Ep. 31 - Awakening from the Meaning Crisis - Embodied-Embedded RR as Dynamical-Developmental GI

In this episode of "Awakening from the Meaning Crisis," Dr. John Vervaeke delves into a scientific theory of relevance realization, distinguishing it from a theory of relevance. Drawing an analogy to Darwin's theory of evolution, he proposes a virtual engine within the embodied brain that regulates the sensory-motor loop, shaping cognitive interactional fittedness. He emphasizes the importance of embodied and embedded cognition, arguing against empiricist and romantic notions of relevance, and introduces the concept of transjectivity. Vervaeke discusses the logistical norms of efficiency and resiliency and their trade-offs, suggesting that the machinery of relevance realization is internal to an embodied-embedded system. He explores the dynamics between general and special-purpose problem-solving, data compression and particularization, and exploiting versus exploring, linking these to cognitive processes like assimilation and accommodation, and ultimately arguing that relevance realization underlies general intelligence and self-transcendence.