By Chad Woodford
Welcome to Cosmic Intelligence (formerly Spiritual But Not Ridiculous), a podcast that explores philosophy (Western and Vedic), consciousness, cosmology, spirituality, and technologies in the broad
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The podcast currently has 18 episodes available.
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Continuing our deep dive into what it means to be human in the age of AI, and inspired by the physicalist yet transcendent worldviews of the transhumanists, in this episode I start to explore the concept of worldviews, focusing first on physicalism / scientific materialism (the idea that matter / energy is fundamental), and how that particular metaphysics or worldview was based entirely on a series of assumptions that were never empirically proven. We contextualize all of it via the postmodern zombie mythology.
I focus on the unexplained anomalies from quantum physics as how they undermine the physicalist worldview. I then explore the reasons that physicalism is so intractable as a worldview.
All of this is just to set the table for an exploration of #idealism in my next episode (the idea that mind or consciousness is fundamental). Then we can finally turn our attention to transhumanism and human faculties.
You can find a YouTube version of this episode here.
Sam Altman’s “Intelligence Age” post
Quantum measurement explained:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHDMJqJHCQg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kxmR82QMN8
Quantum entanglement explained:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqmIVeheTVU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuvK-od647c
John Vervaeke on being rational and spiritual
John Vervaeke on Zombies
The famous Einstein - Bergson debate of 1922
My video on the hurdles to AGI
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The irony of the application of the word “hallucination” to LLMs making mistakes is that they are completely incapable of having psychedelic experiences. Why does that matter?
In this mind-bending exploration, we dive into the fascinating intersection of artificial intelligence and expanded states of consciousness. We examine how imagination, creativity, and innovation seem to arise more frequently in altered or "holotropic" states of consciousness - such as through meditation, breathwork, dreams, dancing, psychedelics, or other experiences.
I argue that current approaches to AI may never be truly inventive or creative, as they lack the ability to model the abductive reasoning and intuitive leaps that often occur in these holotropic states. To support this thesis, we explore historical examples of scientific and philosophical breakthroughs that emerged from dreams, visions, and other non-ordinary states of consciousness.
In short, I am challenging the narrative that AI will soon surpass human intelligence, suggesting there may be profound mysteries of the human mind that AI cannot replicate, and offering a more sober and realistic view of the limitations facing AI research in attempting to model the wonders of human cognition and consciousness.
This video is part of a series about the myths, hype, and ideologies surrounding AI.
YouTube version
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Stan Grof's collected works
My previous video on the impediments to AGI
Paper using LLMs to model abductive reasoning
Willis Harman's Higher Creativity
Effects of conscious connected breathing on cortical brain activity, mood and state of consciousness in healthy adults
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Artificial general intelligence, or superintelligence, is not right around the corner like AI companies want you to believe, and that's because intelligence is really hard.
Major AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic (as well as Ilya Sutskever’s new company) have the explicit goal of creating artificial general intelligence (AGI), and claim to be very close to doing so using technology that doesn’t seem capable of getting us there.
So let's talk about intelligence, both human and artificial.
What is artificial intelligence? What is intelligence? Are we going to be replaced or killed by superintelligence robots? Are we on the precipice of a techno-utopia, or some kind of singularity?
These are the questions I explore, to try to offer a layman’s overview of why we’re far away from AGI and superintelligence. Among other things, I highlight the limitations of current AI systems, including their lack of trustworthiness, reliance on bottom-up machine learning, and inability to provide true reasoning and common sense. I also introduce abductive inference, a rarely discussed type of reasoning.
Why do smart people want us to think that they’ve solved intelligence when they are smart enough to know they haven’t? Keep that question in mind as we go.
YouTube version originally recorded July 1, 2024....
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James Bridle’s Ways of Being (book)
Ezra Klein’s comments on AI & capitalism
How LLMs work
Gary Marcus on the limits of AGI
More on induction and abduction
NYTimes deep dive into AI data harvesting
Sam Altman acknowledging that they’ve reached the limits of LLMs
Mira Murati saying the same thing last month
Google’s embarrassing AI search experience
AI Explained’s perspective on AGI
LLMs Can’t Plan paper
Paper on using LLMs to tackle abduction
ChatGPT is Bullshit paper
Philosophize This on nostalgia and pastiche
Please leave a comment with your thoughts, and anything I might have missed or gotten wrong. More about me over here
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Long time no talk! I just finished my masters in philosophy, cosmology and consciousness, which didn’t leave me much time for producing this podcast in the past nine months. But I’m back with a short episode that offers a preview of a thesis I am developing around the hype and mythology of artificial intelligence, and the ways that it sidelines the human.
Part of my mission is to expose the cyborgian, techgnostic ideologies underlying technology innovation in Silicon Valley, and offer an alternative that is more ecological, humane, holistic, and inspired. As we philosophers like to say, worldview create worlds. So let’s be thoughtful about it.
In contrast with current approaches to AI development, I want to help shape AI development so that it reflects human values, and a richer, more imaginative vision of the future, beyond just copying Scarlett Johansson's voice.
I want to elevate and celebrate the human in this exciting new age of AI. We have faculties that AI cannot replicate, including imagination, intuition, emotional intelligence, and wisdom. Let’s not forget that.
In the coming months, I intend to start putting out more episodes, starting with one exploring the cyborgian, techgnostic ideologies animating Silicon Valley today.
I’m also working on a book and a course centered around these ideas. More to say about that soon…
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This week we're sharing an episode of a podcast called Hit of Happiness, where Chad spoke to Brian Dubow about artificial intelligence and consciousness, among many other things. This may have been Chad's favorite interview so far, just because he loves talking to Brian and because they explored so many topics in such a coherent fashion.
This interview is a great teaser for this three-part series Chad is working on about the myth of artificial intelligence, the nature of consciousness, transhumanism, spiritual machines, and metaphor. As our long-time listeners know, Chad likes to do these deep-dive episodes once in a while. It’s taking a while to do all the research and writing so we can finally record it. But we think it will be worth the wait. Look for the first episode of that series in the coming week.
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In this episode, Chad explores a scientific theory of consciousness first put forth by Nobel Laureate Roger Penrose and Dr. Stuart Hameroff in the 1990s called quantum consciousness. This unorthodox, yet-scientific theory proposes that consciousness arises out of highly coordinated quantum processes occurring in the cells of the brain. This theory combines quantum mechanics, relativity, neuroscience, cognitive science, molecular biology, and philosophy.
It’s different than prevailing theories of consciousness, which suggest that consciousness is an epiphenomenon of the firing of synapses in the neurons of the brain. Instead, Penrose’s theory suggests that subatomic particles collapse of their own accord and thereby create what Penrose calls proto-consciousness. It is an elegant way to bridge the two prevailing theories of consciousness: materialist and idealist.
This theory also has major implications for artificial intelligence because it means that machine learning and neural networks may never achieve true intelligence, strong AI, superintelligence, or anything resembling artificial consciousness.
Chad also explores the idea of computability, computers as universal metaphor, and the possibility that quantum computers might be a more promising avenue for research into artificial general intelligence.
This episode was inspired by Chad's work in the philosophy, cosmology and consciousness program at CIIS under Kerri Welch, for a course called The Epic of the Universe. Thank you Kerri for providing such rich pointers for further study!
The original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa5eRD4lGDA
To learn more, we recommend starting with this Penrose & Hameroff paper https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1571064513001188
For more about quantum weirdness and how nobody really understands what is happening when the quantum and classical worlds interact, check out this explainer from PBS Spacetime: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT7SiRiqK-Q&ab_channel=PBSSpaceTime
This conversation with Roger Penrose by Lex Fridman is pretty great: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orMtwOz6Db0&t=644s
For a great intro to quantum computing, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3fz3dqhN44&t=6s
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Chad is relaunching his podcast with a new name and a broader focus! Starting this week on this same feed, the show will be called Cosmic Intelligence and explore fundamental questions about philosophy, artificial intelligence, consciousness, cosmology and what it means to be human in this new age. We will delve into philosophical ideas, spiritual practices and reflections on how technology is shaping the human experience. Our goal is not just more knowledge or productivity but greater insight, imagination and fulfillment. We believe that ancient contemplative traditions fused with cutting-edge insights from science and AI can illuminate the path ahead. This show is for anyone curious about humanity's place in a world of accelerating change. Join me as we seek revelation and renewal at the intersection of Silicon and Soul.
The new show will include all the existing content around spirituality and spiritual practices but also the implications of the AI revolution as it accelerates the consciousness revolution. Chad will continue to offer his uniquely balanced, open-minded, discerning, and grounded perspective.
I am also available for consulting and speaking engagements on AI, philosophy and consciousness.
Sign up for my email newsletter here.
Find me on Instagram @cosmicwit and YouTube @cosmicwit.
My website is cosmic.diamonds.
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This week I talk to Hilary Jackendoff, a yoga nidra and meditation teacher and trainer, and Human Design coach. She’s also a powerful, heart-centered woman. To me, Hilary is the ideal teacher: wise yet humble, evolved yet grounded, knowledgeable yet hilarious.
In this episode, we talk about Yoga Nidra, states of consciousness, how Hilary came to the spiritual path, the importance of rest, making spiritual practices accessible, ashram life, and being seen by the Divine.
We barely scratched the surface of what we want to talk about so look for a part 2 coming very soon, perhaps even in the coming weeks!
A quick note on the audio quality in this episode: Even though I used the same setup I always use for remote interviews, somehow my mic was too hot. So my audio will sound clipped or muffled in places. My apologies. Thank you for bearing with me. Apparently you never stop learning how to podcast well.
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This week I discuss discernment: What it is, why it’s important, how it can prevent ridiculousness, why that matters, and how to increase our discernment. As part of this discussion, I explore the Yog-Vedantic theory of mind and specific practices that can help us be more discerning, including self study, kriya, classical Tantrik practices, having a teacher you can trust, spiritual community, working with sacred plants, meditation, and good old psychotherapy, including psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.
The philosophy, cosmology and consciousness masters program I’m enrolled in at the California Institute of Integral Studies has the following goals:
Other references from the episode:
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This week I talked to Kerri Kelly, the founder of CTZNWELL, a movement that is democratizing wellbeing for all. A descendant of generations of firemen and first responders, Kerri has dedicated her life to kicking down doors and fighting for justice. She’s been teaching yoga for over 20 years and is known for making waves in the wellness industry by challenging norms, disrupting systems, and mobilizing people to act. A community organizer, wellness activist and author of the forthcoming book American Detox: The Myth of Wellness and How We Can Truly Heal, Kerri is recognized across communities for her inspired work to bridge transformational practice with social justice.
In this episode, we talked about the ways in which the concept of wellness is distorted and unhealthy, and how, for us to truly heal as a country and a humanity, we need to examine our intentions, motives, and prejudices relentlessly so we can truly build community and transform collectively. The work is both inner and outer; spiritual, activist, political. Human.
Kerri’s been instrumental in translating the practices of wellbeing into social and political action, working in collaboration with community organizers, spiritual leaders, and policy makers to transform our systems from the inside out. Her leadership has inspired a movement that is actively organizing around issues of racial and economic justice, healthcare as a human right, civic engagement, and more.
Kerri is also a powerful facilitator, TED speaker and is the host of the podcast, CTZN. You can learn more about her work at kerrikelly.co and ctznwell.org.
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Want to talk about how Chad can assist you with your own transformation?
Book a free consultation!
Join Chad's newsletter to learn about all new offerings, courses, trainings, and retreats.
Finally, you can support the podcast here.
The podcast currently has 18 episodes available.
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