Memory Engrams, DNA, Evolution, Platonic Realms - Michael Levin (#55)

Michael Levin is a cognitive scientist and biologist at Tufts University.

Conventional biology posits that most of biology's competence and intelligence are encoded in DNA. But what if there is much more to biology?

In this podcast, learn about how the DNA-only view of biology is crumbling, the means of information encoding beyond DNA, the reinterpretive nature of memory, the inherent goal-directedness of biology, and how biology leverages innate intelligent capacities across all scales.

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - What is Wrong With DNA-Centric Biology
04:25 - Re-Understanding Cancer and New Approaches to Biology
10:44 - How Biological Collectives Remain Together and Innate Problem-Solving
12:48 - Memory and Platonic Spaces: Why Are Biological Patterns Stored?
17:28 - Butterfly-Caterpillar Memory Transmutation
23:03 - Evolvability and Goal-Directedness Across Different Levels of Evolution
27:22 - Emergent Goal-Directedness and Surprising System Properties

Find Michael and His Lab's Work:
-X:‪@drmichaellevin‬
-Youtube: ‪@drmichaellevin‬

Levin Lab Podcasts:
-Hananel Hazan: Computation in Biology: Machine Learning, Spiking Neural Netw...
-Randy Ellis: Intelligence, Causality, Metascience: Memory, Intelligence, Machine Learnin...
-Juanita Mathews: Cancer and Collective Intelligence: Bioelectricity, Regeneration, & Colle...