Shout out U of R. My mother has worked there for almost 45 years. She speaks very highly of Frank. A conversation between these two was just awesome. Two of the coolest human beings on the planet Earth. Also two of the smartest
By far, Cool worlds is the best science and astronomy podcast out there. Even for people like me that have formal training in Astrophysics this podcast always captivates my imagination. Adam Frank is a wonderful science communicator so listening to these two champions conversation is a nice treat. Thanks and please keep them coming 😀
Found this podcast recently. I love it! It’s kinda crazy how astrophysicists can teach us about how us overloading ourselves with misinformation can lead to a civilization’s downfall.
Thoughts about life and intelligence can be interconnected between organisms is such a great thought. We know that multi-cellular organisms have arisen in conjunction with microorganisms which allow us to extract energy. And we are in symbiosis with these organisms which allow our higher intelligence to arise.
Wow by far the most thought provoking one yet. Lots of ideas coming from the semantic intelligence and agency discussion remind me of this quote "Does the walker choose the path or the path the walker?" At some point we decide what we want but are constrained by our environment so do we really decide what we do? Is it the Newtonian idea where we are responding to stimuli we aren't aware of but we think it's what we are thinking right then? Finally the whole concept of spontaneity and analysis paralysis, life seems to require acting without full understanding of our environment. If we wait for the perfect decision to thrive then that moment will pass and we will miss out. Truly to be alive is to be contradictory.
I like how you take some time to introduce your guests in an optimally sufficient way without going in too much thus setting the tone quite well. Thank you buddy
This was my favorite CW podcast episode yet (and they are all good) - Dr Frank is was fascinating & his concluding remarks were extremely thought provoking
What an amazing talk you guys had. I'm driving to work lifting to this and I'm just blown away. Really have to bring them on your channel again man. Thank you so much for sharing this
Gotta Luv Adam Frank! 1:06:44 "I'm not troubled by the direct Fermi Paradox" because the assumption is "Civilizations end." I mean, I agree, but WOW - the implication is that EVERY Civilization/Species ALWAYS comes to an end, no matter how much technology they gain, no matter how enlightened and careful they are, time still runs out. No that's not troubling at all. 😅
Yeah, I'm not really onboard with that one. There really isn't any evidence either way. Empires come to an "end" in some historical sense, but really they just evolve into something else. It's kinda like saying "Dinosaurs came to an end". Well that's true, but birds, that descend from Dinosaurs are still with us. So the semantic category came to an end but the lineage did not.
Amazing talk! Thank you, very enlightening. It occurred to me when you said "life can't be turned off" that neither can life's information processing. A machine only processes info when told to, and only how it's build or told to process it. Because life is in a constant state of information processing (consciousness??) and physical growth and evolution, there exists many more opportunities for a random interaction between something like 2 neurons connecting in the brain while thinking of one thing which then connects with another idea and bang! a new and novel idea. Life can change and evolve how it processes info, a machine can't (yet).
I'm ready to believe our ancestors were right: There is a Life Force. It uses electromagnetism, chemistry et cetera, but is as much a force in its own right as the warping of space-time we call gravity. Who knows? Maybe the life force controls "dark matter."
what an interesting and inspiring talk with Prof. Frank. The development of SETI is such a lively science. i would love hearing more from him and his topics. thx for producing such nice content
I would love to hear more from you both on Techno Signatures. I thoroughly enjoyed the chit chat, especially the question on the origin of information in biological systems. I would recommend Michael Denton's book; 'Evolution: Still a Theory In Crisis' as well as well as Michael Behe's UA-cam series 'Secrets of the Cell'.
This is so interesting. By coincidence I watched Bill Nelson (the NASA Administrator) at a public conference last night, where he said NASA would be actively investigating UAP's, (Unexplained Anomalous Phenomena), and he said he believes there absolutely has to be other intelligent life in the unimaginable vastness of the Universe. Fascinating.
@cnawan 6 months ago btw, the book about non-conscious aliens referenced by Adam late in the video is "Blindsight" by Peter Watts. I highly recommend it. :)
@@friendlyone2706 Interesting. It would be a pity if humanity were replaced by AI, but it would be a total disaster if that AI was super smart and capable but non-conscious.
I always wonder whether technology itself is a uniquely human thing, like could there be advanced life out there for whom it simply doesn't occur to build the sorts of technologies we're trying to detect?
As which was brought up in the discussion life going on on a planet will have unintentional beacons being sent out that say "life is happening here" ie the red light reflection he brought up about photosynthesis. So even if there is something we can't conceive of we can still detect its artificiality by it having signals different from basic physics.
Thinking about interstellar colonization, I'm reminded of the ending of "War of the Worlds", where the invading Martians are killed by the earth's biome of microorganisms. If every habitable planet has a biome, then any colonists would be in a constant battle for survival. That could make colonization unattractive or impractical.
I'm ready to believe our ancestors were right: There is a Life Force. It uses electromagnetism, chemistry et cetera, but is as much a force in its own right as the warping of space-time we call gravity. Who knows? Maybe the life force controls "dark matter."
If we were aliens on Alpha Centuri, could we detect earth had a techno signature? Is 4 light years close enough for our buildings and sound waves to travel in 200 years? There seems to be a huge temporal problem with the Ferme Paradox. Things come and go. Change. Can we narrow our search for extra-terrestrial life by just looking at stars like our sun in size and age? A hot look for cool worlds.
Interesting talk! I feel however that Adam's holistic view about the world where everything interacts and the earth is a large conscious organism contradicts his skepticism about general AI and his persistence that there is 'no-one home'. If consciousness is an emerging property, how can he rule out AI to become conscious? I guess without a better scientific understanding of consciousness it is more about projection and religion than anything else, but personally I've a very hard time to see how AI technology will not result in a conscious general AI. Maybe you can take a view that if you deprive it from input, or at least freeze the learning process, it just becomes a calculator, but that sounds kind of restrictive to me.
I think Adam's argument gives an explanation for Why humans? Rocks from space have almost wiped out Earth Life. Two conclusions: 1 There is real estate out there ready for Earth Life colonization. 2 Something is throwing rocks at us. It is time to fight back before the next rock is too big to survive. Both conclusions demand Earth have a technological species ready & willing to escape this planet. Gaia wants, no demands, we become interplanetary and then interstellar. Gaia's enemies would then try to plant anti-space travel ideas... Another sci fi book that needs writing. So little time... so many ideas.
Maybe we're looking in the wrong direction.. As scientists and researchers we need to be more opened up to strange and speculative phenomena. Is their duty to not wait for legitimate evidence but to investigate whatever evidence there is.
I did misinterpret his theory as a spiritual reality.and i think thats ok. Theres also interesting expirements being done that show plants can effect random number generators in way that if you put a light in the middle of a room and a plant in a corner and connect the number generator to a mechanism that can move the light , after a small period of time the light will end up pointing at the plant more often than anywhere else in the room.😅
As a person who finds most "new age" mysticism at best questionable and at worst harmful, I've reluctantly come to the conclusion the universe holds a great deal of "woo woo", all of which is probably another way of saying, we have not yet developed to language to adequately describe all that we experience. Not unlike we still don't have have the symbols essential to describing the controlled plasma release form we call a camp fire. Labeling and understanding ain't the same.
If life is always trying to survive, then why is life often its own enemy? The rabbit eating fox and the carrot eating rabbit both have very different definitions of survival. Artificial systems, simpler is usually more robust than complex. Why shouldn't that be true of life as well? But on this planet, life seems eager to invade all environments and to increase its interdependency --- in other words, to always, in every way, to grow from the simple to the more & more complex.
Shout out U of R. My mother has worked there for almost 45 years. She speaks very highly of Frank. A conversation between these two was just awesome. Two of the coolest human beings on the planet Earth. Also two of the smartest
By far, Cool worlds is the best science and astronomy podcast out there.
Even for people like me that have formal training in Astrophysics this podcast always captivates my imagination.
Adam Frank is a wonderful science communicator so listening to these two champions conversation is a nice treat.
Thanks and please keep them coming 😀
I could literally listen to Dr. Kipping and Dr. Frank all day
Found this podcast recently. I love it! It’s kinda crazy how astrophysicists can teach us about how us overloading ourselves with misinformation can lead to a civilization’s downfall.
Thoughts about life and intelligence can be interconnected between organisms is such a great thought. We know that multi-cellular organisms have arisen in conjunction with microorganisms which allow us to extract energy. And we are in symbiosis with these organisms which allow our higher intelligence to arise.
Binge watching all the episodes I missed.
More fun than binging on Star Wars - Your episodes keep getting better.
I'm happy i discoverd this Channel. I always enjoy listening to David when i'm in bed falling asleep.
Wow by far the most thought provoking one yet. Lots of ideas coming from the semantic intelligence and agency discussion remind me of this quote "Does the walker choose the path or the path the walker?" At some point we decide what we want but are constrained by our environment so do we really decide what we do? Is it the Newtonian idea where we are responding to stimuli we aren't aware of but we think it's what we are thinking right then? Finally the whole concept of spontaneity and analysis paralysis, life seems to require acting without full understanding of our environment. If we wait for the perfect decision to thrive then that moment will pass and we will miss out. Truly to be alive is to be contradictory.
I like how you take some time to introduce your guests in an optimally sufficient way without going in too much thus setting the tone quite well. Thank you buddy
This was my favorite CW podcast episode yet (and they are all good) - Dr Frank is was fascinating & his concluding remarks were extremely thought provoking
It took me a year to finally watch this video. Im happy to have seen this! Great video y'all!!!
What an amazing talk you guys had. I'm driving to work lifting to this and I'm just blown away. Really have to bring them on your channel again man. Thank you so much for sharing this
Excellent, looking forward to this one.
Always great conversations on this podcast.
Thanks for listening
What a great guest and converstaion
great conversation!
fyi (~19'00") there's a 280MW concentrated solar power facility, called Solana Generating Station, in Arizona
That conversation was amazing, it blew my mind.
Gotta Luv Adam Frank! 1:06:44 "I'm not troubled by the direct Fermi Paradox" because the assumption is "Civilizations end." I mean, I agree, but WOW - the implication is that EVERY Civilization/Species ALWAYS comes to an end, no matter how much technology they gain, no matter how enlightened and careful they are, time still runs out. No that's not troubling at all. 😅
Yeah, I'm not really onboard with that one. There really isn't any evidence either way. Empires come to an "end" in some historical sense, but really they just evolve into something else. It's kinda like saying "Dinosaurs came to an end". Well that's true, but birds, that descend from Dinosaurs are still with us. So the semantic category came to an end but the lineage did not.
btw, the book about non-conscious aliens referenced by Adam late in the video is "Blindsight" by Peter Watts. I highly recommend it. :)
Absolutely fantastic interview and discussion. Thanks for your great work!
Amazing talk! Thank you, very enlightening. It occurred to me when you said "life can't be turned off" that neither can life's information processing. A machine only processes info when told to, and only how it's build or told to process it. Because life is in a constant state of information processing (consciousness??) and physical growth and evolution, there exists many more opportunities for a random interaction between something like 2 neurons connecting in the brain while thinking of one thing which then connects with another idea and bang! a new and novel idea. Life can change and evolve how it processes info, a machine can't (yet).
I'm ready to believe our ancestors were right: There is a Life Force. It uses electromagnetism, chemistry et cetera, but is as much a force in its own right as the warping of space-time we call gravity.
Who knows? Maybe the life force controls "dark matter."
Thanks for this wonderful interview!
what an interesting and inspiring talk with Prof. Frank. The development of SETI is such a lively science. i would love hearing more from him and his topics.
thx for producing such nice content
I would love to hear more from you both on Techno Signatures. I thoroughly enjoyed the chit chat, especially the question on the origin of information in biological systems. I would recommend Michael Denton's book; 'Evolution: Still a Theory In Crisis' as well as well as Michael Behe's UA-cam series 'Secrets of the Cell'.
Bruno is already the central character in a series of hostorical detective novels.
I'm a simple man, I see cool worlds I click
Always 😂
Haha thank you!
I'm right there with you I wait with bated breath for the next episode... I feel the same as I did with Carl Sagan
4:26
That's right, no hesitation.
great conversation, esp the back half
this guy has unlimited energy
I had no idea Shepard from Mass Effect had a podcast! Subscribed!
I wish I could listen to this channel without having to be an asmr fan.
This is so interesting. By coincidence I watched Bill Nelson (the NASA Administrator) at a public conference last night, where he said NASA would be actively investigating UAP's, (Unexplained Anomalous Phenomena), and he said he believes there absolutely has to be other intelligent life in the unimaginable vastness of the Universe. Fascinating.
What's the title of a book that was mentioned at 26:30? Can't find it.
Fascinating conversation, enjoyed it a lot.
@cnawan
6 months ago
btw, the book about non-conscious aliens referenced by Adam late in the video is "Blindsight" by Peter Watts. I highly recommend it. :)
@@friendlyone2706 Interesting. It would be a pity if humanity were replaced by AI, but it would be a total disaster if that AI was super smart and capable but non-conscious.
I always wonder whether technology itself is a uniquely human thing, like could there be advanced life out there for whom it simply doesn't occur to build the sorts of technologies we're trying to detect?
As which was brought up in the discussion life going on on a planet will have unintentional beacons being sent out that say "life is happening here" ie the red light reflection he brought up about photosynthesis. So even if there is something we can't conceive of we can still detect its artificiality by it having signals different from basic physics.
1:01:56 with your counter, did you miss his point accidentally or purposely? Genuine question
Any chance to have a link to the paper mentioned at 1:07:34 ?
This was epic
I always believed we are not alone. So difficult or almost impossible to prove.
More and more research seems to be showing that even for cellls, much of the information storage is occurring outside of DNA.
I think techno signatures is way out there. What are the chances?
you should get jonathan fortney on here!
Thinking about interstellar colonization, I'm reminded of the ending of "War of the Worlds", where the invading Martians are killed by the earth's biome of microorganisms. If every habitable planet has a biome, then any colonists would be in a constant battle for survival. That could make colonization unattractive or impractical.
But every organism already there is in such a struggle. It would simply up the game.
Honored to have been the 420th like
I'm ready to believe our ancestors were right: There is a Life Force. It uses electromagnetism, chemistry et cetera, but is as much a force in its own right as the warping of space-time we call gravity.
Who knows? Maybe the life force controls "dark matter."
If we were aliens on Alpha Centuri, could we detect earth had a techno signature? Is 4 light years close enough for our buildings and sound waves to travel in 200 years? There seems to be a huge temporal problem with the Ferme Paradox. Things come and go. Change.
Can we narrow our search for extra-terrestrial life by just looking at stars like our sun in size and age? A hot look for cool worlds.
Interesting talk! I feel however that Adam's holistic view about the world where everything interacts and the earth is a large conscious organism contradicts his skepticism about general AI and his persistence that there is 'no-one home'. If consciousness is an emerging property, how can he rule out AI to become conscious? I guess without a better scientific understanding of consciousness it is more about projection and religion than anything else, but personally I've a very hard time to see how AI technology will not result in a conscious general AI. Maybe you can take a view that if you deprive it from input, or at least freeze the learning process, it just becomes a calculator, but that sounds kind of restrictive to me.
I think Adam's argument gives an explanation for Why humans? Rocks from space have almost wiped out Earth Life. Two conclusions:
1 There is real estate out there ready for Earth Life colonization.
2 Something is throwing rocks at us. It is time to fight back before the next rock is too big to survive.
Both conclusions demand Earth have a technological species ready & willing to escape this planet. Gaia wants, no demands, we become interplanetary and then interstellar.
Gaia's enemies would then try to plant anti-space travel ideas... Another sci fi book that needs writing. So little time... so many ideas.
Maybe we're looking in the wrong direction..
As scientists and researchers we need to be more opened up to strange and speculative phenomena. Is their duty to not wait for legitimate evidence but to investigate whatever evidence there is.
❤❤❤
I did misinterpret his theory as a spiritual reality.and i think thats ok. Theres also interesting expirements being done that show plants can effect random number generators in way that if you put a light in the middle of a room and a plant in a corner and connect the number generator to a mechanism that can move the light , after a small period of time the light will end up pointing at the plant more often than anywhere else in the room.😅
got a little woo woo there imo
As a person who finds most "new age" mysticism at best questionable and at worst harmful, I've reluctantly come to the conclusion the universe holds a great deal of "woo woo", all of which is probably another way of saying, we have not yet developed to language to adequately describe all that we experience.
Not unlike we still don't have have the symbols essential to describing the controlled plasma release form we call a camp fire. Labeling and understanding ain't the same.
…NB: a virus and a Roomba are each made in a factory :-)
We've not made any viruses, as far as I'm aware. Tinkered with extant viruses perhaps.
Thomas Gary Lewis Margaret Davis Jason
If life is always trying to survive, then why is life often its own enemy? The rabbit eating fox and the carrot eating rabbit both have very different definitions of survival.
Artificial systems, simpler is usually more robust than complex. Why shouldn't that be true of life as well? But on this planet, life seems eager to invade all environments and to increase its interdependency --- in other words, to always, in every way, to grow from the simple to the more & more complex.
Is that a wig?
Seems like a grant snaffling snake oil salesman to me.
No, Adam’s legit