Thoughtforms Life Discussion: Lisa Maroski, Michael Levin, Richard Watson
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Apr 10, 2026 Richard Watson, futures thinker exploring nested selves and systemic cognition. Lisa Maroski, transdisciplinary researcher inventing language and graphics for multi-scale relations. They probe parts-versus-wholes, search for words for inside-out recursion, and play with neologisms and visual systems to hold polarities and cross-level perspectives.
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Use Visual Symbols To Hold Multiple Polarities
- Use symbolic structures like yin-yang to hold dualities together in language and thought.
- Lisa Maroski argues foreground/background and contained/containing ambiguity help express polarities like freedom/responsibility.
Bodies Are Ecosystems Of Competing Agents
- Organisms contain many agents with differing goals that can 'hack' each other across levels.
- Examples include gut candida craving sugar versus host dieting, highlighting multi-agent bargaining in physiology.
Patterns Act As Cognitive Agents Across Scales
- Patterns and memory can be treated as cognitive agents spanning scales from fleeting thoughts to personality fragments.
- Levin describes larva-to-butterfly memory remapping and persistent thoughts niche-constructing neural support.