Michael Levin is a biologist at Tufts University working on novel ways to understand and control complex pattern formation in biological systems.
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I just watched Michael's first appearance on your podcast, and after three hours of that, my brain is hooked and can think of nothing it would rather do than listen to 3 more hours!
Reminds me on the discussion of the Ruliad as Stephen Wolfram discussed it. I think he also talked about condensing of reality when there are overlaps of possiblities.
Also reminds me of Donald Hoffman talking about conciousness as interfaces, though Levin goes the other way around.
Between this three thoughts there is so much room to play around with reality conception.
Maybe Greg Bear was onto something: "I imagine that long ago, we were simple vibrations in nothingness, small songs, each individual differing only in subtleties. How long the simple songs lasted, who can say? But they became more complex and more involved with each other. The songs joined and withdrew. Again and again they found patterns together, and the patterns broke down to make new patterns. New collections of songs, new styles, new addings and takings away. At times, what might seem setbacks—even disasters—happened, but across the greatest spans of time, there was progress. You must draw back before you can leap. “And finally, that progress has come down to us. There was no beginning. There shall be no end. Only variations on a theme, never repeating, always improving."
Descartes actually said, “I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am.”
He was not centering thought as a basis for identity. He was arguing that skepticism was the starting point for realisation and the creation of the aware self.
how this guy isnt more known worldwide than many physicists are is beyhond me... this guy is studying the most interesting stuffs on the universe, and he's a genius at it... if all the money we put on tech and physics were put on biology frontier researches like this we would have evolved into gods by now...
Having a child with cancer and spending quite a bit of time on the oncology unit at the children's hospital, I want so badly for this man to succeed so no more children have to suffer.
Loving this guys work, I stumble around like a scool kid repeating dumbed down versions of his work in my lab. Everytime he drops a new paper it takes me 3-6 months to build the machines required to run basic repeats on his data. The dude is quietly rewritting several fields of science and engineering. A legend, hopefully in his lifetime....
Levin is, without exaggeration, one of the "Einsteins" of our time. His depth of systems thinking, astonishing pattern recognition, and the way he weaves together seemingly unrelated domains is nothing short of breathtaking. Can listen to this man talk for hours. Thanks for this awesome interview!
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See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc.
0:00 - Introduction
0:44 - Biological intelligence
9:17 - Living vs non-living organisms
14:30 - Origin of life
18:15 - The search for alien life (on Earth)
51:19 - Creating life in the lab - Xenobots and Anthrobots
1:04:21 - Memories and ideas are living organisms
1:18:02 - Reality is an illusion: The brain is an interface to a hidden reality
2:03:48 - Unexpected intelligence of sorting algorithms
2:29:26 - Can aging be reversed?
2:33:17 - Mind uploading
2:51:57 - Alien intelligence
3:06:52 - Advice for young people
3:13:21 - Questions for AGI
CONTACT LEX:
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EPISODE LINKS:
Michael Levin's X: x.com/drmichaellevin
Michael Levin's Website: drmichaellevin.org/
Michael Levin's Papers: drmichaellevin.org/publications/
- Biological Robots:
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Also reminds me of Donald Hoffman talking about conciousness as interfaces, though Levin goes the other way around.
Between this three thoughts there is so much room to play around with reality conception.
He was not centering thought as a basis for identity. He was arguing that skepticism was the starting point for realisation and the creation of the aware self.
See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc.
0:00 - Introduction
0:44 - Biological intelligence
9:17 - Living vs non-living organisms
14:30 - Origin of life
18:15 - The search for alien life (on Earth)
51:19 - Creating life in the lab - Xenobots and Anthrobots
1:04:21 - Memories and ideas are living organisms
1:18:02 - Reality is an illusion: The brain is an interface to a hidden reality
2:03:48 - Unexpected intelligence of sorting algorithms
2:29:26 - Can aging be reversed?
2:33:17 - Mind uploading
2:51:57 - Alien intelligence
3:06:52 - Advice for young people
3:13:21 - Questions for AGI
Transcript:
lexfridman.com/michael-levin-2-transcript
CONTACT LEX:
Feedback - give feedback to Lex: lexfridman.com/survey
AMA - submit questions, videos or call-in: lexfridman.com/ama
Hiring - join our team: lexfridman.com/hiring
Other - other ways to get in touch: lexfridman.com/contact
EPISODE LINKS:
Michael Levin's X: x.com/drmichaellevin
Michael Levin's Website: drmichaellevin.org/
Michael Levin's Papers: drmichaellevin.org/publications/
- Biological Robots: