Podcasts: All in the Mind, Are We Alone (Big Picture Science), Radiolab
On the frontiers of biology and engineering, scientists are raising all kinds of questions about what life is and how it can be designed, created, modified, or integrated with technology and humans.
All in the Mind: Dialogue with the Dalai Lama - Part 2 - Mirror neurons, our inter-subjective minds and the limits of compassion
Presenter: Natasha Mitchell
Guest: Paul Ekman (and others)
Release Date: July 2, 2011
A ha! I love it when I hear someone articulate something I've long believed but have never said so well or so simply. That's how I felt when I heard Paul Ekman's closing remarks on All in the Mind, the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Company) Radio program about the mind, brain and behavior.
To set the context, it's worth explaining that "mirror neurons" is a concept that describes how the brain reacts to someone else's experience as if it were happening to oneself. In other words, empathy in biological terms.
At the end of this fascinating discussion which also featured interviews with the Dalai Lama, Ekman, a San Francisco based psychologist and author, explained "when I first met the Dalai Lama I had this experience of connection as if I had known him all of my life, as if he was the brother I never had and as if we were speaking directly to each other even when we were not talking to each other. Now he can explain that and I can't. From a Western point of view it's déjà vu, which only means I don't understand it. I have come to understand that there are very real phenomena of great importance that we do not yet understand, which doesn't mean they don't exist." (quoted from transcript, italics added by me).
To me, this is part of the essence of science as a method of understanding the natural world. A hundred years ago things we take for granted (smart phones) were unimaginable, but that did not mean they were impossible. And a hundred years from now people will take for granted truths about which we don’t even know the questions to ask, let alone the seeds of the answers. Biology and Physics are two domains where future discoveries will overturn much of what we believe we know today. And yet this open mindedness is not something I embrace without any boundaries. Some things are truly fictional and will always remain so.
Are We Alone: Ultimate Hook Up
Hosts: Seth Shostak, Molly Bentley
Release Date: July 4, 2011
Note: Are We Alone changes its name to Big Picture Science starting with the next episode.
"What makes a person? Is it just the brain? Is it more than that? If you combine it with a machine, is it still a person? Is the robot a person?
That whole question of merging the mind and the machine is a big one right now not just in robotics but in neuroscience. How close can we get to our machines? Can we control our machines with our minds? Can our machines help enhance our own cognitive abilities?"
These are the brain bending questions raised by this fascinating episode that explored "A future of human minds melding with machines."
Miguel Nicolelis, Director for the Center for Neuroengineering at Duke University, explained many examples of how machines are merging with brains such that mere thought controls the machine extension of the person. These technologies will enable paralyzed people to walk, and that's just one application. According to Dr. Nicolelis, "We will interface with these devices just by thinking … as if we were part of a Holodeck … we will be part of the operating system" Actually, the segment following this one explored advances in Virtual Reality that make Holodecks sound much closer than the 23rd century.
"Where does the machine end and the human brain begin?"
Interestingly, Dr Nicolelis does not believe in the Singularity, the idea that machine intelligences will surpass human intelligence in the near future. "Machines will never replace a brain because machines will never be able to acquire the kind of consciousness and cognitive (capabilities) that a human brain has … there will always be a place for a human brain" (Whew! That's a relief!)
Actually, his perspective is enthusiastically optimistic "I think we are going to experience sensations and perceptions of the universe that we have never deemed possible but more than that we are going to expand our reach in terms of what we can feel and what we can do to a level that not even science fiction has been able to capture so far."
For me, this recalls Ekman's insight: just because we do not currently understand how something could work does not mean it is impossible.
(This segment of the show occurs from around 5:30 to 18:00.)
Right after listening to this podcast, I found this article about a prototype technology that enables bike riders to shift gears just by thinking about it. Yes, you too can perform Jedi mind tricks! For an example of a brain machine interface check out:
Radiolab: (So Called) Life
Hosts: Jad Abrumrad and Robert Krulwich
Release Date: April 7, 2008
Blending brains and machines is one way our biology and technology are stretching our conception of the definition and boundaries of what life is. Synthetic Biology, creating new life forms or merging different life forms genetically, is another ear opening topic discussed on Radiolab's episode (So Called) Life. I dug this one out of the archives of this hugely interesting show.
Mixing a goat and a sheep to make a "Gheep" is one example of how scientists have actually merged the embryos and genetic makeup of two different species. And yes, this hybrid actually exists as a living, breathing critter. Some look more like sheep, others more like goats, but all have characteristics of both. No, I don’t know if it tastes like chicken. Modifying cow genetics so they bleed human blood useful for transfusions is another example of bioengineering for medical applications, and there are many more. Other explorations included discussions of the possibility of human chimpanzee hybrids, and the manufacture and sale of custom designed genes.
By the way, a recent New York Times Sunday Magazine article profiles Radiolab and its hosts:
The Are We Alone and Radiolab shows both made me wonder not just about the definitional meaning of life, but also about the future of evolution. Mankind is manipulating how species change more than ever before. Sure, I know about crops genetically manipulated to increase yields and other commercially favorable features, as well as those funky breeds of dogs and cats, but the nature and extent of evolution guided by human rather than natural selection is expanding dramatically.
It also seems a little ironic to me that while human activity has accelerated the extinction of untold numbers of species, we are simultaneously accelerating our ability to design and create new species as if they were computer parts. But life forms are not mechanical devices; they exist in interconnected ecologies. Do we know how designer species will interact in the environment? I doubt it. And here again I think of Ekman's insight but from the opposite perspective: what we will know in the future that seems inconceivable today is in fact unknown today. Sometimes A Ha! is also Uh Oh?
