In 2023, a highly controversial paper titled ‘Assembly theory explains and quantifies selection and evolution’ was released to the world.

In today’s episode, we’re chatting to one of the its authors, Lee Cronin, Regius Professor of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow and the Founder & CEO of Chemify, to discuss assembly theory and the motivation behind the paper, as well as key concepts such as the assembly index and the copy number.

This episode is part one of our two-part chat with Lee. Join us for the next episode, where Lee discusses the Nature paper.

 

Resources and links:

• ‘Assembly theory explains and quantifies selection and evolution’ on Nature

 

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• Simplifying Complexity on X
• Sean Brady on X
• Sean Brady on LinkedIn
• Brady Heywood website

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

In the last episode, Christopher Lynn, Assistant Professor of Physics at Yale University, discussed how we can better understand brain function and consciousness using statistical mechanics and information theory.

In this episode, Christopher expands on the practical applications of statistical mechanics and information theory for modelling neuron firing rates and predicting brain activity patterns. 

 

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• Simplifying Complexity on X
• Sean Brady on X
• Sean Brady on LinkedIn
• Brady Heywood website

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

We're welcoming back Christopher Lynn, Assistant Professor of Physics at Yale University, to chat about how the brain works.

In this episode, Christopher discusses how statistical mechanics and information theory can help us gain a deeper understanding of brain function and consciousness.

 

Connect:

• Simplifying Complexity on Twitter
• Sean Brady on Twitter
• Sean Brady on LinkedIn
• Brady Heywood website

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK, and Nicholas Gruen, CEO of Lateral Economics, have both returned to debate the efficacy and limitations of applying systems thinking to complex problems.

 

Resources and links:

• Ogilvy UK website
• Lateral Economics website

 

Connect:

• Simplifying Complexity on X
• Simplifying Complexity on YouTube
• Sean Brady on X
• Sean Brady on LinkedIn
• Brady Heywood website

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

In the last episode, Paul Smaldino, Professor of Cognitive and Information Sciences at the University of California, Merced, and an External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute discussed how human behaviour is shaped by cultural evolution.

In this episode, Paul discusses social learning and identity signalling and how they’re both being affected by rapidly changing technologies.

 

Connect:

• Simplifying Complexity on Twitter
• Sean Brady on Twitter
• Sean Brady on LinkedIn
• Brady Heywood website

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

We all know that we are shaped by evolution, but we're also shaped by cultural evolution.

In this episode, we’re joined by Paul Smaldino, Professor of Cognitive and Information Sciences at the University of California, Merced, and an External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, to explain how cultural evolution has shaped human behaviour.

 

Connect:

• Simplifying Complexity on Twitter
• Sean Brady on Twitter
• Sean Brady on LinkedIn
• Brady Heywood website

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Ricardo Hausmann is the Founder and Director of Harvard’s Growth Lab and the Rafik Hariri Professor of the Practice of International Political Economy at Harvard Kennedy School.

In this episode, Ricardo explains how the amount and diversity of knowledge within an economy shapes its current capabilities and influences a country’s possible economic growth.

 

Resources and links:

• The Atlas of Economic Complexity website

 

Connect:

• Simplifying Complexity on Twitter
• Sean Brady on Twitter
• Sean Brady on LinkedIn
• Brady Heywood website

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

In the last episode, Kevin Mitchell, Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin, compared human brains with single-celled organisms to introduce us to the impact of genetics on conscious thought.

In this episode, Kevin discusses metacognition, or how humans think about thinking, and its implications on free will versus determinism.

 

Connect:

• Simplifying Complexity on Twitter
• Sean Brady on Twitter
• Sean Brady on LinkedIn
• Brady Heywood website

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

In this episode, Kevin Mitchell, Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin, takes us on a journey from single-celled organisms to human consciousness to explore if we have free will.

 

Connect:

• Simplifying Complexity on Twitter
• Sean Brady on Twitter
• Sean Brady on LinkedIn
• Brady Heywood website

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Today we're joined by Michal Shur-Ofry, Associate Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem law faculty, as she discusses the law and complex systems.

In this episode, you'll hear how traditional legal approaches often take an overly simplistic view of the systems they're trying to regulate, how the patent system could be improved by using network science to measure true innovation, and why understanding exponential growth during events like pandemics challenges our conventional legal principles of proportionality.

 

Resources and links:

• Michal Shur-Ofry’s website

• Michal Shur-Ofry on X

• Michal Shur-Ofry on Linkedin

 

Connect:

• Simplifying Complexity on Twitter

• Sean Brady on Twitter

• Sean Brady on LinkedIn

• Brady Heywood website

 

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.