Michael Levin: Hidden Reality of Alien Intelligence & Biological Life | Lex Fridman Podcast #486

Levin is, without exaggeration, one of the "Einsteins" of our time. His depth of systems thinking, astonishing pattern recognition, and the way he weaves together seemingly unrelated domains is nothing short of breathtaking. Can listen to this man talk for hours. Thanks for this awesome interview!

I was ahead of my time, back in 2001, as a helpdesk technician i used to talk to a network printer to try and get it to work

Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep486-sa See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc. 0:00 - Introduction 0:44 - Biological intelligence 9:17 - Living vs non-living organisms 14:30 - Origin of life 18:15 - The search for alien life (on Earth) 51:19 - Creating life in the lab - Xenobots and Anthrobots 1:04:21 - Memories and ideas are living organisms 1:18:02 - Reality is an illusion: The brain is an interface to a hidden reality 2:03:48 - Unexpected intelligence of sorting algorithms 2:29:26 - Can aging be reversed? 2:33:17 - Mind uploading 2:51:57 - Alien intelligence 3:06:52 - Advice for young people 3:13:21 - Questions for AGI *Transcript:* https://lexfridman.com/michael-levin-2-transcript *CONTACT LEX:* *Feedback* - give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey *AMA* - submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama *Hiring* - join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring *Other* - other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact *EPISODE LINKS:* Michael Levin's X: https://x.com/drmichaellevin Michael Levin's Website: https://drmichaellevin.org Michael Levin's Papers: https://drmichaellevin.org/publications/ - Biological Robots: https://arxiv.org/abs/2207.00880 - Classical Sorting Algorithms: https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.05375 - Aging as a Morphostasis Defect: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38636560/ - TAME: https://arxiv.org/abs/2201.10346 - Synthetic Living Machines: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.abf1571 *SPONSORS:* To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts: *Shopify:* Sell stuff online. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/shopify-ep486-sa *CodeRabbit:* AI-powered code reviews. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/coderabbit-ep486-sa *LMNT:* Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/lmnt-ep486-sa *UPLIFT Desk:* Standing desks and office ergonomics. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/uplift_desk-ep486-sa *Miro:* Online collaborative whiteboard platform. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/miro-ep486-sa *MasterClass:* Online classes from world-class experts. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/masterclass-ep486-sa

Michael Levin is tremendous The present fact that no mainstream media institution is having these types of conversations, is a crisis.

how this guy isnt more known worldwide than many physicists are is beyhond me... this guy is studying the most interesting stuffs on the universe, and he's a genius at it... if all the money we put on tech and physics were put on biology frontier researches like this we would have evolved into gods by now...

Mike is my nephew in law and my son works for him at the Levin lab as well as working on his doctorate. Love Mike and love this interview. Thank you.

The idea of a sentient lifeform living near earth's core seeing humans and animals as gas clouds was one of the most interesting things I've heard in a while

Incredible. It’s truly special when you make the realization that what you’re listening to is the future

Having a child with cancer and spending quite a bit of time on the oncology unit at the children's hospital, I want so badly for this man to succeed so no more children have to suffer.

Descartes actually said, “I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am.” He was not centering thought as a basis for identity. He was arguing that skepticism was the starting point for realisation and the creation of the aware self.