Thoughtforms Life

This is a ~1 hour talk (given at the Departmental Seminar series at the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences) on the use of a cognitive approach to bioengineering and regenerative medicine, in which morphogenesis is the behavior (in anatomical space) of a collective intelligence of cellular swarms. I describe our work that takes advantage of the bioelectric interface to re-specify the targets of morphogenesis. CHAPTERS:(00:00) Agential Material for Bioengineering(02:00) The Anatomical Compiler Goal(04:00) Biology as Agential Material(06:00) Intelligence Below Cell Level(09:00) Anatomy Not Just DNA(12:00) Hardware vs Software Biology(14:00) Cellular Collective Intelligence Examples(18:00) Creative Problem-Solving in Cells(22:00) Cognitive Glue and Goal-Seeking(25:00) Bioelectricity: Ancient Communication(28:00) Reading and Writing Patterns(30:00) Rewriting Collective Cell Memory(33:00) Regenerating Limbs in Frogs(35:00) Planaria Pattern Memory(39:00) Plasticity Beyond Species(41:00) Novel Shapes and Galls(44:00) Computational Models for Repair(49:00) Cancer as Goal Failure(50:00) Bioelectric Cancer Suppression(53:00) Novel Anatomical Goals: Xenobots(01:00:00) Human Anthrobots from Cells(01:02:00) Autonomous Personalized Therapeutics(01:04:00) Top-Down Biomedical Approaches(01:06:00) Biorobotics and Bioprompting(01:07:00) Ethics of Diverse Beings CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Blog The Levin Lab

In a captivating discussion, scholar Pamela Lyon explores her biogenic approach to cognition. She dives into how traditional Western cognitive models fell short and emphasizes the importance of grounding cognition in biology. Pamela unveils fascinating examples from microbes exhibiting cognitive traits, such as Bacillus subtilis, and discusses the collective behaviors of Myxococcus. The conversation also touches on the implications of viewing cognition across all living systems, and how this perspective could revolutionize neuroscience and even artificial intelligence.

This is a ~30 minute conversation with Mayli Mertens (Marie Curie Postdoctoral fellow at University of Antwerp, https://philpeople.org/profiles/mayli-mertens) and I on the topic of molecular placebos, bioelectricity, and self-fulfilling prophecies in medicine (the latter being the title of her recent paper: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11017-024-09677-z ) CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Blog The Levin Lab

Michael Levin, a biologist and director of the Levin Lab, delves into the intriguing parallels and distinctions between biological and technological information-processing systems. He explores astonishing biological intelligence, like how planarians retain memories through regeneration and how tadpoles reorganize their anatomy. Levin highlights the role of bioelectricity in development and the implications for AI and ethics, questioning our assumptions about autonomy and intelligence in both nature and technology. He also discusses the creativity of biology in problem-solving and the unexpected behaviors emerging from simple systems.

This is a ~1 hour conversation on topics of consciousness, affect, evolution, and philosophy between Gunnar Babcock (https://cals.cornell.edu/gunnar-babcock), Daniel McShea (https://scholars.duke.edu/person/dmcshea), Mark Solms (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=vD4p8rQAAAAJ&hl=en), and I. CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Blog The Levin Lab

In this engaging discussion, futurist Richard Watson and researcher Leo Caves delve into fascinating concepts like eigenforms and resonance. Richard explores how observer-dependent objects emerge through stable couplings, and introduces pilot-wave ideas that challenge traditional views of particles. Leo expands the conversation to biology, examining how organisms function as oscillatory structures and the role of harmonics in their behavior. Together, they reflect on cognition, emergent properties, and the interplay between structure and process in understanding life.

This is a ~2-hour Q&A with Mark Solms (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Solms) at the "Public conversation about their work and its implications for psychoanalysis" series of the Annual meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association. CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Blog The Levin Lab

This is a ~1 hour conversation between Alexey Tolchinsky (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/contributors/alexey-tolchinsky-psyd ), a clinical psychologist and Adjunct Professor at The George Washington University, Center for Professional Psychology, and Thomas Pollak (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6171-0810), a neuropsychiatrist and researcher working at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London, about issues of collective minds, psychiatry, and cognition. ... CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Blog The Levin Lab

This is a ~1 hour 10 minute discussion with Robert Prentner (https://scholar.google.nl/citations?user=ZYcFVxoAAAAJ&hl=en) and Timothy Jackson (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=vOnot8oAAAAJ&hl=en) about Platonism and related concepts. The paper of mine that they reference at some point is: https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/5g2xj_v3; also an interesting email exchange between them on this topic is here: https://thoughtforms.life/platonism-process-philosophy-and-more-tim-jackson-and-rober... CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Blog The Levin Lab

This is a ~1 hour conversation with Buck Trible (https://triblelab.fas.harvard.edu/people/waring-buck-trible, https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JLN0AT0AAAAJ&hl=en) about his fascinating work on the genetics, morphology, behavior, and sociality in ants. CONNECT WITH ME: Podcast Website YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter Blog The Levin Lab