Why do human brains need social interaction? Why might AI chatbots be insufficient to scratch the itch? What do we love so much about real human touch and in-person interaction? Why do so many of us live with dogs? From empathy to introversion to social media to isolation (and what to do about it), we’ve got it all this week with guest Ben Rein, author of the new book Why Brains Need Friends. 

Why do human brains need social interaction? Why might AI chatbots be insufficient to scratch the itch? What do we love so much about real human touch and in-person interaction? Why do&nbsp;so many of us live with dogs? From empathy to introversion to social media to isolation (and what to do about it), we&rsquo;ve got it all this week with guest Ben Rein, author of the new book Why Brains Need Friends.&nbsp;

Neuroscientist and author David Eagleman discusses how our brain interprets the world and what that means for us. Through storytelling, research, interviews, and experiments, David Eagleman tackles wild questions that illuminate new facets of our lives and our realities.

Neuroscientist and author David Eagleman discusses how our brain interprets the world and what that means for us. Through storytelling, research, interviews, and experiments, David Eagleman tackles wild questions that illuminate new facets of our lives and our realities.

Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman

Ep125 "Why do brains need friends?" (with Ben Rein)

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/e92e03df-6220-44ec-abe5-b375002af1cc/transcript

What happens when we start birthing babies on Mars? Might a Martian human become unable to survive on Earth because of differences in microbes and gravity? How much of your body is shaped by the details of this planet? Will radiation accelerate human evolution on Mars? Could living on Mars eventually create a new species of human? Could Mars change the way humans dream? Would a Martian child find Earth's oceans as strange and awe-inspiring as we find another planet? Could two branches of humanity become too different to recognize each other? Today we’re joined by Scott Solomon, evolutionary biologist and author of the book “Becoming Martian: How Living in Space Will Change Our Bodies and Minds”.

What happens when we start birthing babies on Mars? Might a Martian human become unable to survive on Earth because of differences in microbes and gravity? How much of your body is shaped by the details of this planet? Will radiation accelerate human evolution on Mars? Could living on Mars eventually create a new species of human? Could Mars change the way humans dream? Would a Martian child find Earth's oceans as strange and awe-inspiring as we find another planet? Could two branches of humanity become too different to recognize each other? Today we&rsquo;re joined by Scott Solomon, evolutionary biologist and author of the book &ldquo;Becoming Martian: How Living in Space Will Change Our Bodies and Minds&rdquo;.

Ep 170 "Will Mars Create a New Species of Human?" with Scott Solomon

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/c8c190b9-85ca-4312-9ebe-b4bd004c6144/transcript

Is AI thinking things it never says aloud? How would we know if a large language model were having a subjective experience? Is there a way to read the 'thoughts' of an LLM? Human brains seem to have a 'global workspace' -- what would it mean if we discovered that AI has something similar? Can you reach inside an LLM to change one of its 'thoughts'? Join Eagleman with Anthropic interpretability researcher Jack Lindsey to talk about what might be going on inside the mind of Claude.

Is AI thinking things it never says aloud?&nbsp;How would we know if a large language model were having a subjective experience? Is there a way to read the 'thoughts' of an LLM? Human brains seem to have a 'global workspace' -- what would it mean if we discovered that AI has something similar? Can you reach inside an LLM to change one of its 'thoughts'? Join Eagleman with Anthropic interpretability researcher Jack Lindsey to talk about what might be going on inside the mind of Claude.

Ep169 "What Is Claude Thinking But Not Saying?" with Jack Lindsey

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/7160067b-84ee-4bdd-97de-b4b60161761c/transcript

Could there be a better form of government than the one we have now? As we enter an AI-powered world, when might we choose an AI leader? Will your grandchildren ever vote for a human president, who comes with a political party & the weaknesses of a human, or will they vote for a system that has a jaw-dropping capacity to extract patterns from vast rivers of data, simulate millions of possible futures, & govern with a deeper wisdom than a human could naturally possess? Will we all have personal AI agents that know our strongest political opinions, such that we finally achieve (for the first time at scale) a direct democracy rather than a representative one? Join Eagleman as he explores the future of an AI leader (pros & cons) and where he thinks we’re inevitably heading.

Could there be a better form of government than the one we have now? As we enter an AI-powered world, when might we choose an AI leader? Will your grandchildren ever vote for a human president, who comes with a political party &amp; the weaknesses of a human, or will they vote for a system that has a jaw-dropping capacity to extract patterns from vast rivers of data, simulate millions of possible futures, &amp; govern with a deeper wisdom than a human could naturally possess? Will we all have personal AI agents that know our strongest political opinions, such that we finally achieve (for the first time at scale) a direct democracy rather than a representative one? Join Eagleman as he explores the future of an AI leader (pros &amp; cons) and where he thinks we&rsquo;re inevitably heading.

Ep168 "Will it Someday Make Sense to Elect an AI President?"

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/0560da79-94ec-4680-9148-b4b000146f4a/transcript

Ep125 "Why do brains need friends?" (with Ben Rein)

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Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman

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