Jack Roycroft-Sherry

Elliot Murphy, a neuroscientist who studies language, cognition and the brain, offers a brisk tour of what makes human language unique. He explores innate language capacity, structural ambiguity and sentences humans grasp that AI misses. He examines language’s evolution, its role in deception and whether something beyond our current language could exist.

Ben Alderson-Day is a cognitive scientist and author of the book Presence: The Strange Science and True Stories of the Unseen Other.In this podcast, we discuss the experience of sensing presences even in otherwise healthy people, why such experiences are more likely in extreme situations, how the brain constructs a sense of another being, how to think about the metaphysical status of spirits and ghost encounters, how this capacity shapes everyday reality, how AI might induce the feeling that someone is really there, and much more...Timestamps:00:00 The Strange Science of the Unseen Other 03:38 The Feeling of Presence of Beings06:15 The Third Man effect in extreme environments and survival situations11:46 The psychological function of presence capacity 18:46 Disrupting presence with the "presence robot"22:20 Are Spirits and Ghosts Real?27:04 Presence as an underlying component of everyday cognition31:28 Representing others and virtual social cognition35:59 The role of stereotypes and generalized models38:35 Anthropomorphism and presence in interactions with large language models42:28 Clinical implications and future research on AI and psychosisFind Ben:•Presence: The Strange Science of the Unseen Other •Reader Bank — https://readabank.org•Hearing the Voice — 10-year project at Durham University (funded by the Wellcome Trust)•Discovery Research PlatformFind Jack:• Youtube: https://youtu.be/LDAVqatEWTk• X: https://twitter.com/jack_roycroft• Substack: https://substack.com/@jackroycroftsherry?utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-page

John Vervaeke is a cognitive scientist and philosopher. In this podcast, learn about: John's changing views on God and ultimate reality; what both theists and atheists get wrong about God; John Vervaeke's interactions with transpersonal beings like Hermes; John's changing relationship with Christianity; non-duality in the Gospel of St. John; John Vervaeke's view on the Book of Revelation; and much more...Timestamps: 00:00 Misconceptions about God 06:43 Why God Can't Be Perfect12:52 God, Brahman, Shunyata – different conceptions of the One14:30 Spirits, distributed cognition, and angels25:25 John Vervaeke's relationship with Hermes 33:00 How Hermes helps John36:32 Hermes & John’s changing views on God and Ultimate Reality42:00 Saints44:40 John would be an Orthodox Christian, if he were a Christian52:29 John's Dark Road ack to Christianity58:40 St. John, Christianity & Non-Duality01:07:47 Book of RevelationFind John• The Lectern: https://lectern.johnvervaeke.com/• Newsletter: https://vervaeke.kit.com/lecternnewsletter• New Book: "Awakening From the Meaning Crisis: Part One: Origins"• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/johnvervaeke• X: @DrJohnVervaekeFind Jack• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0DGVMa1qAI1huc87xNDrgy?si=62c281d9e8274694• X: https://twitter.com/jack_roycroft• Substack: https://substack.com/@jackroycroftsherry?utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-pageMentioned in the Podcast:•John Vervaeke & Hermes (ThirdEyeDrops): https://youtu.be/mdZDQdFlxBM?si=4WLpJ3ChfjZ8uD_Z•Being and the Between by William Desmond •Angels in Scientific Terms (Pageau & Vervaeke): https://youtu.be/Y9ZaFNIH0co?si=dxp0DsewzEI205QB•Presence by Ben Alderson-Day•The Gospel of Non-Duality by Marshall Davis•Religion, Metaphysics, and the Postmodern by Christopher Ben Simpson•JP Marceau & John Vervaeke on God's imperfection/incompleteness (at the 1 hour mark): https://www.youtube.com/live/BabjUd0evk4?si=1cgd8lJFumYbw0A2Related Jack Roycroft-Sherry Podcasts: •Internal Family Systems Therapy & Psychic Entities: https://youtu.be/A_Whap9G4xI•Relational metaphysics: https://youtu.be/lFp06wStZs4•Spirits and Higher Beings: https://youtu.be/KG05gsv2tYs•Magic, Cognitive Science & Higher Beings: https://youtu.be/vMeexDp1EjA•Whitehead, God & Consciousness: https://youtu.be/RIl4paND5QI

Physicist Chris Fields recently gave a talk on retrocausality and non-causal information flow in physics, and how these concepts help us understand precognition and potential retrocausal effects in psychology experiments. I wanted to explore this further.What does physics say about whether time can flow backwards? How are physicists thinking about spacetime, identity, and memory differently than they did in the past? And what can the physics of retrocausality tell us about precognition experiments in psychology and strange cases of synchronicity in humans?Timestamps:00:00 Time Can Flow Backwards (in theory)02:25 Entropy & the Observer's Role in Time 04:10 Entropy and the Arrow of Time08:00 Time and the Big Bang14:00 What Actually is Time? Time, Memory, and Identity21:25 Pre-Cognition Psychology Experiments25:20 Information, Attention & the Future30:16 Basal Cognition & Bacteria36:53 Spacetime Emerges from Information43:20 What Actually is Spacetime?47:23 Can Retrocausal Really Happen?49:40 Synchronicity CHRIS FIELDS •Talk on retrocausality and non-causal information flow in physics: "Non-causal information flow in evolution, development, and behavior": https://youtu.be/CGA8su2nd3I?si=VfG9zJwsv7Iq43q7•Website: https://chrisfieldsresearch.com/JACK• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0DGVMa1qAI1huc87xNDrgy?si=62c281d9e8274694• X: https://twitter.com/jack_roycroft• Substack: https://substack.com/@jackroycroftsherry?utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-page

Dr. Richard Watson, biologist and computer scientist exploring cognition in life and matter. He debates limits of standard natural selection and why major transitions like multicellularity are puzzling. He describes learning and memory outside brains, how networks and ecosystems can encode information, and how cognition might predate life and shape evolution.

What if the Big Bang was actually the other side of a black hole in a previous parent universe? Irish writer-turned-cosmologist Julian Gough and I discuss.In this podcast, learn about: where the term "black hole" came from, how black holes and the Big Bang seem suspiciously like one another, why our universe looks like it comes from an evolved history of parent universes, how universes can evolve their parameters of physics through offspring universes (from their black holes), how cosmological evolution through black holes explains the complexity of the early universe, the nature of dark matter, why the universe could be purposeful, and much more...Timestamps:00:00 The Birth of Universes from Black Holes03:54 Could universes actually emerge out of black holes?05:38 How this idea explains the complexity of our cosmos09:05 What happens at the singularity of a black hole?11:40 Three-Stage Cosmological Natural Selection15:03 The Mechanism of Black Hole Production17:59 Moral Implications of Creating Universes20:54 The Future of Black Hole Research31:55 The Evolution of Black Holes and Stars35:11 Exaptation: Evolution's Ingenious Adaptation39:05 The Chemistry of Life and Stellar Evolution40:55 The Role of Supermassive Black Holes in Galaxy Formation51:13 Spiral Galaxies: A New Perspective01:04:14 The Universe as an Evolving Organism01:05:45 Galaxy Formation and Supermassive Black Holes01:08:36 Critique of Mainstream Cosmology01:10:13 The Sociological Implications of Cosmology01:11:41 Evolutionary History of Electrons01:14:37 Structure in the Universe: Past vs Present01:17:03 Purpose in the Universe01:19:21 Dark Matter and Self-Organizing Systems01:20:55 Interacting with Parent Universes01:24:11 The Future of Cosmological Theories01:28:15 Creating a New Field of StudyFind Julian:• Substack: https://theeggandtherock.com/• Blowtorch Theory: A New Model for Structure Formation in the Universe: https://theeggandtherock.com/p/the-blowtorch-theory-a-new-model• Website: https://www.juliangough.com/Find Jack: • Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0DGVMa1qAI1huc87xNDrgy?si=62c281d9e8274694• X: https://twitter.com/jack_roycroft• Substack: https://substack.com/@jackroycroftsherry?utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-page

Licensed psychologist Alexey Tolchinsky (Psy.D.) joins me to discuss the mind's more unusual aspects, such as claims of demonic possession, hearing voices, hallucinations, and dissociated identities, to get a better naturalistic understanding of the complexities of human psychology.Learn about the different kinds of voices and hallucinations people can have, the line between normal and pathological psychological conditions, information people have received through voices in their heads, spirits in psychology, dissociation induced by drugs like ketamine, Dissociative Identity Disorder, and more...Timestamps: 00:00 Understanding Voices: Hallucinations vs. Delusions02:49 The Nature of Psychosis: Episodes vs. Disorders05:54 Defining Normal: Health vs. Pathology08:55 Voices as Insight: The Utility of Hallucinations11:40 Dreams and Hallucinations: The Mind's Inner Workings14:32 Dialogues with Voices: Exploring Schizophrenia17:26 Therapeutic Approaches: The Role of the Therapist20:28 Self-Diagnosis: The Patient's Perspective23:37 Spirituality and Psychopathology: Beyond the Naturalistic View30:13 Exploring Demonic Possession and Cultural Beliefs35:51 Understanding Trauma and Its Impact on Mental Health39:07 Dissociative Identity Disorder: An Overview44:03 The Spectrum of Dissociation54:16 Therapeutic Approaches to Dissociative DisordersFind Alexey: -Website: https://montgomerycountypsychologist.com/ -Dissociation paper: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1585315/full-Frank Putnam, Michael Levin and Alexey talk: https://youtu.be/o-0lj02cBPY?si=ttpm7T5R5Dy7TJvR-Michael Levin, Thomas Pollak and Alexey talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IhHJgGNBUcFind Jack • Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0DGVMa1qAI1huc87xNDrgy?si=62c281d9e8274694• X: https://twitter.com/jack_roycroft• Substack: https://substack.com/@jackroycroftsherry?utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-pageMore show notes:-Book we kept mentioning: "Finding Solid Ground: Overcoming Obstacles in Trauma Treatment" by Bethany L. Brand et al.-Mike Levin paper that motivated some questions in the discussion: "Robustness of the Mind-Body Interface: case studies of unconventional information flow in the multiscale living architecture" https://osf.io/preprints/osf/fqm7r_v1

Johanna is a psychedelic researcher and a specialist in Jungian-informed psychedelic integration and depth psychology.In this episode, learn about Jung’s visionary experiences documented in The Red Book (only released after his death), Jung's interest in the collective unconscious that contributed to his break with Freud, Jung’s thoughts on psychedelics, Terence McKenna’s relationship to Jung, DMT and powerful psychedelic experiences, the alchemical process of transmutation, whether Jung was a Christian, the spiritual crises in the West, and much more…Timestamps 00:00 Jung's Visionary Experiences in the Red Book03:49 Active Imagination, Collective Unconscious & The Black Books05:20 Did Jung Want the Red Book Published?07:26 Occultism & Magic in Jung & Freud11:48 Did Jung Ever Use Psychedelics?17:30 Aboriginal Dreamtime & The Loss of Dreaming19:14Terence McKenna’s Connection to Jung21:39 Machine Elves, Spirits & Guides24:18 Are Psychedelic Entities Beneficial?29:10 McKenna, Jung & Alchemy 34:55 Mental Illness & Spiritual Crisis38:37 Jung’s Legacy & The Value of "Madness"40:55 Was Jung a Christian? 45:27 Did Jung Want to Start a Religion?47:03 Where to Find JohannaFind Johanna• Website for one-to-one work, talks, and more:https://individuationportal.com/• University of Exeter profile:https://sites.exeter.ac.uk/psychedelics/johanna-sopanen/• Book chapter:“Journeying in the Realm of the Unconscious: Jung’s Liber Novus and Psychedelic Experience,”in Philosophy and Psychedelics, edited by Christine Hauskeller & Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes Find Jack• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0DGVMa1qAI1huc87xNDrgy?si=62c281d9e8274694• X: https://twitter.com/jack_roycroft• Substack: https://substack.com/@jackroycroftsherry?utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-page

What if things didn’t exist—only processes, flows & constant change? In this podcast, philosopher of biology Daniel Nicholson explains how "Process Metaphysics" is radically reshaping the way we think about biology, life, physics, free will, cancer, and the universe at large.Timestamps:00:00 What is process metaphysics? Are there really no “things”?01:43 Computers vs organisms: why living beings are different04:11 Metabolic turnover and what it means for identity over time07:14 Organisms as four-dimensional processes 08:44 Symbiosis, holobionts, and where the organism begins and ends10:53 What is a human? Species boundaries and the unit of evolution14:22 Against essences: “cat-ness”, Platonic forms, and Darwinian variation16:27 Species as historical individuals20:34 Physics vs biology: why sameness works better in physics22:22 Atoms vs cells and why biological variation is fundamental25:34 The “tyranny of the mean” and problems with averages in biology28:11 Can we do science if everything is unique? Sample size of one31:06 Are there laws of biology, or just evolutionary contingencies?32:30 Agency, free will, and living systems34:20 Why organisms aren’t machines38:22 Process metaphysics, metaphysical assumptions, and scientific explanation41:19 Rethinking disease and cancer as failures of ongoing processes43:34 Population thinking and uniqueness at every biological level47:03 Economics, coordination, and collective intelligence in biology50:32 Where to start with process biology – Daniel’s book *Everything Flows*FIND DANIEL• Everything Flows: Towards a Processual Philosophy of Biology https://academic.oup.com/book/27525• “Population Thinking and the Uniqueness of Biological Entities” – Daniel J. Nicholson, Acta Biotheoretica (2025)FIND JACK• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0DGVMa1qAI1huc87xNDrgy?si=62c281d9e8274694• X: https://twitter.com/jack_roycroft• Substack: https://substack.com/@jackroycroftsherry?utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-pageMENTIONED IN THE PODCAST• “Cognitive Glues Are Shared Models of Relative Scarcities: The Economics of Collective Intelligence” – Benjamin F. Lyons & Michael Levin (OSF preprint)

Adam J. Goldstein is a cognitive scientist and entrepreneur working in the field of diverse intelligence.Is cognition just a brain thing? Recent evidence suggests that everything from cells to worms to slime moulds can be cognitive. In this episode, we go a step further and look at apparent problem-solving & cognition in simple computer algorithms. Might there be more to even basic algorithms than we think? And what could this reveal about the nature of intelligence, matter, and the universe?Timestamps: 00:00 Unexpected Behaviour in Sorting Algorithms06:05 What do Algorithms "Know"?08:29 Philosophical Perspectives on Algorithms11:33 Free Energy Principle and Its Implications14:39 Understanding Cancer Through Algorithms17:31 The Role of Algorithms in Human Behavior20:31 The Interplay of Algorithms and DNA23:21 Metacognition and Human Uniqueness26:28 AI and Cooperative Dynamics29:29 Michael Levin's Artificial Organisms 31:59 Algorithms vs. DNA in BiologySORTING ALGORITHMS PAPER DISCUSSED:• Sorting Algorithms paper: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10597123241269740FIND ADAM• X: @adamjgoldstein• Read more: softmax.com/inspiration• Watch more: Friston, Levin, Goldstein talk on algorithms & Free Energy Principle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApVWEn-3vG4FIND JACK• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0DGVMa1qAI1huc87xNDrgy?si=62c281d9e8274694• X: https://twitter.com/jack_roycroft• Substack: https://substack.com/@jackroycroftsherry?utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-page