#160 - Meet The Physicist Proving The Universe Builds Itself Out Of Information

🧠 JOIN THE GIANT'S SHOULDER FAMILY Become a YouTube Member for exclusive episodes, early access + ad-free viewing 👇 https://www.youtube.com/@thegiantsshoulder/join Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic is a physicist turned cognitive scientist and Professor Emeritus at Chalmers University of Technology, with doctorates in both physics and computer science. Across three careers she built info-computationalism: the idea that nature is information and computation at every level, from particles to minds. Her conclusion puts her at odds with much of her own field. Cognition arrives with life itself, which puts consciousness in a single bacterium and nowhere in today's AI. Expect to learn: \- Info-computationalism: why nature is information and computation all the way down \- Cell consciousness: why a single cell is already sensing, deciding and minimally aware \- The Levin divide: where she draws the line Michael Levin won't \- Anaesthetised bacteria: why ether switches off organisms with no brain \- Machines that can't feel: why today's AI has intelligence but no goals of its own SPONSORS Get Jenni Your Intelligent Research Assistant (GIANT20 for 20% off) - http://jenni.ai/?utm\_source=youtube&utm\_medium=inf&utm\_campaign=thegiantsshoulder GS EPISODES MENTIONED Michael Levin - Michael Levin: Bioelectricity, Morphogenesis, Platonic Spaces & Xenobots: https://youtu.be/LTBZRVKUwyM Michael Levin & Earl Miller - Michael Levin & Earl Miller: Platonic Space of Minds, Bioelectricity, Cell Intelligence & Neurobots: https://youtu.be/6mU5nN5nlLA William B. Miller Jr. - Meet The Scientist Proving Your Cells Are Conscious and Intelligent: https://youtu.be/xrV5oGyyKSI Mark Solms - Meet the Scientist Proving Dreams Hold the Key to Consciousness! Dr Mark Solms: https://youtu.be/nMWaQ1U6dcc GUEST LINKS Chalmers Profile: https://www.chalmers.se/en/persons/dodig/ X: https://x.com/DodigGordana Chalmers Research Publications: https://research.chalmers.se/en/person/dodig Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=bvc5bBsAAAAJ ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9881-400X LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordana-dodig-crnkovic/ LISTEN ON YouTube - https://youtu.be/D4jBgWV8BoY Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-giants-shoulder/id1752486249 SKOOL Want a full breakdown of your own conscious inner experience? Join the Giant's Shoulder community: https://www.skool.com/the-giants-shoulder-6526/about FOLLOW EVAN https://x.com/evan\_mcgl TIMESTAMPS 0:00:00 Trailer 0:02:44 Physicist, Computer Scientist, Cognitive Scientist 0:08:05 What Is Information, Really? 0:13:16 You Can't Observe Without Changing The System 0:16:14 Are Conscious Agents The Most Fundamental Thing? 0:20:06 A Single Cell Is Already Conscious 0:27:16 Where She Parts Ways With Michael Levin 0:28:41 Can We Build A Machine That Creates Itself? 0:33:38 Why A Book Is Just Food To An Insect 0:39:40 You Are Trillions Of Information Agents 0:44:09 Science's Obsession With Measurement 0:46:40 Xenobots And The Cells Nobody Programmed 0:51:02 Agency Or Just Complicated Chemistry? 0:55:58 Why No Experiment Can Settle This 0:57:22 Where Computation Ends And Cognition Begins 1:01:08 Would Levin Say Gene Networks Think? 1:03:37 Why Survival Might Be Essential For Consciousness 1:07:07 You Can Anaesthetise A Bacterium 1:11:08 Can Consciousness Be Written Down As Maths? 1:19:31 How AI Could Help Us Understand Minds 1:22:35 Should We Ever Build Conscious AI? .....Email for sponsorship enquiries: evan@thegiantsshoulder.com