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Exploring the Hard Problems of Mind and Life

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by Adam Safron

8 episodes

Updated Daily

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Podcast Overview

The ultimate goal of this podcast is understanding what it means to be alive, conscious, and free (to choose life). In the first series of interviews, Barry Komisaruk and I discuss biological rhythms, excitation-inhibition balances, self-organized criticality, the nature(s) of pleasure and pain, consciousness, agency, and more. Future podcasts will have discussions with additional scholars, with the goal of going into greater depth than is common practice. Some conversations will be brief, and others will be longer series. Please contact me if you're interested in exploring ideas.

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Publishing Since

10/23/2021

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Recent Episodes

October 23, 2021

Episode 8: Conversation with Barry Komisaruk

This is the 8th of a series of conversations with Barry Komisaruk. We discussed the nature(s) of informational and physical flows in mind and life, the potentially synesthetic affective nature of all perception, and ways in which core body processes may provide scaffolding for all other aspects of the evolution and development of minds. Next week: Thinking about ways in which ontogeny does and does not recapitulate phylogeny; considering the mind as music. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diMkpX1_EGs&t=0s" target="_blank">Last week's discussion</a> (with previous discussions linked in the video description).

October 23, 2021

Episode 7: Conversation with Barry Komisaruk

This is the 7th of a series of conversations with Barry Komisaruk. This conversation continued our exploration on the nature(s) of body maps in brain and mind, going more deeply into how these may inform our understanding of the physical and computational substrates of consciousness. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkXvmBRf77I&t=1s" target="_blank">Last week's discussion</a> (with previous discussions linked in the video description). Some links of potential relevance for today's discussion: <a href="https://numenta.com/resources/on-intelligence/" target="_blank">On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins</a> <a href="https://numenta.com/a-thousand-brains-by-jeff-hawkins/" target="_blank">A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins </a> <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/23/6/783/htm" target="_blank">The Radically Embodied Conscious Cybernetic Bayesian Brain: From Free Energy to Free Will and Back Again</a> <a href="https://jcer.com/index.php/jcj/article/view/917" target="_blank">Does an Ionic or Biophoton Plasma Transduce Neural Activity into Subjective Conscious Awareness?</a>

October 23, 2021

Episode 6: Conversation with Barry Komisaruk

This is the 6th of a series of conversations with Barry Komisaruk. This conversation focused on the nature(s) of body maps in brain and mind, including some initial discussions of how these may inform our understanding of the physical and computational substrates of consciousness. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbypRCcl0sw" target="_blank">Last week's discussion</a> (with previous discussions linked in the video description): Some links of potential relevance for today's discussion: Body-perception as inference: <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Phantoms_in_the_Brain/XbyMJzNNGq4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover" target="_blank">Phantoms in the Brain by V.S. Ramachandran</a><a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Phantoms_in_the_Brain/XbyMJzNNGq4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover"> </a> Flexible fundamental body maps: <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Body_Has_a_Mind_of_Its_Own/9TrSg8jxzcQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover" target="_blank">The Body Has a Mind of Its Own by Sandra Blakeslee & Matthew Blakeslee </a> Electromagnetic information exchange for neural activity: <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nn.2727" target="_blank">Ephaptic coupling of cortical neurons | Nature Neuroscience </a> Holographic principle: <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/06/natures-cosmic-hard-drive-black-holes-could-store-information-like-holograms/" target="_blank">Nature’s cosmic hard drive? Black holes could store information like holograms | Ars Technica</a> Consciousness, homunculi, electromagnetic coordination (and dimensionality reduction/channeling) of neural activity: <a href="https://jcer.com/index.php/jcj/article/view/917" target="_blank">Does an Ionic or Biophoton Plasma Transduce Neural Activity into Subjective Conscious Awareness?</a> Phenomenal binding via body maps: <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/23/6/783/htm" target="_blank">The Radically Embodied Conscious Cybernetic Bayesian Brain: From Free Energy to Free Will and Back Again</a> Models of cortical computation:<a href="https://psyarxiv.com/rm5b2" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://psyarxiv.com/rm5b2" target="_blank">Integrated World Modeling Theory (IWMT) Expanded: Implications for Theories of Consciousness and Artificial Intelligence</a>

8 total episodes available

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Frequently asked questions

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What is Exploring the Hard Problems of Mind and Life?: The ultimate goal of this podcast is understanding what it means to be alive, conscious, and free (to choose life).

In the first series of interviews, Barry Komisaruk and I discuss biological rhythms, excitation-inhibition balances, self-organized criticality, the nature(s) of pleasure and pain, consciousness, agency, and more.

Future podcasts will have discussions with additional scholars, with the goal of going into greater depth than is common practice. Some conversations will be brief, and others will be longer series. Please contact me if you're interested in exploring ideas.
How often does this podcast release new episodes?: This podcast updates daily.
Where can I listen to this podcast?: This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
Does this podcast accept guests?: Information about guest appearances is not available.

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