Brain Inspired - BI 078 David and John Krakauer: Part 2

BI 078 David and John Krakauer: Part 2

07/17/20 • 74 min

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In this second part of our conversation David, John, and I continue to discuss the role of complexity science in the study of intelligence, brains, and minds. We also get into functionalism and multiple realizability, dynamical systems explanations, the role of time in thinking, and more. Be sure to listen to the first part, which lays the foundation for what we discuss in this episode.

Notes:

David’s page at the Santa Fe Institute.
John’s BLAM lab website.
Follow SFI on twitter: @sfiscience.
BLAM on Twitter: @blamlab
Related Krakauer stuff:
- At the limits of thought. An Aeon article by David
- Complex Time: Cognitive Regime Shift II - When/Why/How the Brain Breaks. A video conversation with both John and David.
- Complexity Podcast.
Books mentioned:
- Worlds Hidden in Plain Sight: The Evolving Idea of Complexity at the Santa Fe Institute, ed. David Krakauer.
- Understanding Scientific Understanding by Henk de Regt.
- The Idea of the Brain by Matthew Cobb.
- New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future by James Bridle.
- The River of Consciousness by Oliver Sacks.

Notes:

David’s page at the Santa Fe Institute.
John’s BLAM lab website.
Follow SFI on twitter: @sfiscience.
BLAM on Twitter: @blamlab
Related Krakauer stuff:
- At the limits of thought. An Aeon article by David
- Complex Time: Cognitive Regime Shift II - When/Why/How the Brain Breaks. A video conversation with both John and David.
- Complexity Podcast.
Books mentioned:
- Worlds Hidden in Plain Sight: The Evolving Idea of Complexity at the Santa Fe Institute, ed. David Krakauer.
- Understanding Scientific Understanding by Henk de Regt.
- The Idea of the Brain by Matthew Cobb.
- New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future by James Bridle.
- The River of Consciousness by Oliver Sacks.

Previous Episode

BI 077 David and John Krakauer: Part 1

David, John, and I discuss the role of complexity science in the study of intelligence. In this first part, we talk about complexity itself, its role in neuroscience, emergence and levels of explanation, understanding, epistemology and ontology, and really quite a bit more.

Notes:

David’s page at the Santa Fe Institute.
John’s BLAM lab website.
Follow SFI on twitter: @sfiscience.
BLAM on Twitter: @blamlab
Related Krakauer stuff:
- At the limits of thought. An Aeon article by David
- Complex Time: Cognitive Regime Shift II - When/Why/How the Brain Breaks. A video conversation with both John and David.
- Complexity Podcast.
Books mentioned:
- Worlds Hidden in Plain Sight: The Evolving Idea of Complexity at the Santa Fe Institute, ed. David Krakauer.
- Understanding Scientific Understanding by Henk de Regt.
- The Idea of the Brain by Matthew Cobb.
- New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future by James Bridle.
- The River of Consciousness by Oliver Sacks.

Next Episode

BI 079 Romain Brette: The Coding Brain Metaphor

Romain and I discuss his theoretical/philosophical work examining how neuroscientists rampantly misuse the word "code" when making claims about information processing in brains. We talk about the coding metaphor, various notions of information, the different roles and facets of mental representation, perceptual invariance, subjective physics, process versus substance metaphysics, and the experience of writing a Behavior and Brain Sciences article (spoiler: it's a demanding yet rewarding experience).