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Thoughtforms Life

Michael Levin

A podcast by Professor Michael Levin exploring the frontiers of biology, cognition, and emergence. Engage in conversations about morphogenesis, bioelectricity, and synthetic life — and uncover how intelligence and agency emerge from the most fundamental levels of nature.

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  • 23 episodes
  • Avg 1 hr 6 min
  • English

Episodes 23

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  • March 5 · 53 min

    "On Biological and Artificial Consciousness" by Borjan Milinkovic and Jaan Aru

    This is a ~53 minute talk + 14 minute Q&A titled "On Biological and Artificial Consciousness: a case for biological computationalism" by Borjan Milinkovic ( and Jaan Aru ( CHAPTERS: (00:00) Speaker background and research (03:16) Motivation and philosophical landscape (09:32) Von Neumann architecture (15:39) Computational metaphor in neuroscience (22:52) Metabolic constraints in neurons (29:04) Heterarchy and scale integration (33:55) Empirical scale integration findings (38:00) Hybrid computation in dendrites (43:16) Field-based neural computation (47:48) Implications for synthetic consciousness PRODUCED BY: https://aipodcast.ing SOCIAL LINKS: Podcast Website: https://thoughtforms-life.aipodcast.ing YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3pVafx6EZqXVI2V_Efu2uw Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thoughtforms-life/id1805908099 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7JCmtoeH53neYyZeOZ6ym5 Twitter: https://x.com/drmichaellevin Blog: https://thoughtforms.life The Levin Lab: https://drmichaellevin.org

  • February 5 · 1 hr 44 min

    Platonic Space discussion 3

    This is a ~1 hours 44 minute discussion among contributors to the Platonic Space Hypothesis (https://thoughtforms.life/symposium-on-the-platonic-space/). CHAPTERS: (00:00) Platonic forms and interaction (07:01) Xenobots and evolutionary cost (11:23) Symbiosis, rectifiers, embeddings (18:06) Free lunches in biology (27:59) Topology of competency space (39:53) Exploration, play, affordances (48:01) Markov blankets and evolution (57:51) Relational life and observers (01:04:10) Defining play and plasticity (01:20:35) Thermodynamics and domesticated play (01:29:32) Will to live dynamics PRODUCED BY: https://aipodcast.ing SOCIAL LINKS: Podcast Website: https://thoughtforms-life.aipodcast.ing YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3pVafx6EZqXVI2V_Efu2uw Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thoughtforms-life/id1805908099 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7JCmtoeH53neYyZeOZ6ym5 Twitter: https://x.com/drmichaellevin Blog: https://thoughtforms.life The Levin Lab: https://drmichaellevin.org

  • February 4 · 54 min

    Conversation with Darren Iammarino #1

    This is a ~54 minute conversation with Darren Iammarino (https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=YNrxRaYAAAAJ&view_op=list_works) about open problems with respect to the Platonic Space model. CHAPTERS: (00:00) Patterns, minds, and causation (09:18) Interfaces and positive pressure (21:50) Randomness and new universals (31:21) Quantum randomness and scale (39:16) Cyborg minds and identity (50:18) Unconventional minds and substrates PRODUCED BY: https://aipodcast.ing SOCIAL LINKS: Podcast Website: https://thoughtforms-life.aipodcast.ing YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3pVafx6EZqXVI2V_Efu2uw Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thoughtforms-life/id1805908099 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7JCmtoeH53neYyZeOZ6ym5 Twitter: https://x.com/drmichaellevin Blog: https://thoughtforms.life The Levin Lab: https://drmichaellevin.org

Showing 21–23 of 23 episodes