A Masterclass from the Pioneer of Artificial Intelligence

2024

Jürgen Schmidhuber shares his insights on the evolution and future of AI. He discusses the development of self-improving AI systems, the concept of artificial curiosity, and the potential for machines to achieve creativity akin to humans. Schmidhuber also explores the implications of advanced AI on society, emphasizing the importance of aligning AI goals with human values to ensure beneficial outcomes. He envisions a future where AI contributes positively to various fields, including science, art, and technology.

Lecture
01:01:56 8,595 8

Hominization

Introduction to a Scientific Study of the Phenomenon of Man

1923

In one of his earliest writings on the topic, Teilhard de Chardin explores humanity’s unique place in evolution. He argues that humans represent an entirely new phase of life on Earth—the noosphere, or sphere of conscious thought. While physically similar to other primates, humans are revolutionary in their ability to use tools, form global connections, and reflect on their own existence. This self-awareness comes with both great power and great risk, as humans can choose to either advance or resist evolution’s push toward greater consciousness and unity.

Essay
10,401 31

The Natural Environment and Religion

Watts, ever the sage provocateur, meanders through the labyrinth of comparative religion, psychology, and cosmic consciousness. He critiques our scholastic obsessions and urges an experiential approach, blending the spiritual and material like a Zen gardener planting mysteries among truths. He laments our sterile materialism and bureaucratic rigidity, championing a dance with risk, creativity, and nonverbal wisdom. With tales of mystics, scientists, and madmen, he celebrates the spice of oddballs, the necessity of nonsense, and the ineffable richness of being alive.

Seminar
59:09 8,156 11

The Old and the New Vision

1981

Herbert Günther reveals how ancient Tibetan Buddhist texts offer insights into consciousness that parallel modern scientific discoveries. The Tibetans viewed humans not as isolated beings, but as expressions of universal intelligence, describing three levels: the physical body, an experiential “phantom-like” body, and a mysterious deep structure. Their texts suggest that the universe itself is conducting a grand experiment through human consciousness—playfully creating new possibilities and evolving toward higher forms of order.

Essay
4,293 9

A Beautiful Loop

An Active Inference Theory of Consciousness

2024

Laukkonen and Chandaria propose that consciousness arises from a recursive brain process involving three key elements: a reality model, competitive inferences reducing uncertainty, and a self-aware feedback loop. This framework explains various states of awareness, including meditation, psychedelic experiences, and minimal consciousness. It also offers insights into artificial intelligence by connecting awareness to self-reinforcing predictions. The authors’ theory suggests that consciousness emerges when the brain’s reality model becomes self-referential, creating a “knowing itself” phenomenon. This recursive process underlies different levels of conscious experience and potentially informs AI development.

Research Article
11,708 20

The Living Machine

1962

Warren McCulloch, a pioneering neurologist and mathematician, discusses his lifelong quest to understand the nature of numbers and human cognition. He explores the parallels between the human brain and complex computing machines, emphasizing the brain’s unique “anastomotic” structure. McCulloch ponders the future of artificial intelligence, suggesting that machines might one day surpass and outlive humans. His ideas blend mathematics, theology, and neuroscience, painting a thought-provoking picture of consciousness, technology, and the potential evolution of intelligence beyond human form.

Discussion
09:35 1,134 3

Unity in Contemplation

1973

Imagine peeling away the layers of your social self to reveal a cosmic peephole—that’s meditation, says Alan Watts, where you become the universe’s own eyeball, winking at itself. And here’s a divine chuckle: God’s not all furrowed brows and thunderbolts. Watts nudges us to float, not flail, through life’s spiritual circus. In a world gone madcap, he prescribes a dose of quiet contemplation—not as a grim duty, but as a playful plunge into life’s delicious absurdities.

Seminar
02:00:02 12,771 7

I Am That

1973

In the heart of Mumbai’s bustling streets, a humble beedi shop owner named Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj delved deeply into the nature of existence, emerging with profound insights that have since captivated spiritual seekers worldwide. I Am That is a collection of his dialogues, where complex metaphysical concepts are unraveled with startling clarity and simplicity. Through conversations steeped in Advaita Vedanta, Maharaj guides readers beyond the illusion of individuality to the realization of their true, unbounded self. Each page invites you to question, reflect, and ultimately transcend the confines of the mind, offering not just philosophical musings, but a transformative experience that promises to change the very way you perceive reality. If you’re seeking a profound spiritual awakening, I Am That is not just a book—it’s a portal to understanding your true nature.

Book
3

Physics of Life, Time, Complexity, and Aliens

2024

Sara Walker and Lex Fridman explore life’s grand mysteries, touching on the nature of existence and the origins of life to the potential of artificial intelligence and the future of consciousness. Walker’s unique perspective challenges conventional wisdom, inviting us to reconsider our place in the cosmic dance.

Discussion
02:51:58 28,330 32

Speculations Concerning the First Ultraintelligent Machine

1965

An ultra-intelligent machine is a machine that can far surpass all the intellectual activities of any man however clever. The design of machines is one of these intellectual activities; therefore, an ultra-intelligent machine could design even better machines. To design an ultra-intelligent machine one needs to understand more about the human brain or human thought or both. The physical representation of both meaning and recall, in the human brain, can be to some extent understood in terms of a subassembly theory, this being a modification of Hebb’s cell assembly theory. The subassembly theory sheds light on the physical embodiment of memory and meaning, and there can be little doubt that both needs embodiment in an ultra-intelligent machine. The subassembly theory leads to reasonable and interesting explanations of a variety of psychological effects.

Research Article
3

Pursuit of Pleasure

Where does pleasure come from? What are we trying to achieve in our frantic day-to-day activities? Why are we in such a hurry? And why do all of our efforts to pin the universe down and bring it under our control dial up the misery?

Lecture
03:24:14 22,887 32 48

Mr. X

1969

Written under the pseudonym Mr. X to avoid the heavy social stigma associated with marijuana consumption at the time, Carl Sagan documented his personal experiences with cannabis in this essay in order to dispel common misconceptions about the drug. It was later published in the 1971 book Marihuana Reconsidered by Lester Grinspoon. Sagan enjoyed cannabis on a regular basis for the rest of his life, but never spoke of it publicly.

Essay
2,946 7 32

Tao Te Ching

506 B.C.E.

Written more than two thousand years ago, the Tao Te Ching is one of the true classics of spiritual literature. It is a guide to cultivating a life of peace, serenity, and compassion. Through aphorisms and parable, it leads readers toward the Tao, or the “Way”: harmony with the life force of the universe.

Classic Literature
6,523 1 21

Arcology

The City In The Image Of Man

1969

Visionary architect Paolo Soleri challenges us to think of cities as biological entities with his concept of the arcology—a massive, self-sustaining, urban “organism of a thousand minds” designed to exist in harmony with nature. He proposes that the purpose of life is aesthetogenesis: the universe progressively complexifying itself into compassionate, beautiful structures. Soleri showcases 30 potential arcologies through incredibly detailed diagrams, explaining how each integrates itself economically and ecologically into the world and fulfills his aesthetogenic criteria. The scope of his vision ranges from cities designed to span canyons or float on the oceans to cube-shaped metropolises suspended on pillars, and even a space habitat. While comprehensive, Soleri’s focus lies primarily on realizing arcologies that meet humanity’s moral imperative for sustainable urban living.

Book
42,122 17 21

Death

Essential Lectures, Program 8

1972

Alan Watts comments on the circle of life and our response to the surprising event of being born in the first place.

Television Episode
29:15 3,509 4 15

The Joker

One of Alan’s most popular seminars, and for good reason—in The Joker, listeners will find out why every society needs fools in order to remind itself not to take life so damn seriously.

Seminar
03:08:18 20,436 15 14

Spectrum of Love

1969

Alan Watts explores love in its many forms, from desire to divine connection. He argues against forcing or faking love, saying real charity can’t be willed. Instead, Watts suggests honestly examining one’s own selfish motivations, since even egotism stems from a distorted love. By following our inner drives, love can unfold organically. Watts sees embracing risks as better than bottling up this energy, which leads to self-destruction. Allowing love to flow freely, despite heartbreaks, enables human flourishing. For Watts, light passes through a prism, but it’s all love.

Lecture
26:54 3,576 3 14

How to Grow Old

1956

In this essay (written for his book Portraits From Memory And Other Essays), Russell uses his logical thinking to lay out his advice for achieving a successful old age.

Essay
1,077 13

Mind over Mind

Alan unravels the myth of self-improvement through willpower alone and exposes the fruitlessness of exerting control over one’s own mind. He points to another way: let go of straining, soften your grasp of yourself, and watch experience unfold with impartial awareness. In releasing the fantasy of domination, he says, our natural essence emerges freely. A thought-provoking exploration of the boundaries of self-mastery and the grace of acceptance.

Lecture
48:45 6,284 8 13

From Mechanistic to Systemic Thinking

1993

Ackoff states that humanity is in the early stage of a transition from the Machine Age to the Systems Age. The Machine Age was characterized by belief in complete understandability of the universe, analysis as a method of inquiry, and cause and effect as a sufficient relationship to explain all. The dilemma that disrupted such beliefs was systems thinking. The Machine Age began to die when humanity gave up the principle of understandability. Gradually, it’s become accepted that there can be no complete understanding of the universe because nothing can be understood independently of its environment—all is environmentally relative. While analysis produces knowledge, it is synthesis that produces understanding. Furthermore, the Systems Age recognizes that cause and effect is just one way of looking at reality among an infinite number.

Lecture
01:12:33 11,260 3 11