Episode 24: Melanie Mitchell - The nature of intelligence and following your curiosity

Origins Podcast with Ryan McGranaghan

Show Notes:

• Santa Fe Institute (2:00)
• Alexander Hamilton biography by Ron Chernow (4:30)
• The Universe and Dr. Einstein by Lincoln Barnett (5:45)
• Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter (7:30)
  • Martin Gardner Scientific American “Mathematical Games" (8:30)
• Douglas Hofstadter (10:00)
• John Holland (14:30)
  • Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems
• Copycat cognitive architecture (17:00)
  • Description
  • Fantastic discussion
• What sustains her in moments of doubt (21:00)
• Article about analogies related to COVID (25:00)
• Overcoming the sense of obligation to follow curiosity (27:30)
• Strategy for saying ’no’ (29:45)
• Morning routine (31:00)
• Pomodoro Method for time management (33:00)
• Complexity and complex systems (39:00)
  • Must read: Chaos by James Gleick
• R-naught parameter and COVID (44:00)
• Becoming comfortable with uncertainty (45:00)
  • Think about the world in terms of information
• Think more complexly - think in relationships instead of entities (46:45)
  • Network science
• SFI - Transmission Series (49:15)
• What is missing from our models of intelligence? (50:00)
• Writing process (54:00)
• Anne Lamott Bird by Bird (57:45)
• Lightning round (58:30)
  • Book: The Recursive Universe
    • John Conway’s Game of Life
  • Passion: outdoors
  • Heart sing: analogy and abstraction beyond human intelligence
  • Screwed up: Early life with with physics
• Find Melanie online
  • https://melaniemitchell.me/
  • Twitter: @MelMitchell1
• 'Five-Cut Fridays’ series
  • Melanie’s list