What if your thoughts aren’t your own? Professors Elan Barenholtz and William Hahn propose that language is not a tool we use but a self-generating organism that uses us. In this mind-bending live discussion at the University of Toronto, they argue that language installs itself in our minds like software, runs autonomously, and shapes behavior at a deeper level than we realize. Drawing on LLMs, autoregression, and cognitive science, they suggest your brain may function like a predictive engine and that “memory,” “self,” and even “God” may just be tokens in an informational system.

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Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

05:28 The Nature of Autoregression

10:14 Memory and Cognition Redefined

11:28 The Role of Language Models

14:23 Exploring Consciousness and Software

26:22 The Evolution of Language

38:08 Language: A Cultural Artifact

54:19 The Power and Danger of Language

1:02:52 Embracing Uncertainty in Knowledge

1:04:59 Courage to Believe in Ideas

1:09:30 Support and Engagement with Content

Links Mentioned:

•⁠ ⁠Elan’s Substack: https://elanbarenholtz.substack.com/

•⁠ ⁠Elan’s Papers: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2grAjZsAAAAJ&hl=en

•⁠ ⁠William’s Blog: https://hahn.ai/blog/index.html

•⁠ ⁠Ekkolapto’s Site: https://www.ekkolapto.org/

•⁠ ⁠Andrés Emilsson [TOE]: https://youtu.be/BBP8WZpYp0Y

•⁠ ⁠Elan Barenholtz [TOE]: https://youtu.be/A36OumnSrWY

•⁠ ⁠Anna Ciaunica & Michael Levin [TOE]: https://youtu.be/2aLhkm6QUgA

•⁠ ⁠William Hahn [TOE]: https://youtu.be/3fkg0uTA3qU

•⁠ ⁠Michael Levin’s Presentation [TOE]: https://youtu.be/Exdz2HKP7u0

•⁠ ⁠Stephen Wolfram [TOE]: https://youtu.be/0YRlQQw0d-4

•⁠ ⁠Geoffrey Hinton [TOE]: https://youtu.be/b_DUft-BdIE

•⁠ ⁠Ai Panel [TOE]: https://youtu.be/abzXzPBW4_s

•⁠ ⁠Joscha Bach & Ben Goertzel [TOE]: https://youtu.be/xw7omaQ8SgA

•⁠ ⁠Noam Chomsky [TOE]: https://youtu.be/DQuiso493ro

•⁠ ⁠Michael Levin Solo [TOE]: https://youtu.be/c8iFtaltX-s

•⁠ ⁠Consciousness Iceberg [TOE]: https://youtu.be/65yjqIDghEk

•⁠ ⁠Joscha Bach [TOE]: https://youtu.be/3MNBxfrmfmI

•⁠ ⁠Scott Aaronson [TOE]: https://youtu.be/gGsh0_-q7LI

•⁠ ⁠Iain McGilchrist [TOE]: https://youtu.be/Q9sBKCd2HD0

•⁠ ⁠The Master and His Emissary [Book]: https://www.amazon.com/Master-His-Emissary-Divided-Western/dp/0300188374

•⁠ ⁠Michael Levin & Karl Friston [TOE]: https://youtu.be/0yOV9Pzk2zw

•⁠ ⁠Shape Rotators vs Wordcels [Article]: https://sasamilic.medium.com/some-thoughts-on-the-shape-rotator-vs-worcel-meme-f320261a21cd

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