In this episode we discuss the advent of AlphaGo, an artificial intelligence program created by DeepMind that was the first to beat a top-ranked professional player at Go. This accomplishment in 2016 came nearly a decade before most experts thought it was possible, and brings up many interesting questions about the rate of AI progress, narrow vs. general artificial intelligence, intuition, and more.

Correction: Lee Sedol wasn't the world champion at the time he was defeated, but was second in international titles at 18. AlphaGo later beat the number 1 ranked player Ke Jie in 2017.

References:

AlphaGo Documentary - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXuK6gekU1Y

Terrence McKenna - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_McKenna

3 Blue 1 Brown on neural networks -  https://youtu.be/aircAruvnKk

Music:

https://soundcloud.com/trevor-villwock/broken-franglish

https://soundcloud.com/trevor-villwock/lattice-for-climbing

Does an artistic background lend unique advantages in the field of computer science? How will Github Copilot effect the future of software engineering? We speak with accredited actor Sam Arnold about his experience transitioning into a technical field. 

References:

JavaUnscripted: https://open.spotify.com/show/47bsykKB1LJ3NtzQf3CHTA

Codesmith: https://codesmith.io/

AI Poetry episode: https://www.post-wave.com/42-computer-science-iii

Github Copilot: https://copilot.github.com/

Cardono: https://cardano.org/

Motvation & Addiction episode: https://www.post-wave.com/13-motivation-addiction

Mark Rylance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Rylance

Outro Music by Eric Mulhern

What does the divided brain tell us about the mind body problem? As each half of our brain perceives the world in a different way, does it create a distinct world, or two aspects of the same one? We examine the first chapter of Iain McGilchrist's "The Master and His Emissary".

References:

The Master and His Emissary by Iain McGilchrist

Outro music by Eric Mulhern

It's our 50th episode of this crazy show somehow! We reflect back on this past year of recording the podcast and re-examine some of the topics we've touched.

References:

Coleman Hughes - https://colemanhughes.org/ 

John McWhorter - https://www.theatlantic.com/author/john-mcwhorter/

Glenn Loury - https://bloggingheads.tv/programs/glenn-show

How do the two hemispheres of our brains differ? How do they interact? How do these interactions influence society as a whole? We examine some of the ideas of British psychiatrist and author Iain McGilchrist.

References:

Iain Milgilchrist talk - https://youtu.be/HRMiHwT0H4M

The Master and His Emissary - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6968772-the-master-and-his-emissary

Neuralink monkey mind pong demo - https://observer.com/2021/04/elon-musk-neuralink-monkey-demo-draw-skepticism-scientist/

Kernel - https://www.kernel.com/

Dunning-Kruger effect - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning–Kruger_effect

What if there were secret knowledge that could effect everything you do: make you stronger, smarter, cure mental illness & heal chronic pain? We explore the concept of salutogenesis; that some activities can increase wellness for the sake of wellness.

Huberman Lab: https://hubermanlab.com/the-science-of-how-to-optimize-testosterone-and-estrogen/

Outro Music by Eric Mulhern

In this episode we examine and explore the many interesting ideas of Dr. Ted Achacoso on consciousness, wellness, the brain, and more.

References:

Kyle Kingsbury Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kyle-kingsbury-podcast/id626299586

Dr. Ted Achacoso interview - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kyle-kingsbury-podcast/id626299586?i=1000521782588

Dzogchen Buddhism - https://www.shambhala.com/snowlion_articles/the-practice-of-dzogchen/

Default mode and task positive networks - https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-fundamental-four/201406/good-task-bad-people%3famp

Music - lattice for climbing by Trevor Villwock

https://soundcloud.com/trevor-villwock/lattice-for-climbing

We explore some concepts in music theory: What are the fundamental elements that make music, and how do we use them in our own compositions?

Ladysmith Black Mambazo: https://mambazo.com/

What can roleplaying games tell us about ourselves -- about our relationships, about what it means to be human? We're joined by special guest Walker T. Roman; artist, creator, dungeon master.

Walker T. Roman: https://www.walkertroman.com/

References:

Music by Eric Mulhern.

What if current efforts to produce human-level artificial intelligence are fatally misguided? We discuss new research which suggests current AI practices fail to take into account the 95% of brain activity which takes the form of "spontaneous fluctuations" which are not clearly tied to anything in the mind or the body.

Salon articles:

https://www.salon.com/2021/04/30/why-artificial-intelligence-research-might-be-going-down-a-dead-end/?fbclid=IwAR0Wdjpk9Tlf8dp_bW8_2f5wN_KQt7oAzqJci7QcU_gcs66IyDl4cdRSOco

https://www.salon.com/2021/02/20/most-brain-activity-is-background-noise-cognitive-flux-consciousness-brain-activity-research/

Neutral Networks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aircAruvnKk

Neurotransmitters and Nueromodulators: https://www.britannica.com/science/nervous-system/Neurotransmitters-and-neuromodulators

Neurons can change their own DNA: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/11/landmark-study-shows-brain-cells-revamp-their-dna-make-new-proteins-perhaps-sparking

Robin Carhart-Harris article on psychedelics: 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0028390818301175

Harmonic series (Andrew Huang video): https://youtu.be/Wx_kugSemfY

You need to vibrate higher - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnsI67bHpmk