Thoughtforms Life

Thoughtforms Life

By Michael LevinScienceEducation
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Thoughtforms Life episodes

  • Discussion between Elliot Murphy and Michael Levin 1

    This is a a ~1 hour discussion between Elliot Murphy (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=4AYNRj0AAAAJ&hl=en) and me on the topic of language, evolution, neuroscience, and language models.

    Elliot's paper: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17588928.2025.2523875

    CHAPTERS:

    (00:00) Neural Basis Of Syntax

    (19:00) Signatures Of Structured Grammar

    (30:11) Origins Of Grammatical Structure

    (41:39) Oscillations And Bioelectric Cognition

    (50:18) Free Will And Emergence

    PRODUCED BY:

    https://aipodcast.ing

    SOCIAL LINKS:

    Podcast Website: https://thoughtforms-life.aipodcast.ing

    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3pVafx6EZqXVI2V_Efu2uw

    Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thoughtforms-life/id1805908099

    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7JCmtoeH53neYyZeOZ6ym5

    Twitter: https://x.com/drmichaellevin

    Blog: https://thoughtforms.life

    The Levin Lab: https://drmichaellevin.org


    58 min
  • Discussion with Chris Fields and Julian Gough #1

    This is a conversation between Chris Fields (https://allencenter.tufts.edu/our-team/christopher-a-chris-fields-ph-d/), Julian Gough (https://theeggandtherock.com/), and me about the theory of selection on the scale of universes and analogies to biology.

    CHAPTERS:

    (00:00) Evolutionary Cosmology Overview

    (10:03) Universe Heredity And Environment

    (20:10) Universe As Organism

    (30:58) Fermi Paradox And Habitability

    (39:19) Water Chemistry And Exaptation

    (50:09) Cosmic Genome And Environment

    PRODUCED BY:

    https://aipodcast.ing

    SOCIAL LINKS:

    Podcast Website: https://thoughtforms-life.aipodcast.ing

    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3pVafx6EZqXVI2V_Efu2uw

    Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thoughtforms-life/id1805908099

    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7JCmtoeH53neYyZeOZ6ym5

    Twitter: https://x.com/drmichaellevin

    Blog: https://thoughtforms.life

    The Levin Lab: https://drmichaellevin.org


    1 hr 5 min
  • Discussion with Jordi Vallverdú #1

    This is a discussion between Jordi Vallverdú (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Y_Q8AQkAAAAJ&hl=en) and me, around the topic of transferring information from the minds of embodied humans into LLM AI's, and natural, biological analogs of this process (moving cognitive patterns across embodiments).

    The paper Jordi was referring to: https://journals.bilpubgroup.com/index.php/fls/article/view/8060

    CHAPTERS:

    (00:00) Embodiment and Language Models

    (20:17) Caterpillars, Memories, and LLMs

    (27:23) AI, Science, Human Limits

    PRODUCED BY:

    https://aipodcast.ing

    SOCIAL LINKS:

    Podcast Website: https://thoughtforms-life.aipodcast.ing

    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3pVafx6EZqXVI2V_Efu2uw

    Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thoughtforms-life/id1805908099

    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7JCmtoeH53neYyZeOZ6ym5

    Twitter: https://x.com/drmichaellevin

    Blog: https://thoughtforms.life

    The Levin Lab: https://drmichaellevin.org


    50 min
  • Aastha Jain and I interview Robert Gatenby

    This is a ~1 hour interview by Aastha Jain Simes (https://www.livelongerworld.com/) and I of leading cancer researcher Robert Gatenby (https://www.moffitt.org/inspiring-stories/dr.-gatenbys-story). Bob talks about the evolutionary and physiology approach to understanding cancer.

    CHAPTERS:

    (00:00) Evolutionary Hallmarks of Cancer

    (12:02) Cooperation Stress Bioelectricity

    (22:23) Information Thermodynamics Morphogenesis

    (36:23) Cancer Information and Aging

    (43:04) Adaptive Therapy and Biomarkers

    (55:06) Habitat Imaging and Evolution

    PRODUCED BY:

    https://aipodcast.ing

    SOCIAL LINKS:

    Podcast Website: https://thoughtforms-life.aipodcast.ing

    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3pVafx6EZqXVI2V_Efu2uw

    Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thoughtforms-life/id1805908099

    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7JCmtoeH53neYyZeOZ6ym5

    Twitter: https://x.com/drmichaellevin

    Blog: https://thoughtforms.life

    The Levin Lab: https://drmichaellevin.org


    1 hr 4 min
  • "Mapping Diverse Intelligence Spaces" by Janet Wiles - discussion

    This is a ~36 minute talk by Janet Wiles (https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/13) "Mapping Diverse Intelligence Spaces: looking for xenobots in computational models of memory and language", followed by a ~24 minute discussion of her work on the intersection of cognitive science, language, robotics, and computer science, and some of our work on evolution and synthetic bioengineering.

    Slides kindly provided by Janet: https://thoughtforms.life/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Thoughtforms-Conversation-with-Michael-Levin-Talk-Slides-from-Janet-Wiles.pdf

    CHAPTERS:

    (00:00) Mapping developmental lineages

    (11:18) Memory, partitioning, language

    (36:46) Memory transfer dynamics

    (49:30) Plasticity, gradients, bioelectricity

    (59:30) Talking with organs

    PRODUCED BY:

    https://aipodcast.ing

    SOCIAL LINKS:

    Podcast Website: https://thoughtforms-life.aipodcast.ing

    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3pVafx6EZqXVI2V_Efu2uw

    Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thoughtforms-life/id1805908099

    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7JCmtoeH53neYyZeOZ6ym5

    Twitter: https://x.com/drmichaellevin

    Blog: https://thoughtforms.life

    The Levin Lab: https://drmichaellevin.org


    1 hr 4 min
  • Radical Platonism and Radical Empiricism by Joel Dietz
    This is a ~34-minute talk titled "Radical Platonism and Radical Empiricism" and ~20 minute Q&A discussion by Joel Dietz (https://connection.mit.edu/people/joel-dietz/) for our Center's Platonic Space symposium.

    CONNECT WITH ME:

    • Podcast Website
    • YouTube
    • Apple Podcasts
    • Spotify
    • Twitter
    • Blog
    • The Levin Lab
    • 55 min
    • Against Mind-Blindness: Recognizing and Communicating with Agential Materials by Michael Levin
      This is a 1 hour 11 minute talk by me called "Against Mind-Blindness: recognizing and communicating with Agential Materials and Beyond". It is a slightly longer, updated version of this talk from last month, containing a bit of new material and a somewhat differently-ordered presentation.

      CONNECT WITH ME:

      • Podcast Website
      • YouTube
      • Apple Podcasts
      • Spotify
      • Twitter
      • Blog
      • The Levin Lab
      • 1 hr 12 min
      • Patterns of Form and Behavior Beyond Emergence by Michael Levin
        This is a ~1 hour 15 minute talk titled "Patterns of Form and Behavior Beyond Emergence: how Platonic Space in-forms evolved, engineered, and hybrid embodied minds", which is the kickoff talk for our Symposium on Platonic Space (https://thoughtforms.life/symposium-on-the-platonic-space/). Here I go slowly step by step to review the data that motivates this unconventional way to look at biology, and then (at around minute 47) present a speculative model and a research program we are pursuing to t...

        CONNECT WITH ME:

        • Podcast Website
        • YouTube
        • Apple Podcasts
        • Spotify
        • Twitter
        • Blog
        • The Levin Lab
        • 1 hr 14 min

        About Thoughtforms Life

        From the publisher's feed

        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…

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