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<p>At a high level Skilling's work-thrust seems very compatible with
Levin's <i>cognitive light cones</i> (and
near-sheldrake-morphogenic fields?) and Solms/Friston's use of <i>free
energy</i> which complements the pure-physics reflections of
late on FriAM invoking a conscious-intentional metaphor for
explaining<i> least action</i>. <br>
</p>
<p>I'm fascinated to see others here with ALife (and origin of life)
history engaged or at least following this current wave of "all
things collective". I attended the SFI "Collective Intelligence"
workshop last year and while I was impressed by parts of it,
disappointed as well. My thoughts and opinions and reflections
on it all are probably highly idiosyncratic to my personality and
unique history, but the emergent/collective discussions emerging
here sometimes really tweak me in a good way. I'm sure my
confused throwdowns don't do that justice. And chatting up GPT on
the topic probably only makes it worse.<br>
</p>
<p><tangent> </p>
<blockquote>
<p>regarding Bougie-Hippies - I saw the "construct a 'serendipity
generator’ " line and was reminded of my first real
techno-capitalist inspiration by a bougie-hippie couple of the
era... early 1970's a middle-age (probably late 30s?) couple who
worked at the radio station with me... she sold ads and he
doubled as the station engineer and on-air personality but they
also owned and operated a bakery which was open 5-11AM and sold
bake-your-own pizzas as well.</p>
<p>They drove a 60's VW van with a hand-painted psychadelic logo
"Serendipity Engineering" with an "Peace-Sign overlayed
Everything Pizza" rendered in technicolor. They were variously
the smartest, kindness and hardest working people I knew and
while the local gringo-hispanic redneck culture wanted to
dismiss them as bougie-hippies, they had to defer to their
amazingly clever industriousness and civic spirit. Everyone ate
their donuts and pizza, drank their coffee and waved when they
heard the characteristic 60hp aircooled boxer engine putting
down the street.<br>
</p>
<p>They were in the bakery at 5AM (before working at the radio
station I helped a friend deliver the morning papers during
summers. The local and Phoenix dailies by bicycle. Their
bakery was our newspaper drop-point and they let us do our
folding at one of their tables, returning 2-3 times over the
hours for more papers. They both spent their afternoons into
evenings at the Radio Station or selling ads to local
merchants. I know they had some help at the bakery but they did
all the heavy lifting themselves, best I could tell. A real
sustainable-power couple?<br>
</p>
<p>I still don't know if their "hippie affect" (well groomed but
bearded, blousy, bell-bottomy) was a put-on or sincere, but
their "bourgoise-mercantilist" nature seemed authentic. I
suspect they are dead (or living the good bougie-hippy life in
their 90s), they had no children so who knows what their
hippy-industrial-capitalistic empire became. I last saw them as
I escaped small-town Arizona (1975) for small-city Arizona
(Flagstaff) and hardly looked back (until just now). I think
young Stephen Guerin hadn't arrived in Tempe quite yet? I like
to think he and Allison cut a similar profile in China in the
90s?<br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p></tangent><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 3/14/25 9:12 AM, glen wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:32a4cb7e-40d3-4914-8d4d-f2c242a2db31@gmail.com"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://bioengineer.org/uncg-professor-explores-symbiotic-group-behavior-mirroring-single-organisms-securing-600000-from-templeton-foundation/">https://bioengineer.org/uncg-professor-explores-symbiotic-group-behavior-mirroring-single-organisms-securing-600000-from-templeton-foundation/</a>
<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite">PaBST 2025
<br>
<br>
Abstracts Due March 31
<br>
JUNE 22-27 2025
<br>
<br>
Philosophy and Biology
<br>
Shop Talks
<br>
<br>
KEYNOTE TALK BY PETER GODFREY-SMITH
<br>
<br>
This event is an one of yearly ongoing summer workshops
supported by the John Templeton Foundation through the grant
“The Emergence and Evolution of Goal-Directed Behavior in
Collective Entities” (#63454). Talks that are related to topics
of the grant will receive priority, but all talks under the
broader category of “life sciences” will be considered.
Prioritized topics include: holobionts, host-microbiome
interactions, symbiosis, biological individuality, system
function and health, and formal evolutionary or eco-
evolutionary modeling.
<br>
<br>
This summer workshop is aimed at philosophers, scientists,
mathematicians, and scholars working on or within the life
sciences, with the goal of fostering interdisciplinary
interaction and encouraging collaboration. The overall goal of
the workshop is to construct a “serendipity generator’, an event
structured to provide ample opportunity and room for innovative
ideas to naturally emerge. Successful and surprising
cross-disciplinary collaborations are difficult to force;
instead they are often borne out of chance conversations and
interactions during conferences, research cruises, and
workshops.
<br>
<br>
PaBST will be organized as a 4-day retreat with the first (22nd)
and last (27th) days reserved for arriving and leaving
respectively. Participants will be staying at acommon location
and preparing their meals together. Each working day will
consist of ~4 hours of talks given by participants, broken up by
roundtable discussion events and breakout sessions held at a
relaxed pace. Mornings and evenings will be left open in order
to let the participants engage with each other in smaller groups
during organized activities.
<br>
<br>
Submit a ~500 word abstract for a 30min talk by March 31. Works
in progress not yet submitted for publication are especially
encouraged.
<br>
<br>
Submit abstracts via email to <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:pabstworkshop@gmail.com">pabstworkshop@gmail.com</a>
<br>
<br>
The workshop will take place at Luna’s Trail Farm and Event
Center in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains of North
Carolina. Lodging is limited and accommodations may have to be
shared depending on total attendance. On-site camping is also
available.
<br>
<br>
Decisions should be made by April 21. Financial support will be
available. Students and those without funding alternatives will
be prioritized.
<br>
<br>
<br>
Questions? email <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:djskilli@uncg.edu">djskilli@uncg.edu</a>
<br>
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
</blockquote>
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