Michael Levin and Anil Seth: Your Brain Is Not a Computer

Michael Levin and Anil Seth: Your Brain Is Not a Computer

Anil Seth and Michael Levin debate whether brains are computers, how consciousness relates to substrate, and if algorithms can ever capture life and mind. Levin argues machines can access a platonic space of agency via embodied interfaces, xenobots, and compositional agents, while Seth challenges the software-hardware split using information theory, Granger causality, and psychophysics. Together they probe islands of awareness, degeneracy, bubble-sort side quests, LLM surprises, alignment, and how to ask better scientific questions.- 00:00 - Anil Seth & Michael Levin: Islands of Consciousness & Xenobots- 08:24 - Substrate Dependence: Why Biology Isn't Just 'Wetware'- 13:13 - Beyond Algorithms: Do Machines Tap Into a 'Platonic Space'?- 21:46 - The Ghost in the Algorithm: Emergent Agency in Bubble Sort- 29:26 - Degeneracy: The Biological Principle AI is Missing- 36:34 - The Multiplicity of Agency: Are Your Cells Conscious?- 43:24 - Unconscious Processing or Inaccessible Consciousness? The Split-Brain Problem- 49:32 - The Ultimate Experiment to Decode Consciousness- 57:31 - A Counter-Intuitive Discovery: Consciousness is Less Emergent- 1:03:39 - Psychedelics, LLMs, and the Frontiers of SurpriseSPONSORS:- HelloFresh: Get 10 Free Meals + a Free Item for Life. One per box with active subscription; free meals applied as discount on first box; new subscribers only; varies by plan. http://HelloFresh.com/THEORIESOFEVERYTHING10FM- Claude: 50% off Claude Pro, including Claude Code. http://claude.ai/theoriesofeverythingRESOURCES:- Michael Levin [TOE]: https://youtu.be/c8iFtaltX-s- Anil Seth [TOE]: https://youtu.be/_hUEqXhDbVs- Geoffrey Hinton [TOE]: https://youtu.be/b_DUft-BdIE- Living Things Are Not Machines [Article]: https://www.noemamag.com/living-things-are-not-machines-also-they-totally-are/- Classical Sorting Algorithms [Paper]: https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.05375- Michael Levin and Anna Ciaunica [TOE]: https://youtu.be/2aLhkm6QUgA- Being You: A New Science of Consciousness [Book]: https://www.amazon.com/Being-You-New-Science-Consciousness/dp/1524742872/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0- The Consciousness Iceberg [TOE]: https://youtu.be/65yjqIDghEk- Iain McGilchrist [TOE]: https://youtu.be/Q9sBKCd2HD0- Matt Segall [TOE]: https://youtu.be/DeTm4fSXpbM- Andres Gomez-Emilsson [TOE]: https://youtu.be/gi08eVU_-f8- MIT's Augmentation Summit: https://augmentationlab.org/summit- Granger Causality Analysis [Paper]: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25716830/- Dynamical Independence [Paper]: https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.99.022143 Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal features long-form, technically detailed interviews with leading researchers in physics, mathematics, consciousness, and philosophy, exploring topics at the level of active research. For academics, graduate students, and anyone seeking depth beyond popular science. SPONSOR: I subscribe to The Economist for their science and tech coverage. As a TOE listener, get 35% off! No other podcast has this: https://economist.com/TOE FOLLOW: Substack | Spotify | YouTube | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Avsnitt(340)

David Bessis: What Mathematics Really Is and How to Learn It

David Bessis: What Mathematics Really Is and How to Learn It

What is mathematics, really? Mathematician David Bessis joins me to argue that math isn't about numbers in a Platonic realm or a meaningless game of symbols—it's a cognitive technology for rewiring yo...

23 Feb 2h 18min

Erik Verlinde: Gravity Is Not Fundamental, It Is Entropic

Erik Verlinde: Gravity Is Not Fundamental, It Is Entropic

What if gravity is just entropy in disguise? Professor Erik Verlinde joins me to argue that gravity isn't a fundamental force—it's thermodynamic, emerging from quantum information the way gas pressure...

16 Feb 1h 58min

Vitaly Vanchurin: The Universe Is a Neural Network That Learns

Vitaly Vanchurin: The Universe Is a Neural Network That Learns

What if physics is just the universe learning? Most Theories of Everything episodes are mind‑bending for their math, physics, philosophy, or consciousness implications. This one hits all four simultan...

9 Feb 1h 58min

Rob Spekkens: Why the Quantum Wave Function Is Not Real

Rob Spekkens: Why the Quantum Wave Function Is Not Real

From Ancient Egypt to Leibniz... Brand‑new interview out with Robert Spekkens of the Perimeter Institute, one of the sharpest minds working on quantum foundations. In 2004, he constructed a classical ...

2 Feb 2h 47min

Subir Sarkar: Why Dark Energy Is a Local Illusion

Subir Sarkar: Why Dark Energy Is a Local Illusion

Hot off the press, Professor Subir Sarkar makes the case that dark energy doesn’t exist (and he’s not being provocative for its own sake). He’s the former head of Oxford’s particle theory group, serve...

26 Jan 2h 3min

Stuart Kauffman: There Is No Theory of Everything

Stuart Kauffman: There Is No Theory of Everything

This is an interview with Stuart Kauffman, one of the founders of complexity theory. He invented random Boolean networks at only 23 years old and helped establish the Santa Fe Institute. Now 86, he ma...

20 Jan 1h 28min

Timothy Williamson: Modal Logic and the Nature of Knowledge

Timothy Williamson: Modal Logic and the Nature of Knowledge

Timothy Williamson (Oxford) challenges modal logic, epistemic possibility, and the nature of philosophical knowledge.As a listener of TOE you can get a special 20% off discount to The Economist and al...

13 Jan 1h 57min

I’m Giving Away $5,000 to Explain Hard Physics (and AI)

I’m Giving Away $5,000 to Explain Hard Physics (and AI)

Host Curt Jaimungal launches #CORE1, a competition seeking high-level video explainers for physics, AI, and philosophy. If you're a researcher or student, you'll have a chance to win part of the $5,00...

18 Dec 202510min

Populärt inom Vetenskap

p3-dystopia
dumma-manniskor
svd-nyhetsartiklar
allt-du-velat-veta
kapitalet-en-podd-om-ekonomi
det-morka-psyket
doden-hjarnan-kemisten
sexet
rss-ufo-bortom-rimligt-tvivel-2
rss-vetenskapsradion-2
rss-vetenskapsradion
bildningspodden
paranormalt-med-caroline-giertz
medicinvetarna
dumforklarat
har-vi-akt-till-mars-an
rss-spraket
vetenskapsradion
halsorevolutionen
hacka-livet