Why does a cold pool feel warmer the second time you dip your toes in? Why does a safecracker run his fingers over sandpaper? Why do Mediterranean cultures touch each other more than Scandinavian cultures? Would it be great -- or not so great -- if you were unable to feel physical pain? Why does stubbing your toe have different sensations through time? And what does any of this have to do with cuddle puddles, NBA players bumping chests, or puppies sleeping in dog piles? Today’s episode is a love story about our sense of touch: what it is, how it works, and why it plays such a critical role in our lives.

Why does a cold pool feel warmer the second time you dip your toes in? Why does a safecracker run his fingers over sandpaper? Why do Mediterranean cultures touch each other more than Scandinavian cultures? Would it be great -- or not so great -- if you were unable to feel physical pain? Why does stubbing your toe have different sensations through time? And what does any of this have to do with cuddle puddles, NBA players bumping chests, or puppies sleeping in dog piles? Today’s episode is a love story about our sense of touch: what it is, how it works, and why it plays such a critical role in our lives.

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

Ep56 "Why do we care so much about touch?"

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/dbc81ad9-8e7d-4fb5-9706-b1590008d0da/transcript

What is artificial general intelligence (AGI) and how close are we to getting there? What defines the next step, called artificial superintelligence (ASI), and why might the gap between those two be so dangerous? When machines become smarter than us, what roles are left for humanity? Should we think of AI as software, or as something we’re raising like a child? Will tomorrow’s AI destroy us, ignore us, or protect us? This week Eagleman talks with computer scientist & AI researcher Ben Goertzel.

What is artificial general intelligence (AGI) and how close are we to getting there?&nbsp;What defines the next step, called artificial superintelligence (ASI), and why might the gap between those two be so dangerous? When machines become smarter than us, what roles are left for humanity? Should we think of AI as software, or as something we&rsquo;re raising like a child? Will tomorrow&rsquo;s AI destroy us, ignore us, or protect us? This week Eagleman talks with computer scientist &amp; AI researcher Ben Goertzel.

Ep163 "How Quickly Does AI Become Smarter Than Humanity?" with Ben Goertzel

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/a93bd2f1-dcb1-4c21-93fe-b48d00461c3e/transcript

For all of medical history, we’ve tried to persuade sick cells to behave better. What if instead we just swapped them out? Can we insert new brain cells grown from your own skin cells? And what does any of this have to do with sending one’s own cells into space, or rescuing animals on the very brink of extinction? Today we talk with stem cell biologist Jeanne Loring about the exciting next horizons.

For all of medical history, we&rsquo;ve tried to persuade sick cells to behave better. What if instead we just swapped them out? Can we insert new brain cells grown from your own skin cells? And what does any of this have to do with sending one&rsquo;s own cells into space, or rescuing animals on the very brink of extinction?&nbsp;Today we talk with stem cell biologist Jeanne Loring about&nbsp;the&nbsp;exciting next horizons.

Ep162 "What Does Medicine Look Like in Ten Years?" with Jeanne Loring

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/d95e8a19-1756-48e7-a5ec-b4860001e22d/transcript

What do honeybee brains have in common with human brains -- and with the AI that beat the world's best Go player? What simple algorithm has been hiding inside brains for 100s of millions of years? When babies throw food from a high chair again and again, are they being mischievous or are they running physics experiments? And what does any of this have to do with whether dopamine is more than a pleasure molecule, or whether there are laws of physics we have yet to discover, or whether large language models are going to get outdated in favor of a new approach? Join Eagleman with computational neuroscientist Read Montague to explore how very old systems in our brains map onto the future of AI.

What do honeybee brains have in common with human brains -- and with the AI that beat the world's best Go player? What simple algorithm has been hiding inside brains for 100s of millions of years? When babies throw food from a high chair again and again, are they being mischievous or are they running physics experiments? And what does any of this have to do with whether dopamine is more than a pleasure molecule, or whether there are laws of physics we have yet to discover, or whether large language models are going to get outdated in favor of a new approach? Join Eagleman with computational neuroscientist Read Montague to explore how very old systems in our brains map onto the future of AI.

Ep161 "What Do Ancient Brains and Future AIs Have in Common?" with Read Montague

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/7b898e9e-0870-4942-b1aa-b47e01861562/transcript

Ep56 "Why do we care so much about touch?"

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