E48: Studying the Brain in Light of Evolution

The brain is the result of evolution. A lot of evolution. Most neuroscientists don't really think about this fact. Should we? On this episode we talk about two papers---one focused on brains and the other on AI---that argue that following evolution is the path to success. As part of this argument, they make the point that, in evolution, each stage along the way needs to be fully functional, which impacts the shape and role of the brain. As a result, the system is best thought of as a whole---not chunked into perception, cognition and action, as many psychologists and neuroscientists are wont to do. In discussing these arguments, we talk about the role of representations in intelligence, go through a bit of the evolution of the nervous system, and remind ourselves that evolution does not necessarily optimize. Throughout, we ask how this take on neuroscience impacts our own work and try to avoid saying "represents".

You can listen to E48: Studying the Brain in Light of Evolution online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

E48: Studying the Brain in Light of Evolution is an episode from Unsupervised Thinking by Neuro Collective.

This episode is 59:58 long.

This episode was published on Aug 29, 2019.

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