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Thoughtforms Life

Michael Levin
Bioelectricity
Cognition
Regenerative Medicine
Morphogenesis
Collective Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence
Xenobots
Neuroscience
Consciousness
Developmental Biology
Cancer
Biology
Evolution
Language
Planaria
Intelligence
Regeneration
Synthetic Life
Platonic Space
Cognitive Science

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.

PublishesTwice weeklyEpisodes183Foundeda year ago
Number of ListenersCategories
EducationScience

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Artwork for Thoughtforms Life

Latest Episodes

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

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... more

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

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... more

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Recent Guests

Nic Rouleau
Researcher contributing to the discussion of computationalism and consciousness
Research in consciousness and computation
Episode: Computationalism and consciousness with Nic Rouleau, Jaan Aru, and Borjan Milinkovic.
Jaan Aru
Researcher contributing to discussions on consciousness, computation, and substrate dependence
Research in computational neuroscience and consciousness
Episode: Computationalism and consciousness with Nic Rouleau, Jaan Aru, and Borjan Milinkovic.
Borjan Milinkovic
Researcher contributing to discussions on embodiment, autonomy, and computational biology
Research in bioelectricity and morphogenesis
Episode: Computationalism and consciousness with Nic Rouleau, Jaan Aru, and Borjan Milinkovic.
Richard Watson
Participant in discussion on ontology and causation
Episode: Discussion #1 with Amahury Jafet Lopez Diaz, Carlos Gershenson-Garcia, and Richard Watson
Amahury Jafet Lopez Diaz
Participant discussing metaphysical frameworks and empirical testing
Episode: Discussion #1 with Amahury Jafet Lopez Diaz, Carlos Gershenson-Garcia, and Richard Watson
Carlos Gershenson-Garcia
Participant offering pragmatic perspectives on emergence, causation, and modeling
Episode: Discussion #1 with Amahury Jafet Lopez Diaz, Carlos Gershenson-Garcia, and Richard Watson
Lisa Barrett
Guest on the episode
Episode: Conversation 2 with Lisa Barrett, Ben Lyons, and Karen Quigley
Ben Lyons
Guest on the episode
Episode: Conversation 2 with Lisa Barrett, Ben Lyons, and Karen Quigley
Karen Quigley
Guest on the episode
Episode: Conversation 2 with Lisa Barrett, Ben Lyons, and Karen Quigley

Host

Michael Levin
Host of Thoughtforms Life, professor and researcher with focus on biology/cognition.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts
#224
Norway/Science
Apple Podcasts
#243
Finland/Science

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Conversation with Nic Rouleau, part 1: "Some thoughts on the mind as material"
Q: How do you reconcile the idea of a transmissive brain with productive brain activity?
The transmissive model is not mutually exclusive with productive brain function; the brain can perform biological processing while also being influenced by external electromagnetic content, forming a layered understanding of cognition.
Conversation with Nic Rouleau, part 1: "Some thoughts on the mind as material"
Q: What is your working definition of free will, and do you think the term is useful or obsolete?
Free will, in my view, is a subjective experience of control that arises from misattributed causality; it is not true authorship of actions but a perception of predictions realized by the brain.
Discussion: Richard Watson, Alexey Tolchinsky, Mark Solms, Michael Levin, and Karl Friston
Q: What is the role of forgetting in agency and the potentiation of agency?
Forgetting functions as a mechanism to sharpen the causal signal and balance generalization; by discarding redundant or conflicting details, the system can form a more adaptable and efficient model of the world that supports future actions.
A Conversation with Mark Solms on Life and Mind
Q: Is there a difference between humans and other creatures regarding narrative making?
All active agents are storytelling, sense-making creatures that continuously try to create and update narratives about themselves and their world to enable adaptive actions.
A Conversation with Mark Solms on Life and Mind
Q: How do you view the concept of free will?
I think we have free will on a temporally extended scale, which means that through consistent effort, we can alter our behaviors and align our actions with our values over time.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Thoughtforms Life

What is Thoughtforms Life about and what kind of topics does it cover?

Thoughts and debates at the intersection of biology, cognition, emergence, and morphogenesis drive engaging conversations with scientists and thinkers from neuroscience, philosophy, and complex systems. Episodes frequently explore bioelectricity, developmental biology, and the nature of intelligence and agency as they emerge from cellular and organismal processes. Guests span researchers, philosophers, and interdisciplinary thinkers who probe how mind, body, and environment co-create meaning, often challenging reductionist views and proposing new frameworks for understanding life and cognition. The show stands out for its hands-on, experimental tilt, willingness to entertain speculative ideas (from xenobots to memory transfer) alongside rig... more

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How many episodes of Thoughtforms Life are there?

Thoughtforms Life launched a year ago and published 183 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on Thoughtforms Life?

Recent guests on Thoughtforms Life include:

1. Nic Rouleau
2. Jaan Aru
3. Borjan Milinkovic
4. Richard Watson
5. Amahury Jafet Lopez Diaz
6. Carlos Gershenson-Garcia
7. Lisa Barrett
8. Ben Lyons

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