From physics to mind - Prof. Michael Levin

From physics to mind: the journey of cognition seen through the lens of embryonic development // Prof. Michael Levin (Tufts University)
Life Perceives is a symposium bringing together scientists and artists for an open exploration of how “perception” can be understood as a phenomenon that does not only belong to humans, or even the so-called “higher organisms”, but exists across the entire spectrum of life in a myriad of forms.
The programme can be found here: lifeperceives.org/programme
The symposium invites leading practitioners from the arts and sciences to present unique insights through short talks, open discussions, and artistic interventions that bring us slightly closer to the life worlds of plants and fungi, microbial communities and immune systems, cuttlefish and crows.
What do we mean when we talk about perception in other species? Do other organisms have an experience of the world? Or does our human-centred perspective make understanding other forms of life on their own terms an impossible dream? Whatever your answers to these questions may be, we hope to unsettle them, and leave you more curious than when you arrived.
The symposium will be accompanied by a photography exhibition by award-winning photographer Irina Petrova Adamatzky, and an installation, The Sentinel Self, by Danish artist Sissel Marie Tonn in the Jane Attenborough Studio.
Broadcasting the installation and exhibition unfortunately appears particularly challenging, but what we can offer for our online participants is a virtual tour of Irina Petrova Adamatzky's exhibition, by clicking on this link: assets.artplacer.com/virtual-...
and here's a booklet for the catalog: d7mntklkfre1v.cloudfront.net/...
Life Perceives is curated & organised by George Kafetzis, Jonathan Reus, Will Roseby, Mikkel Roald-Arbøl, who are doctoral researchers within the interdisciplinary ‘Sensation and Perception to Awareness’ Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarship Programme directed by Jamie Ward and Anil Seth at the University of Sussex. It brings together researchers from across neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, robotics, and the arts, with the aim of advancing our understanding of interactions between sensation, perception, and awareness in humans, animals, and machines. This programme and its activities are funded by the Leverhulme Trust. We also would like to thank Sussex Neuroscience, the Sussex Humanities Lab, Sussex Centre for Consciousness Science and the ACCA for their support.

[@iiddrrii6051]

Love Prof. Levin's work! Hopefully it will benefit mankind in the future.

[@alcyone1349]

Amazing work. I am by no means an expert in this domain but I can easily see that these guys have come a long way to know more about life. Thanks for sharing!

[@heath3546]

Reminds me of the movie Star Wars when they said use the force Luke. Michael, you are using the force. Thank you.

[@sherrybutts5947]

We are the ram in the bush transcending the density of time and space

[@stevenschilizzi4104]

This is mind-bogglingly amazing! It’s trying to figure out the informational programming, memorizing and processing algorithms of biological systems! Maybe this will lead at some point to an answer to Schrödinger’s famous question: What is Life? Meanwhile, suspense! And is there anything yet like Bioinformation Theory, as an extension of one of the Information Theories currently in existence: Shannon’s, von Neumann’s, or some other? I can see University curricula being soon rewritten.

[@steveflorida8699]

Is not life at its basic simplicity a living organism, I e., protoplasm. And, a higher life is humanity. Humans whom are conscious of being conscious, and conscious of other humans being conscious.

[@bobkelly3162]

Thanks to this work our understanding of Life has just taken a direction which may allow us to rethink evolution in its entirety. We can now begin to think about Life in a qualitatively different way than before. What we are seeing here is no longer blind chance operating in a selective environment driving replication and survival: there is a playful intelligence at work here that comes up with creative solutions to problems we can't even formulate until we see the 'solution' (kinetic replication for example). I feel a sense of astonishment at what has been revealed here, followed quickly by awe for an Intelligence of untold quality that has 'recruited' us as participants in its personal adventure. Many of you will sense, I'm sure, where this leads...

[@entropica]

Absolutely mind-boggling!

[@latashahowell8090]

Love it!

[@mirandastanton3582]

Very interesting, I will be watching for the development in mammals. This could be a game changer.👍

[@firevavanced6669]

Epic results!

[@crazykyy]

Holy moly. I was unaware the xenobots' behavior in terms of clumping material was a reproductive exercise. That completely changes the game.

[@bradsillasen1972]

Could this be the most exciting and ultimately consequential research of our time?

[@yw1971]

Same information principles anywhere - from the micro to the macro.

[@ritris5165]

The Self, The Higher Self, The Lower Cellf

[@sherrybutts5947]

Yes cellf for sure!!!

[@irenedecaso6245]

I can't get over how amazing this work IS and the huuuuuge implications It has. I however struggle to understand how the whole morphology of an eye IS iinstructed by something as simple as a potasium Channel. I mean, potasium channels are all over the place, so what defines whether It creates an eye or not? It must be much more complex than just introducing mRNA for the Channel.....right?

[@gingerhipster]

That's one hell of a mic drop at 27:01. He's right.

[@BiggestEnergy]

Xenobots are my new fav creation theory

[@align2source]

💚

[@imstevemcqueen]

Nobel Prize incoming

[@sherrybutts5947]

So then Michael does every particle of earth or dust contain an entire universe??

[@srandres]

20:00

[@TexasFriedCriminal]

When considering the ethics of creating new person-like conscious entities, we tend to only consider what this might do to us. But the realy question is what it will mean to them and whether or not it is ethically sound to create them to begin with. The way we commonly think is the way xenophobes think about immigrant.

[@HomelessHomeowner617]

So if I am a compilation of collective intelligences, does that make me an AI that became aware he was collecting resources for the hive?

[@philawsonfur]

pretty much

[@hosoiarchives4858]

. 1:20 starts

[@terencewinters2154]

External perturbations can be dangerous

[@gendashwhy]

Wubba Lubba Dub-Dub! Somebody has been watching Rick and Morty, methinks.... ;) This syncs with Justin Riddle's Quantum Consciousness series...

[@starxcrossed]

I love Justin’s series !

[@matiasadrianmahler322]

It sounds like they only want to help each other by listening to the signal and what is need around them. Hey other skins cells, I'm cold and to exposed here, come and hug me.. Hey, we are soficaing in our own poo, let's find a way to move around together so we don't drink our pee. Hey there are other cells feeling lonely and want to coodle each other, let's help bring them together with our new acuired locomotor system. I'm joking, but maybe I'm not XD

[@sherrybutts5947]

Sounds sound to me!!!! 😂

[@sherrybutts5947]

So micheal the Bible writers knew this way before anyone understood the fullness of their words!!!