Michael Johnson - Symmetry, Beauty, and the Shape of Consciousness (Worthy Successor, Episode 17)

This new installment of the Worthy Successor series is an interview with Michael Johnson, a philosopher and neuroscientist who describes himself as working on "how to turn consciousness into a real science."

Mike is known for his formalist approach to consciousness research and his work on the Symmetry Theory of Valence at the Qualia Research Institute.

In this episode, we explore Mike's radical vision of what posthuman sentience could become - and why he believes human experience represents just one tiny corner of a vast, largely unexplored space of possible minds.

The interview is our seventeenth installment in The Trajectory’s second series, Worthy Successor, where we explore the kinds of posthuman intelligences that deserve to steer the future beyond humanity.

This episode referred to the following other essays and resources:
-- A Worthy Successor - The Purpose of AGI: https://danfaggella.com/worthy/
-- Qualia Formalism and a Symmetry Theory of Valence: https://opentheory.net/Qualia_Formalism_and_a_Symmetry_Theory_of_Valence.pdf?utm

Listen to this episode on The Trajectory Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-trajectory/id1739255954

Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/5Kh95ylhcHo

See the full article from this episode: https://danfaggella.com/johnson1

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About The Trajectory:

AGI and man-machine merger are going to radically expand the process of life beyond humanity -- so how can we ensure a good trajectory for future life?

From Yoshua Bengio to Nick Bostrom, from Michael Levin to Peter Singer, we discuss how to positively influence the trajectory of posthuman life with the greatest minds in AI, biology, philosophy, and policy.

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