Origins of Evolution Itself - Dr. Michael Lachmann, SFI, DSPod #296

Today we're digging into the deep and often overlooked connections between neodarwinian evolution, life’s origins, and the evolution of non-living systems. We're guided by Dr. Michael Lachmann of the Santa Fe Institute, who investigates how life may have begun as a more generalized cosmic selection process, with planetary conditions shaping its emergence and survival. Through discussions of thermodynamics, functional information, and entropy, we examine whether life might be present in forms beyond Earth’s biology - and how'd know what to look for. In the end, this discussion swirls around what it means to be “alive” and how we can narrow boundaries of "life" to get closer to a true scientific definition of it.

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More about Dr. Lachmann: https://www.santafe.edu/people/profile/michael-lachmann

00:00 Go!
00:02:00 Understanding Life through Information 00:04:44 Conditions for Life's Emergence 00:07:08 Defining Life and Functional Information 00:12:13 Connection between Information, Entropy, and Thermodynamics 00:17:13 Selection in Planetary Systems 00:24:02 Complexity and the Threshold of Life 00:30:24 Defining the Threshold of Life 00:36:01 Life’s Emergence and Definitions 00:45:18 Rethinking Universal Timelines 00:51:05 Eternal Existence and Origin Concepts 00:53:13 Transition from Non-Life to Life 01:00:23 Emerging Microbial Life 01:07:25 Stars and Large-Scale Life 01:17:21 Life in the Universe 01:19:59 Distinction Between Life and Alive 01:25:00 Characteristics of Life Without Complex Parameters 01:27:11 Searching for Life on Other Planets 01:31:05 Artificial Life and Consciousness 01:41:43 Distinguishing Life and Artificial Life 01:46:09 Lab-Grown and Artificial Constructs 01:54:50 Human Purpose and Cooperation 02:00:03 Understanding AI and Human Systems 02:06:42 Human Innovation and Evolutionary Traits 02:09:44 Scientific Understanding and Cultural Narratives 02:12:18 The Myth of the Garden and Technological Progress 02:15:03 Happiness, Evolution, and Societal Constraints 02:18:35 Purpose, Fulfillment, and Meaning in Life 02:21:43 The Quest to Understand Life

#Evolution, #OriginOfLife, #Astrobiology, #ArtificialIntelligence, #Consciousness, #CosmicEvolution, #Biogenesis, #UniversalLife, #QuantumBiology, #LifeBeyondEarth, #LifeScience, #SpaceExploration, #ComplexSystems, #Thermodynamics, #FunctionalInformation, #ExtraterrestrialLife, #DeepSpace, #SelectionTheory, #Entropy, #LifeInTheUniverse, #CosmicOrigins, #MicrobialLife, #AIConsciousness, #SelfReplicatingSystems, #AstrobiologicalResearch, #LifeDefinition, #Metaphysics, #GalaxyFormation, #ScientificDiscovery, #PlanetaryLife, #sciencepodcast, #longformpodcast

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PODCAST INFO: Anastasia completed her PhD studying bioelectricity at Columbia University. When not talking to brilliant people or making movies, she spends her time painting, reading, and guiding backcountry excursions. Shilo also did his PhD at Columbia studying the elastic properties of molecular water. When he's not in the film studio, he's exploring sound in music. They are both freelance professors at various universities.

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