#486 – Michael Levin: Hidden Reality of Alien Intelligence & Biological Life

Lex Fridman interviews Michael Levin, exploring Levin's work on embodied minds, intelligence, and agency across biological and computational systems. They discuss the spectrum of persuadability as an engineering approach to understanding intelligence, the concept of the cognitive light cone, and the scaling process of life. Levin challenges traditional views of physics and biology, advocating for an empirical approach that applies behavioral science tools to various systems, including cells and algorithms. The conversation delves into the Technological Approach to Mind Everywhere (TAME) framework, the nature of goal-directed behavior, and the radical idea of a platonic space that influences the physical world, suggesting that minds may be interfaces to this space. They also touch on the implications for AI, consciousness, and the search for unconventional terrestrial intelligence.