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Michael Levin: Hidden Reality of Alien Intelligence & Biological Life | Lex Fridman Podcast #486
14 segments available
Michael Levin is a biologist at Tufts University working on novel ways to understand and control complex pattern formation in biological systems. Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep486-sb See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc. *Transcript:* https://lexfridman.com/michael-levin-2-transcript *CONTACT LEX:* *Feedback* - give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey *AMA* - submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama *Hiring* - join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring *Other* - other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact *EPISODE LINKS:* Michael Levin's X: https://x.com/drmichaellevin Michael Levin's Website: https://drmichaellevin.org Michael Levin's Papers: https://drmichaellevin.org/publications/ - Biological Robots: https://arxiv.org/abs/2207.00880 - Classical Sorting Algorithms: https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.05375 - Aging as a Morphostasis Defect: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38636560/ - TAME: https://arxiv.org/abs/2201.10346 - Synthetic Living Machines: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.abf1571 *SPONSORS:* To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts: *Shopify:* Sell stuff online. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/shopify-ep486-sb *CodeRabbit:* AI-powered code reviews. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/coderabbit-ep486-sb *LMNT:* Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/lmnt-ep486-sb *UPLIFT Desk:* Standing desks and office ergonomics. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/uplift_desk-ep486-sb *Miro:* Online collaborative whiteboard platform. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/miro-ep486-sb *MasterClass:* Online classes from world-class experts. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/masterclass-ep486-sb *OUTLINE:* 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 *PODCAST LINKS:* - Podcast Website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast - Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr - Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 - RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ - Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4 - Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/lexclips *SOCIAL LINKS:* - X: https://x.com/lexfridman - Instagram: https://instagram.com/lexfridman - TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@lexfridman - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/lexfridman - Facebook: https://facebook.com/lexfridman - Patreon: https://patreon.com/lexfridman - Telegram: https://t.me/lexfridman - Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/lexfridman
Segments Timeline
Introduction
"- The following is a conversation with Michael Levin, his second time on the podcast. He is one of the most fascinating and brilliant biologists and scientists I've ever had the pleasure of speaking w..."
Biological intelligence
"You write that the central question at the heart of your work from biological systems to computational ones is, "How do embodied minds arise in the physical world, and what determines the capabilities..."
Living vs non-living organisms
"life, the origin of intelligence using the tools of physics. In fact, all the other tools are a distraction to those folks. If you want to understand fundamentally anything, you have to start at physi..."
Origin of life
"was the start of it all on Earth? - My suggestion is that much better than trying to... in my experience, much better than trying to define any kind of a line, okay, because, because inevitably I've n..."
The search for alien life (on Earth)
"- ... the scaling process, but then there is more rapid scaling and there are slower scaling. So innovation, invention, I think is useful to understand so you can predict how likely it is on other pla..."
Creating life in the lab - Xenobots and Anthrobots
"say, "Hey, why does it have certain forms of behavior, certain forms of anatomy, certain forms of physiology? Why does it have those?" The answer is always the same. Well, there's a history of evoluti..."
Memories and ideas are living organisms
"and going to Richard Dawkins, for example, with memes, is it possible to think of things like ideas? Like, how weird can we get? Can we look at ideas as organisms, then creating barriers for those ide..."
Reality is an illusion: The brain is an interface to a hidden reality
"So there's this Ingressing Minds paper where you described the Platonic space. You mentioned there's an asynchronous conference happening, which is a fascinating concept because it's asynchronous. Peo..."
Unexpected intelligence of sorting algorithms
"observable, that is unrelated to the explicitly stated goal of a particular algorithm. So you looked at a simple algorithm of, Sorting. Can you explain what was done? - Sure. First, just the goal of t..."
Can aging be reversed?
"from humans of known age. You can guess what the age is. Okay? So we can take now, and this is Steve Horvath's work, and many other people, that when you take a set of cells, you can guess what their ..."
Mind uploading
"- Going back to the Platonic space, I have to ask if if our brains are indeed thin client interfaces to that space, what does that mean for our mind? Like, can we upload the mind? Can we copy it? Can ..."
Alien intelligence
"there is all kinds of incredible intelligence we haven't yet discovered? - I mean, guaranteed. We've already seen in our own bodies, and I don't just mean that we are host to a bunch of microbiome or ..."
Advice for young people
"that are trying to explore the space of ideas given the very unconventional, non-standard, unique set of ideas you've explored in your life and career? - Um, let's see. Well, the first and most import..."
Questions for AGI
"If I had one, gave it to you, put you in the room, what would be the first question you ask it? Maybe the first set of questions? Like, there's so many topics that you've worked on and are interested ..."