 "What's special about inventors?" (with Pablos Holman)
Why do some people jump into entirely new categories of possibility? And what does this have to do with self-driving ships, solar panels in space, shooting mosquitoes with lasers, skateboarding tricks...
21 Jul 202557min
Ep112 "How is computer code like magic?" (with Sam Arbesman)
What is code, and can it be thought of like a magic spell? Are we building a world so complex that we will lose the ability to understand its operations -- and has that already happened? What does any...
14 Jul 202542min
Ep111 "Might we be surrounded with undetected minds?" (with Michael Levin)
What is intelligence? If we look hard, can we find it in unexpected places: not just in brains but in all kinds of structures? How should we recognize it? And what does any of this have to do with a b...
7 Jul 202551min
Ep110 "Is consciousness related to quantum physics?" (with Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff)
Can we explain consciousness as emerging from classical neuroscience, or do we require deeper principles? Could quantum physics have something to do with it? Is it possible that consciousness predates...
30 Jun 202547min
Ep85 rebroadcast - "What is a Thought?"
Brains bear thoughts like a peach tree bears peaches. Even for meditators it's almost impossible to stop the firehose of words and images and ideas. But what in the world is a thought, physically? How...
23 Jun 202536min
Ep109 "Are you one mind or many drives?" with Jordan Peterson
Is your brain a one-person show or an ensemble cast of rivaling neural networks? How do we manage the conflict between different drives, and what does this have to do with literature, deities, maturat...
16 Jun 202542min
Ep108 "Can brains increase their happiness?" (with Bruce Hood)
Is it possible to become happier? How much of your happiness has to do with genetics, social connection, comparison to other people, your balance of optimism vs pessimism, and whether it would be usef...
9 Jun 202539min
Ep107 "Why do brains love stories?" (with Joshua Landy)
How do brains slip so easily from the real world into made up worlds? What do authors of great literature have in common with stage magicians and comedians? What does any of this have to do with cogni...
2 Jun 202549min
