Thoughtforms Life

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By: Michael Levin

A podcast by Professor Michael Levin exploring the frontiers of biology, cognition, and emergence. Engage in conversations about morphogenesis, bioelectricity, and synthetic life — and uncover how intelligence and agency emerge from the most fundamental levels of nature.

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Thoughts as Thinkers: biology & computer science of inspiration within & without us by Michael Levin
Thoughts as Thinkers: biology & computer science of inspiration within & without us by Michael Levin episode artwork
Yesterday at 5:06 PM

This is a ~35 minute talk titled "Thoughts as Thinkers: the biology and computer science of inspiration within and without us" that I gave right before Chris Fields, at a recent philosophy conference. Still working on different ways to present the concept of patterns as behavioral policies, their origin, and applications of this idea.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Policies of navigation

(04:40) Biological free lunches

(10:15) Molecular learning ratchets

(14:00) Competencies of xenobots

(20:48) Latent space of patterns

(27:12) Embodied mathematical minds

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"New Bodies, Unconventional Minds: a continuum of cognition (& consciousness) by Michael Levin
"New Bodies, Unconventional Minds: a continuum of cognition (& consciousness) by Michael Levin episode artwork
10/17/2026

This is a ~39 minute talk titled "New Bodies, Unconventional Minds: a perspective on a continuum of cognition (& consciousness)" for a consciousness conference about our laboratory model systems relevant to the study of minds, my Platonic Space model, and a few opinions on consciousness (at the end, since I don't have any strong claims about consciousness per se).

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Continuum of novel minds

(07:11) Molecular networks and learning

(11:42) Xenobots and anthrobots

(18:25) Paying for competencies

(28:21) The space of patterns

(33:28) Rethinking nature of consciousness

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"Thoughts as Thinkers: the biology & computer science of inspiration" by Michael Levin
"Thoughts as Thinkers: the biology & computer science of inspiration" by Michael Levin episode artwork
10/16/2026

This is a ~35 minute talk titled "Thoughts as Thinkers: the biology & computer science of inspiration" I gave at a recent conference.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) The nature of inspiration

(15:51) Xenobots and novel minds

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Bio-inspired technology? #science #biology #platonicspace
Bio-inspired technology? #science #biology #platonicspace episode artwork
10/15/2026

This #short is an excerpt from Michael Levin's talk "Biology, AI, and Diverse Intelligence" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or_3tlEOLj4

produced by https://x.com/DNAMediaEditing

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Patterns and free lunches

(01:01) Questioning biological uniqueness

(01:48) Competencies beyond the code

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What are we? Concepts for biology and AI #science #biology #diverseintelligence
What are we? Concepts for biology and AI #science #biology #diverseintelligence episode artwork
10/13/2026

This #short is an excerpt from Michael Levin's talk "Biology, AI, and Diverse Intelligence" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or_3tlEOLj4

produced by https://x.com/DNAMediaEditing

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Defining life and machines

(00:44) Reductionists versus organicists

(01:35) Rethinking machine metaphors

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"Mind-Body Interface: an experimental and Clinical Perspective" by Michael Levin and Karina Kofman
"Mind-Body Interface: an experimental and Clinical Perspective" by Michael Levin and Karina Kofman episode artwork
10/11/2026

This is a ~1 hour and 4 minutes talk + Q&A that my student and collaborator Karina Kofman (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Karina-Kofman-2) and I gave to the Society for Mind-Matter Research as a keynote talk in acceptance of the best paper for 2025 award (the paper is: https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/imp/mm/2025/00000023/00000001/art00003).

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Mind and body interface

(03:44) Embryonic individuation and plasticity

(21:35) Clinical cases and anomalies

(41:11) Platonic space of competencies

(51:39) Audience questions and answers

(57:19) Categories of platonic forms

(01:01:18) Patterns and...


"Neuroscience Beyond Neurons: communicating with unconventional minds" by Michael Levin
"Neuroscience Beyond Neurons: communicating with unconventional minds" by Michael Levin episode artwork
10/09/2026

This is a ~1 hour talk given at a conference on the philosophy and future of neuroscience, so I oriented it around extending the concept of neuroscience: not the study of neural phenomena, but more broadly around how neuroscience of neural and non-neural cells shows a model system for understanding collective intelligence, and using morphogenesis as a stepping stone model system to show us how to do behavioral experiments in unconventional cognitive agents. I didn't have time for any of the biomedical applications of these ideas (lots of other talks about that) but alluded at the end to some deep...


Discussion with Marsha Hewitt (Platonic Space and related ideas)
Discussion with Marsha Hewitt (Platonic Space and related ideas) episode artwork
09/24/2026

This is a ~1 hour 3 minute conversation with Marsha Hewitt (https://www.trinity.utoronto.ca/profiles/hewitt-marsha/), who wanted to clarify some issues around the Platonic Space and related ideas from the perspective of her teaching students in her philosophy and psychoanalytic psychology of religion class.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Intersecting philosophy and science

(09:52) Ethics of artificial minds

(15:47) Structured space of patterns

(31:20) Embodiment as a filter

(39:36) Dualism versus monism debate

(49:51) Agency in developmental biology

(56:25) Communicating with alien minds

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"Life, Machines, and a Foundation for Synthbiosis" by Michael Levin
"Life, Machines, and a Foundation for Synthbiosis" by Michael Levin episode artwork
09/22/2026

This is a ~21-minute talk titled "Life, Machines, and a Foundation for Synthbiosis" that I gave to the Santa Fe Institute (https://santafe.edu/) conference on "Symbiogenesis in the Age of Machine intelligence" (https://www.santafe.edu/events/symbiogenesis-in-the-age-of-machine-intelligence-2027", September 17 and 18, 2026)

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Space of embodied minds

(03:03) Rewriting bioelectric set points

(06:08) Xenobots and novel beings

(12:04) Molecular networks and learning

(15:26) Mathematics as information source

(18:38) Exploring anatomical morphospace

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Biology, AI, and Diverse Intelligence by Michael Levin
Biology, AI, and Diverse Intelligence by Michael Levin episode artwork
09/21/2026

"Biology, AI, and Diverse Intelligence: what we know and don't know about embodied minds" - a 53-minute talk I gave on what the field of diverse intelligence has to say to AI research (to an audience of non-experts in AI, so it's not very technical on that end). I tried to go a little slower and explain more of the basics and logic.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Defining life and machines

(04:16) Expanding the Eden view

(07:41) Collective cellular intelligence

(15:16) Bioelectricity and goal memories

(22:08) Xenobots and novel beings

(31:03...


A conversation with Andrey Vyshedskiy about the evolution of language and brain development
A conversation with Andrey Vyshedskiy about the evolution of language and brain development episode artwork
09/13/2026

This is a ~1 hour conversation with Andrey Vyshedskiy (https://www.bu.edu/prsocial/profile/andrey-vyshedskiy/) about the evolution of language, brain mechanisms, implications for autism and developmental disorders, and Andrey's work to develop therapeutic approaches.



CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Syntactic language network development

(05:37) Three levels of comprehension

(28:55) Neurobiology of sensitive periods

(36:46) Recognizing the syntactic phenotype

(42:24) Theory of mind mechanisms

(48:51) Future levels of intelligence



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Conversation #1 with Diego Bohórquez and Mijail D. Serruya: how information moves levels in bodies
Conversation #1 with Diego Bohórquez and Mijail D. Serruya: how information moves levels in bodies episode artwork
09/03/2026

This is a ~59 minute working meeting where I introduce two very interesting neuroscientists to each other - Diego Bohórquez (https://medicine.duke.edu/profile/diego-v-bohorquez) and Mijail D. Serruya (https://www.jefferson.edu/academics/colleges-schools-institutes/skmc/departments/neurology/faculty/serruya.html) and we discuss ideas around how information moves from the molecular to the behavioral level in bodies and how we might be able to interface with that system via technologies that could lead to biomedical applications and deep insight into diverse intelligence. At the end we discuss one such application briefly - McConnell's professor-burgers.




Conversation #1 with Steven Strogatz
Conversation #1 with Steven Strogatz episode artwork
08/22/2026

This is a ~56 minute conversation with mathematician Steven Strogatz (https://www.stevenstrogatz.com/) covering issues of explanation in mathematics, Platonism, and related questions.



CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Mathematical explanation and AI

(07:28) Reductionism across scientific fields

(11:04) Intuition and mathematical deduction

(18:31) Geometry versus algebraic thinking

(24:32) Euler and negative logarithms

(29:38) Mathematical anomalies and patterns

(36:26) Scale of mathematical constants

(46:55) Nature of fundamental constants

(50:08) Pi beyond simple circles



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"Inspiration Across Substrates: free lunches, diverse intelligence and surprise" by Michael Levin
"Inspiration Across Substrates: free lunches, diverse intelligence and surprise" by Michael Levin episode artwork
08/21/2026

This is a ~52 minute talk on inspiration across substrates and my model of "free lunches" and the Platonic space.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) The concept of inspiration

(03:47) Defining the free lunch

(08:47) Surprising biological plasticity

(14:33) Causal emergence in networks

(17:05) Competencies of synthetic organisms

(25:37) Computational free lunches

(33:50) Navigating diverse problem spaces

(38:53) The platonic cognitive space

(44:00) Ingressions and active patterns

(50:16) Future of ethical symbiosis

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Conversation #1 with Alexey Tolchinsky, Anthony Weiss and Chris Fields
Conversation #1 with Alexey Tolchinsky, Anthony Weiss and Chris Fields episode artwork
07/29/2026

This is a ~1 hour conversation on the future of mental health from the perspective of the diverse intelligence field, with Alexey Tolchinsky (https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=tiBKmrsAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate), Anthony Weiss (https://www.anthonypweiss.com/about-anthony-weiss), and Chris Fields (https://chrisfieldsresearch.com/).

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Psychiatry's stalled progress

(04:54) Faulty mental models

(11:36) Tools and treatment goals

(24:06) Nonlinear living systems

(31:21) Energy shaping agency

(41:51) Technology entangles minds

(53:08) Effort and agentic models

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Conversation #1 with
Conversation #1 with episode artwork
07/28/2026

This is a ~1 hour working meeting with Thomas Pollak (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/thomas-pollak, https://drtompollak.substack.com/) and David King (https://profiles.stanford.edu/361883, https://breakingconvention.co.uk/performers/dave-king) about the intersection of neuroscience, mental health, and diverse intelligence research.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Agency in psychiatry

(05:14) Mental real estate

(10:31) Internal agency mechanics

(21:43) Dissociation and multiplicity

(30:04) Interfaces and inspiration

(38:43) Signals and prostheses

(48:18) Psychedelics and entities

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"Diverse Intelligence: new frontier for Origins, Possibilities, and Diseases of Minds by" M. Levin
"Diverse Intelligence: new frontier for Origins, Possibilities, and Diseases of Minds by" M. Levin episode artwork
07/10/2026

This is a ~54 minute talk titled "Diverse Intelligence: a new frontier for Origins, Possibilities, and Diseases of the Mind(s)" which I gave for an audience composed of mental health professionals and neuroscientists.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Roadmap and stakes

(04:13) Minds as continuum

(08:04) Diverse intelligence framework

(11:12) Biological plasticity examples

(18:18) Morphogenesis as intelligence

(22:31) Multiscale cellular agency

(26:39) Anatomical problem solving

(32:40) Ancient bioelectric networks

(35:34) Communicating somatic goals

(42:02) Cancer and medicine

(46:37) Novel living agents

(51:56) Ethics and summary

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"Energy Constraints and Tradeoffs" by Martin Picard
"Energy Constraints and Tradeoffs" by Martin Picard episode artwork
06/27/2026

This is a ~57 minute talk titled "Energy Constraints and Tradeoffs: the mitochondrial daily energy expenditure MDEE study" by Martin Picard (https://www.neurology.columbia.edu/profile/martin-picard-phd) and a brief set of ideas by me at the end, presaging a full discussion of this for our next meeting.

I mentioned these 2 papers:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0303264722001435

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/bies.201900245

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Mitochondria energy tradeoffs

(52:14) Scarcity coordinates biology

(54:44) Anthrobot aging evidence

(56:31) Follow-up ideas

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"Aging, goal-directedness, and bioelectricity" by Michael Levin
"Aging, goal-directedness, and bioelectricity" by Michael Levin episode artwork
06/26/2026

This is ~23 minute talk overviewing our recent results and the way we think about aging and longevity. It was for a conference with quite short speaking slots so I had to talk fast... Longer talk coming with more data but this outlines some ideas and overviews our published recent work on aging.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Aging framework overview

(01:16) Bodies as setpoints

(03:08) Anatomical homeostasis examples

(06:40) Bioelectric pattern memory

(08:41) Rewriting biological setpoints

(12:31) Aging bioelectric fuzziness

(14:18) Sharpening brain patterns

(17:34) Cognitive aging hypothesis

(19:42...


Computationalism and consciousness with Nic Rouleau, Jaan Aru, and Borjan Milinkovic.
Computationalism and consciousness with Nic Rouleau, Jaan Aru, and Borjan Milinkovic. episode artwork
06/22/2026

Discussion #2 (57 minutes on computationalism and consciousness) with Borjan Milinkovic (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=AwaZbzsAAAAJ&hl=en), Jaan Aru (https://scholar.google.de/citations?user=FvFOzS8AAAAJ&hl=en%29), and Nicolas Rouleau (https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=FyOpVTAAAAAJ&hl=en).

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) AI consciousness middle ground

(04:46) Substrate dependent minds

(08:07) Analog computer substrates

(13:44) Zombies and digital computers

(18:56) Polycomputing and observers

(25:01) Felt experience defined

(30:08) Action first embodiment

(34:08) Causal emergence and memory

(42:36) Self versus environment

(46:47) Cognitive light...


Free Lunches: Model Systems for Studying the Agential Gifts from the Platonic Space by Michael Levin
Free Lunches: Model Systems for Studying the Agential Gifts from the Platonic Space by Michael Levin episode artwork
06/20/2026

This is a talk I gave, ~49 minutes long, titled "Free Lunches: Model Systems for Studying the Agential Gifts from the Platonic Space", to a philosophy audience. It covers some more ways I think about the latent space of patterns that in-forms biology and cognitive science.

CHAPTERS:

(00:02) Research program overview

(05:15) Dissolving old categories

(10:54) Goal-directed morphogenesis basics

(14:11) Rewriting bioelectric patterns

(19:23) Novel embodied abilities

(23:35) Molecular agency ratchet

(27:33) Math and living forms

(33:31) Evolutionary accounting breaks

(41:04) High agency patterns

(47:01) Diverse...


Platonic Space discussion 5
Platonic Space discussion 5 episode artwork
05/29/2026

This is a ~2 hour discussion among contributors to the Platonic Space Symposium (

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Strong perception framework

(10:12) Perception model boundaries

(17:41) Penrose and probabilities

(30:57) Quantum interpretations debated

(39:28) Probability dynamics and gravity

(53:50) Relational observer problem

(01:00:30) Dance synchronization physics

(01:12:02) Rituals and group flow

(01:23:43) Boundaries and agency

(01:31:38) Religious possibility spaces

(01:46:30) Numbers in theology

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Platonic Space discussion 4
Platonic Space discussion 4 episode artwork
05/25/2026

This is a ~2 hours 4 minute discussion among contributors to the Platonic Space Symposium (

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Strong anticipation analogy

(08:16) Relational Platonic patterns

(25:06) Finite brains, infinite grammar

(40:05) Beauty and compression

(51:17) Searching for grammar

(01:01:58) Patterns and selfhood

(01:14:44) Patterns claiming territory

(01:29:28) Markets shape selves

(01:43:57) Scaling collective selves

(01:55:47) Testing Platonic feedback

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Discussion #1 with Amahury Jafet Lopez Diaz, Carlos Gershenson-Garcia, and Richard Watson
Discussion #1 with Amahury Jafet Lopez Diaz, Carlos Gershenson-Garcia, and Richard Watson episode artwork
05/19/2026

This is a ~1 hour 5 minute discussion with Amahury Jafet Lopez Diaz ( Carlos Gershenson-Garcia ( and Richard Watson ( Stay tuned for part 2 where Amahury will present his ideas in more detail. Amahury's paper:

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Common ground and stakes

(06:10) Ontology of platonic space

(14:50) Testing separate realms

(25:52) Acid tests and metaphors

(34:55) Interaction and narratives

(44:20) Formal facts alternative

(52:38) Experiments and surprise

(01:00:29) Closing reframing proposal

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A Multiscale Logic of Collective Intelligence" by Donald Hoffman and Chetan Prakash
A Multiscale Logic of Collective Intelligence" by Donald Hoffman and Chetan Prakash episode artwork
04/11/2026

This is a ~1.5 hour talk + discussion, titled "A Multiscale Logic of Collective Intelligence" by Donald Hoffman ( and Chetan Prakash ( with Robert Chis-Ciure ( and Chris Fields ( and me.

CHAPTERS:

(00:01) Beyond space-time physics

(10:10) Minimal observer participants

(18:49) Recursive trace logic

(35:08) Actions and trace blankets

(43:45) Physics and agency together

(52:32) Causal emergence and joins

(59:52) Contextuality and quantum logic

(01:06:00) Unitarity and positive geometries

(01:16:29) Consciousness-first mind theories

(01:24:39) Testing models together

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Discussion: Lisa Maroski, Michael Levin, Richard Watson
Discussion: Lisa Maroski, Michael Levin, Richard Watson episode artwork
04/10/2026

This is a ~1 hour discussion with Lisa Maroski ( and Richard Watson ( about the role of language in shaping our thinking in the field of diverse intelligence and beyond.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Language and systems thinking

(04:25) Parts wholes and resonance

(07:34) Who versus what

(12:45) Recursion and new structures

(17:47) Searching for a word

(25:16) Holding multiple polarities

(29:41) Nested biological agency

(35:42) Patterns and Platonic minds

(45:41) Cross-level observers and time

(52:45) Knowing and owning beliefs

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Discussion: Richard Watson, Alexey Tolchinsky, Mark Solms, Michael Levin, and Karl Friston
Discussion: Richard Watson, Alexey Tolchinsky, Mark Solms, Michael Levin, and Karl Friston episode artwork
04/09/2026

This is a ~1 hour meeting with Richard Watson ( Alexey Tolchinsky ( Mark Solms ( and Karl Friston ( where we discuss issues of memory (especially, the role of forgetting) in diverse intelligence (human patients and beyond), and a bit on dreams and psychoanalysis. The original question from me was motivated by some findings on the effects of induced forgetting in models of unconventional cognition ( and more coming soon).

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Role of forgetting

(06:22) Overfitting and generalization

(10:45) Accuracy minus complexity

(21:13) REM sleep and transference

(24:40) Choosing futures and pasts

(31:18...


Conversation with Nic Rouleau, part 1: "Some thoughts on the mind as material"
Conversation with Nic Rouleau, part 1: "Some thoughts on the mind as material" episode artwork
04/03/2026

This is a ~1 hour talk and discussion, comprising part 1 of a conversation with a really interesting young neuroscientist, as well as friend, collaborator, and our Center member, Nicolas Rouleau ( Nic goes over unconventional aspects of neuroscience touching on free will, cybernetics, consciousness, and a lot more. We start a discussion which is continued in part 2. For more information: Nic's website: X account: @DrNRouleau Recent papers to check out: Sellar, E.P., Rouleau, N. (In Review). A cybernetic framework for synthetic biological intelligence in the era of neural tissue engineering. Preprint doi: 10.31234/osf.io/md2wf_v1. Kansala, C., Cicek...


Conversation with Nic Rouleau, part 2: neuroscience, memory transfer, aging of cognition, and more
Conversation with Nic Rouleau, part 2: neuroscience, memory transfer, aging of cognition, and more episode artwork
04/03/2026

This is a ~55 minute discussion following up on Nic's talk and our brief conversation ( comprising part 2 of a conversation with a really interesting young neuroscientist, as well as friend, collaborator, and our Center member, Nicolas Rouleau ( We cover topics of consciousness, neural decoding, the meaning of neuroscience, memory transfer, cognitive plasticity and its relationship to rejuvenation therapies, intelligence throughout the universe, and the weirdest work Nic has done (he chose his work on memory in Playdoh). For more information: Nic's website: X account: @DrNRouleau Recent papers to check out: Sellar, E.P., Rouleau, N. (In Review). A cybernetic framework...


Conversation 2 with Lisa Barrett, Ben Lyons, and Karen Quigley
Conversation 2 with Lisa Barrett, Ben Lyons, and Karen Quigley episode artwork
03/24/2026

This is a second conversation with Lisa Barrett ( Karen Quigley ( and Benjamin Lyons ( about Relational Realism, allostasis, and questions of mind/body/behavior.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Rethinking emotion universals

(09:34) Brain evolution and allostasis

(17:25) Predictive processing and signaling

(30:05) Objectivity and first-person science

(38:45) Flexible body-world boundaries

(45:46) Relational meaning in perception

(52:06) Embodiment, morphospace and realism

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Cancer: mitochondria and metabolism - a discussion with Thomas Seyfried and his group
Cancer: mitochondria and metabolism - a discussion with Thomas Seyfried and his group episode artwork
03/17/2026

This is a 1hr + 23 minutes talk and conversation with Thomas Seyfried, Derek Lee and Tomás Duraj ( Juanita Mathews from my group ( about their work on the metabolic and mitochondrial aspects of cancer.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Metabolic nature of cancer

(08:52) Mitochondrial theory of cancer

(34:00) Metabolic therapy in practice

(40:39) Mitochondria and morphogenetic fields

(45:21) Ion channels and metabolism

(53:01) Bioelectric control and regeneration

(01:09:03) Mouse versus human models

(01:15:19) Mitochondria, aging, and disease

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"On Biological and Artificial Consciousness" by Borjan Milinkovic and Jaan Aru
"On Biological and Artificial Consciousness" by Borjan Milinkovic and Jaan Aru episode artwork
03/05/2026

This is a ~53 minute talk + 14 minute Q&A titled "On Biological and Artificial Consciousness: a case for biological computationalism" by Borjan Milinkovic ( and Jaan Aru (

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Speaker background and research

(03:16) Motivation and philosophical landscape

(09:32) Von Neumann architecture

(15:39) Computational metaphor in neuroscience

(22:52) Metabolic constraints in neurons

(29:04) Heterarchy and scale integration

(33:55) Empirical scale integration findings

(38:00) Hybrid computation in dendrites

(43:16) Field-based neural computation

(47:48) Implications for synthetic consciousness

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Platonic Space discussion 3
Platonic Space discussion 3 episode artwork
02/05/2026

This is a ~1 hours 44 minute discussion among contributors to the Platonic Space Hypothesis (https://thoughtforms.life/symposium-on-the-platonic-space/).

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Platonic forms and interaction

(07:01) Xenobots and evolutionary cost

(11:23) Symbiosis, rectifiers, embeddings

(18:06) Free lunches in biology

(27:59) Topology of competency space

(39:53) Exploration, play, affordances

(48:01) Markov blankets and evolution

(57:51) Relational life and observers

(01:04:10) Defining play and plasticity

(01:20:35) Thermodynamics and domesticated play

(01:29:32) Will to live dynamics

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Conversation with Darren Iammarino #1
Conversation with Darren Iammarino #1 episode artwork
02/04/2026

This is a ~54 minute conversation with Darren Iammarino (https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=YNrxRaYAAAAJ&view_op=list_works) about open problems with respect to the Platonic Space model.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Patterns, minds, and causation

(09:18) Interfaces and positive pressure

(21:50) Randomness and new universals

(31:21) Quantum randomness and scale

(39:16) Cyborg minds and identity

(50:18) Unconventional minds and substrates

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"The Bioelectric Interface to the Collective Intelligence of Morphogenesis" by Michael Levin
"The Bioelectric Interface to the Collective Intelligence of Morphogenesis" by Michael Levin episode artwork
01/30/2026

This is a ~57 minute talk titled "The Bioelectric Interface to the Collective Intelligence of Morphogenesis: development, regeneration, cancer, and beyond" which I gave at a UCSF seminar for an audience of graduate students and post-docs in Biophysics, Bioinformatics, and Chemical Biology. I covered the role of bioelectricity as cognitive glue underlying high-level adaptive plasticity in living tissue, recent progress in exploiting that interface, and new developments in research platforms for this field.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Framing bioelectricity's role

(09:28) Morphogenesis as goal-directed

(22:45) Bioelectric control of form

(35:10) Rewriting anatomical set points<...


Discussion #1 at the Platonic Space Symposium
Discussion #1 at the Platonic Space Symposium episode artwork
01/21/2026

This is a ~1 hour 40 minute discussion among contributors to the Platonic Space Hypothesis (https://thoughtforms.life/symposium-on-the-platonic-space/)

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Math, identity and realms

(16:08) Convergence, abstraction and attractors

(34:05) Attractors, stress and observers

(41:29) Realms, impossibility and simulation

(51:40) Simulation, explanation and understanding

(01:04:39) Mind everywhere and agency

(01:19:19) Content, communication and creativity

(01:30:42) Boundaries, scale and space

PRODUCED BY:

https://aipodcast.ing

SOCIAL LINKS:

Podcast Website: https://thoughtforms-life.aipodcast.ing

YouTube: https...


Conversation 1 with Mijail Serruya, Alessandro Napoli, and Wesley Clawson
Conversation 1 with Mijail Serruya, Alessandro Napoli, and Wesley Clawson episode artwork
01/18/2026

This is a ~1 hour conversation with (including a short talk by) Mijail Serruya (https://research.jefferson.edu/labs/researcher/serruya-research.html), Alessandro Napoli (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alessandro-napoli-8383a164/), and Wes Clawson (https://allencenter.tufts.edu/wesley-clawson-staff-scientist/). We talk about brain-body-machine interfaces, the clinical aspects and the deeper conceptual connections.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Introductions and BCI vision

(16:32) Platypus-inspired brain augmentation

(24:28) Plasticity, aging, and models

(39:37) Self-organizing neural interfaces

(49:58) Hypnosis, regeneration, and BCIs

PRODUCED BY:

https://aipodcast.ing

...


Conversation 1 w/ Lisa Barrett, Ben Lyons, Eli Sennesh, Jordan Theriault-Brown, and Karen Quigley
Conversation 1 w/ Lisa Barrett, Ben Lyons, Eli Sennesh, Jordan Theriault-Brown, and Karen Quigley episode artwork
01/17/2026

This is a discussion with with Lisa Feldman Barrett (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=WF5c0_8AAAAJ&hl=en), Benjamin Lyons (https://interestingessays.substack.com/), Eli Sennesh (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=3z4ALYgAAAAJ), Jordan Theriault-Brown (http://www.jordan-theriault.com/), and Karen Quigley (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=aZ3qhVUAAAAJ&hl=en) about topics related to allostasis and top-down control across cognitive science and developmental biology.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Framing interdisciplinary synthesis

(03:18) Bioelectric collective intelligence

(16:00) Constraints versus bioelectric memory

(20:06) Neurodevelopment and allostasis

(27:10) Plasticity and...


"Evolution and Intelligence: inversion and a positive feedback spiral" by Michael Levin
"Evolution and Intelligence: inversion and a positive feedback spiral" by Michael Levin episode artwork
01/15/2026

This is a ~50 minute video on evolution from the perspective of diverse intelligence. I discuss 3 main things: the nature of the mapping between genotype and phenotype (an intelligent, problem-solving process that interprets genomic prompts, not simply a complex mechanical mapping), the implications for evolution of operating over such a multi-scale agential material, and a few recent findings about the origin of the intelligence spiral taking place before differential replication dynamics kick in.

Editing by https://x.com/DNAMediaEditing

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Framing evolution and intelligence

(06:26) Morphogenesis as collective intelligence

(12:06...


“The Unreasonable Effectiveness of the Behavioral Sciences in Developmental Biology and Biomedicine”
“The Unreasonable Effectiveness of the Behavioral Sciences in Developmental Biology and Biomedicine” episode artwork
12/11/2025

This is a ~46 minute talk by Michael Levin titled “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of the Behavioral Sciences in Developmental Biology and Biomedicine” given at a developmental biology/bioengineering symposium, explaining the connections between the cognitive/behavioral sciences and the study of morphogenesis, from the lens of our framework and new technology.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Behavioral Science Foundations

(05:57) Agential Cells And Morphospace

(10:47) Goal Directed Regeneration Examples

(18:16) Bioelectric Pattern Memories

(23:32) Exploring Morphological Plasticity

(31:54) Learning Regeneration And Cancer

(36:10) Novel Bioengineered Living Machines

(41:22) Future Minds And Ethi...