Mind & Life Podcast: Marieke Van Vugt - Finding Balance

In this episode, Wendy speaks with cognitive scientist, contemplative practitioner, and ballet dancer Marieke Van Vugt. Marieke is a pioneer in studying mind wandering and meditation through computer modeling, and is also advancing participatory research through her collaborations with Tibetan monastics. This conversation covers many topics, including:
her braided interests in meditation, dance, and cognitive science;
computer modeling of mind and meditation;
exploring distraction, mind wandering, and becoming aware;
how thoughts can get "stuck" in our minds;
creating a meditating computer;
the relevance of stuck thoughts to various mental disorders;
trauma though the lens of predictive models of mind;
analytical meditation and Tibetan monastic debate;
collaborating with monastics in research;
humility and fluidity of mind;
re-thinking the tasks used in cognitive science;
the phenomenon of brain synchrony;
dance and embodiment;
the roots of thinking in the body;
problems with abstraction in science;
curiosity vs. the critical mind in ballet;
flow, responsiveness, and compassion;
and advice to young scholars.
Original release date: October 5, 2023
Full show notes and resources: podcast.mindan...
Transcript: podcast.mindan...
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