The DemystifySci Podcast

• Language v. Thought in Animals, AI, and Humans - Dr. Gašper Beguš, UC Berkeley Linguistics, #317

  Dr. Gašper Beguš is a UC Berkeley professor of linguistics who studies the interface between human, machine, and animal language. We head into the conversation with a question - is there something fundamentally different about the way that humans learn and the way that machines like LLMs learn? Vector embeddings of the relatedness of language and the map that we carry in our heads of abstract concepts don’t seem that different at the end of the day. This leads us into a discussion of the ways in which humans acquire language, how language evolves, evidence for abstract thought in animals, where the bright line of consciousness can be drawn, and if taking a different approach to training computers to think can generate a machine that can match us in drive and curiosity.  Don't miss the historic cosmology summit in Portugal this summer!!! DEMYSTICON 2025 ANNUAL MEETING June 12-16: https://demystifysci.com/demysticon-2025 PATREON: get episodes early + join our weekly Patron Chat https://bit.ly/3lcAasB MERCH: Rock some DemystifySci gear : https://demystifysci.myspreadshop.com/all AMAZON: Do your shopping through this link: https://amzn.to/3YyoT98 SUBSTACK: https://substack.com/@UCqV4_7i9h1_V7hY48eZZSLw@demystifysci (00:00) Go! (00:07:55) Language, Thought, and AI Models (00:13:25) Animal Communication and Intelligence (00:25:02) Recursion and Human Language (00:37:51) AI, Consciousness, and Human Cognition (00:49:02) The Role of Human Curiosity in the Future of AI (00:58:13) Bridging Human-Like Learning in AI Models (01:08:07) Exploring Human-Like Structures in AI Models (01:17:19) Evolution and Brain Capacity (01:26:31) Language Structure and Differences (01:37:11) Evolution of Language and Its Universality (01:46:17) Social Identity and Linguistic Diversity (01:59:08) Thought and Language: The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis (02:09:18) Language Evolution and Human History (02:16:02) Cognitive Development and Language (02:24:39) Ancient Human Cooperation (02:35:04) Cultural and Cognitive Evolution (02:42:27) AI’s Role in Scientific Discovery #Linguistics, #AI, #AnimalCommunication, #ArtificialIntelligence, #Language, #Cognition, #AnimalIntelligence, #Recursion, #ThoughtAndLanguage, #AnimalBehavior, #AnimalLearning, #AIModels, #CognitiveScience, #AnimalCognition, #EvolutionOfLanguage, #LanguageStructure, #LanguageEvolution, #philosophypodcast, #sciencepodcast, #longformpodcast Check our short-films channel, @DemystifySci: https://www.youtube.com/c/DemystifyingScience AND our material science investigations of atomics, @MaterialAtomics https://www.youtube.com/@MaterialAtomics Join our mailing list https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S 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. - Blog: http://DemystifySci.com/blog - RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rss - Donate: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaD - Swag: https://bit.ly/2PXdC2y SOCIAL: - Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySci MUSIC: -Shilo Delay: https://g.co/kgs/oty671

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  2:47:14
• Are Receipts Androgynizing America? - SOLO!!! Drs. M.S. DeLay & A.V. Bendebury - #316

  DSPod SOLO returns for a conversation about a recent edition of “you can just do things,” where Github CEO Nat Friedman and company tested the levels of endocrine disrupting chemicals in 700 common food items. And friends, it does not look good! We dig through the data to pull out some trends that can help us avoid getting slowly poisoned by our food, try to figure out if akshually no it’s fine that there’s plastics everywhere, and debate if there’s a better way of naming these chemicals that reflects their ball-crushing nature. Don't miss the historic cosmology summit in Portugal this summer!!! DEMYSTICON 2025 ANNUAL MEETING June 12-16: https://demystifysci.com/demysticon-2025 PATREON: get episodes early + join our weekly Patron Chat https://bit.ly/3lcAasB MERCH: Rock some DemystifySci gear : https://demystifysci.myspreadshop.com/all AMAZON: Do your shopping through this link: https://amzn.to/3YyoT98 SUBSTACK: https://substack.com/@UCqV4_7i9h1_V7hY48eZZSLw@demystifysci (00:00) Go! (00:01:37) Beyond the Big Bang Conference in Portugal (00:06:16) Industrial Production Suspicion (00:13:26) Research and Remediation (00:22:54) Forest Fire Fighting Anecdotes (00:25:38) Plastic Research Approach (00:33:04) Plastic Contaminants in Food (00:45:00) Regulations and Lobbying (00:50:07) Inconsistent Chemical Testing (00:54:06) Thermal Receipts and Chemical Exposure (01:00:08) Fast Food and Plasticizers (01:05:25) Impact on Gene Expression (01:10:12) Phthalates and Hormonal Disruption (01:14:40) Phthalates in Food Products (01:17:46) Phthalates Effects on Reproduction (01:25:00) Comprehensive Chemical Safety Research (01:29:56) Testing and Chemical Awareness (01:31:06) Bias and Precommitment #PlasticPollution, #FoodSafety, #EndocrineDisruptors, #SustainableLiving, #PlasticFree, #CleanLiving, #ResearchMatters, #HealthierFuture, #EcoFriendlyLife, #philosophypodcast, #sciencepodcast, #longformpodcast Check our short-films channel, @DemystifySci: https://www.youtube.com/c/DemystifyingScience AND our material science investigations of atomics, @MaterialAtomics https://www.youtube.com/@MaterialAtomics Join our mailing list https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S 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. - Blog: http://DemystifySci.com/blog - RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rss - Donate: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaD - Swag: https://bit.ly/2PXdC2y SOCIAL: - Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySci MUSIC: -Shilo Delay: https://g.co/kgs/oty671

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  1:33:50
• A World that Values IQ Above All - Dr. Richard Haier, UC Irvine Psychology #315

  Dr. Richard Haier is an emeritus professor of Pediatric Neurology at UC Irvine, who spent his career studying the neuroscience of intelligence. Over the course of his career, Haier has come to believe in the existence of a “g-factor,” a measurable quantity of broad spectrum intelligence that is universally predictive of success in all cultures. He also believes that intelligence is a fixed characteristic, and that it’s possible to predict someone’s intelligence by watching how their brain works when trying to solve a puzzle. We sit down with him to figure out how far one can take this theory of intelligence before running headlong into a heartless social darwinism, why intelligence research feels so creepy, if IQ tests are actually measuring what we think they’re measuring, if intelligence is really the thing that we should be optimizing for, and if it’s possible for technology to make us dumber. Don't miss the historic cosmology summit in Portugal this summer!!! DEMYSTICON 2025 ANNUAL MEETING June 12-16: https://demystifysci.com/demysticon-2025 PATREON: get episodes early + join our weekly Patron Chat https://bit.ly/3lcAasB MERCH: Rock some DemystifySci gear : https://demystifysci.myspreadshop.com/all AMAZON: Do your shopping through this link: https://amzn.to/3YyoT98 SUBSTACK: https://substack.com/@UCqV4_7i9h1_V7hY48eZZSLw@demystifysci 00:00 Go! 00:09:28 Flynn Effect and G Factor 00:15:40 Testing, Practice, and Intelligence 00:26:58 The Relationship Between Intelligence, Motivation, and Test Scores 00:31:09 Heritability and Societal Implications of Intelligence 00:35:51 The Social Value of Intelligence Versus Athletic Ability 00:41:54 IQ Levels and Educational Attainment 00:48:03 The Dilution of College Degrees 00:53:07 Educational System Critique 00:57:24 Intelligence and Occupational Success 01:01:40 Bureaucracy and Talent in Academia 01:06:13 Intelligence and Personal Success 01:19:20 Enhancing Intelligence through Drugs 01:25:28 Brain Efficiency and Intelligence 01:31:12 Tetris Study and Brain Efficiency 01:44:20 Predicting Intelligence through Brain Imaging 01:49:58 Brain Structure and Cognitive Prediction 01:52:00 Challenges in Enhancing Intelligence 02:04:22 Environmental and Genetic Interplay 02:14:02 Understanding Autism and Intelligence 02:19:56 Artificial Intelligence vs. Human Intelligence 02:28:21 Technology's Impact on Skill Development 02:32:55 Flynn Effect and Educational Implications 02:39:24 Technology and Its Impact on Children 02:45:08 Societal Roles and Intelligence Levels 02:48:09 Meaning and Societal Functionality #IQTests, #Neuroscience, #intelligence, #iqtest, #ArtificialIntelligence, #HumanIntelligence, #CognitiveScience, #BrainFunction, #iq , #Neuroimaging, #AIvsHumans, #TechImpact, #philosophypodcast, #sciencepodcast, #longformpodcast Check our short-films channel, @DemystifySci: https://www.youtube.com/c/DemystifyingScience AND our material science investigations of atomics, @MaterialAtomics https://www.youtube.com/@MaterialAtomics Join our mailing list https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S 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. - Blog: http://DemystifySci.com/blog - RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rss - Donate: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaD - Swag: https://bit.ly/2PXdC2y SOCIAL: - Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySci MUSIC: -Shilo Delay: https://g.co/kgs/oty671

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  2:55:13
• Predatory Value Extraction Turns the World - Dr. Bill Lazonick, UMass Economics/AIRnet, #314

  Professor William Lazonick, emeritus Professor of Economics and founding director of the Academic Industry Research Network, is one of the world’s foremost experts on Shareholder Value Ideology and its impact on society. In our first conversation, we uncovered the fundamentals of shareholder value ideology and the harmful effects of stock buybacks on the working class and economic inequality. This discussion goes deeper into how financial institutions capitalized on the deregulation of the financial industry in the 1980s, leading to a wave of corporate greed and wealth concentration. Topics include the rise of hedge funds, the devastation caused by corporate raiders, how private equity contributes to the decline in quality of goods and services (termed "encrapification"), and policy strategies to rebuild an economy that prioritizes American workers over Wall Street profits. DEMYSTICON 2025 ANNUAL MEETING IN PORTUGAL!!! June 12-16: https://demystifysci.com/demysticon-2025 PATREON: get episodes early + join our weekly Patron Chat https://bit.ly/3lcAasB MERCH: Rock some DemystifySci gear : https://demystifysci.myspreadshop.com/ AMAZON: Do your shopping through this link: https://amzn.to/3YyoT98 SUBSTACK: https://substack.com/@UCqV4_7i9h1_V7hY48eZZSLw@demystifysci (00:00) Go! (00:09:45) Carl Icahn's Influence and Tactics (00:15:02) Regulatory Changes and Hedge Fund Empowerment (00:21:18) Institutional Shareholder Services and Proxy Voting (00:27:24) Proxy Advisory Services Market (00:31:19) Hedge Funds and Power Dynamics in Corporations (00:34:03) General Electric Case Study (00:45:28) Hedge Fund Activism and Industry Impact (01:03:20) Impact of Private Equity and Financial Practices (01:09:07) Asset Distribution Disparities (01:15:29) Shareholder Value and Economy Dynamics (01:22:26) Employee Investment and Stock Market (01:30:48) Tesla and Corporate Governance (01:36:56) Apple's Board and Stock Buybacks (01:42:08) Biopharmaceutical Sector Dynamics (02:00:59) US Competitiveness and Stock Buybacks (02:06:09) Soft Landing Approach to Financial Reforms (02:17:26) Economic Literacy and Public Perception (02:22:11) Globalization and Economic Mobility #Economics, #ShareholderValue, #FinancialCrisis, #StockBuybacks, #HedgeFunds, #Finance, #CorporateGovernance, #WallStreet, #FinancialMarkets, #EconomicGrowth, #PrivateEquity, #Innovation, #BusinessStrategy, #philosophypodcast, #sciencepodcast, #longformpodcast Check our short-films channel, @DemystifySci: https://www.youtube.com/c/DemystifyingScience AND our material science investigations of atomics, @MaterialAtomics https://www.youtube.com/@MaterialAtomics Join our mailing list https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S 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. - Blog: http://DemystifySci.com/blog - RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rss - Donate: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaD - Swag: https://bit.ly/2PXdC2y SOCIAL: - Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySci MUSIC: -Shilo Delay: https://g.co/kgs/oty671

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  2:26:51
• Gobekli Tepe Doesn't Make Any Sense - Andrew Collins, #313

  Andrew Collins is a historian and journalist who has devoted over four decades of his life to the study of ancient civilizations, much of it among the enigmatic T-shaped pillars that dot the stone hills of the Turkish highlands. He believes that Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe are more than ceremonial sites of hunter-gatherers—he takes these monuments to be the remnants of a foundational proto-culture that authored the earliest versions of the myths and narratives found in the Bible, Torah, and Qur’an. He walks us through why he believes that the imagery carved into the stones of Karahan Tepe represents humanity’s first abstract engagement with the spiritual realm, how the legends developed were likely the product of the peoples the Sumerians called the Annunaki, and the pivotal role the serpent symbol plays in linking the land of the living to the cosmic spheres. DEMYSTICON 2025 ANNUAL MEETING IN PORTUGAL!!! "Beyond the Big Bang" June 12-16: https://demystifysci.com/demysticon-2025 PATREON: get episodes early + join our weekly Patron Chat https://bit.ly/3lcAasB MERCH: Rock some DemystifySci gear : https://demystifysci.myspreadshop.com/ AMAZON: Do your shopping through this link: https://amzn.to/3YyoT98 SUBSTACK: https://substack.com/@UCqV4_7i9h1_V7hY48eZZSLw@demystifysci Pick up Andrew's latest book on Karahan Tepe! Support both of us with this link: https://amzn.to/4hkfGcC (00:00) Go! (00:04:10) Karahan Tepe & the Universal Serpent (00:11:23) Celestial Connections (00:16:20) Vulture Stone Interpretation (00:24:18) Symbolism of the Intercontinental Manbag/handbag (00:32:40) Consequences of the Younger Dryas (00:37:00) Environment of the Taş Tepeler Region (00:49:17) Ancient Trade Routes and Cultural Exchange (00:55:12) Unique T-shaped Pillars Mysteries (01:03:19) Early Post-Ice Age Civilizations (01:13:07) Early Urban Developments in Central Turkey (01:20:49) The Anuna and Early Civilizational Knowledge (01:35:11) The Serpent, Shamanism, and Cosmic Communications (01:41:04) Ritual Sites and Priestly Classes (01:52:19) Decommissioning of Ritual Sites (02:03:04) Water Sources and Settlements (02:17:07) Migration and Conflict (02:23:28) Divergent Views in Archaeology (02:34:08) Collaboration vs. Opposition (02:41:33) Future Directions in Research #Archaeology, #GöbekliTepe, #KarahanTepe, #AncientHistory, #Symbolism, #CelestialConnections, #YoungerDryas, #AncientCivilizations, #PrehistoricSites, #ArchaeologicalDiscoveries, #Mythology, #Shamanism, #AncientTrade, #AncientArchitecture, #VultureStone, #RitualSites, #CulturalExchange, #CosmicConnections, #Anuna #philosophypodcast, #sciencepodcast, #longformpodcast Check our short-films channel, @DemystifySci: https://www.youtube.com/c/DemystifyingScience AND our material science investigations of atomics, @MaterialAtomics https://www.youtube.com/@MaterialAtomics Join our mailing list https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S 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. - Blog: http://DemystifySci.com/blog - RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rss - Donate: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaD - Swag: https://bit.ly/2PXdC2y SOCIAL: - Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySci MUSIC: -Shilo Delay: https://g.co/kgs/oty671

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  2:45:42

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