Ricard Solé
@ricardsole.bsky.social
Scientist & skeptic. Dad. Book addict. Pathologically curious. Origins and Evolution of Complexity, Synthetic Transitions, Liquid Brains, and Earth Terraformation. ICREA + SFI professor. Author. Secular humanist.
Aquesta evolució és inevitable (no sé si desitjable) atesa la força dels interessos comercials. Encara som lluny d’una intel·ligència realment “humana”, però la IA ha permès accelerar el coneixement (no pas substituir-lo). La qüestió és si les regulacions podran limitar-ne els problemes derivats.
November 26, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Aquesta evolució és inevitable (no sé si desitjable) atesa la força dels interessos comercials. Encara som lluny d’una intel·ligència realment “humana”, però la IA ha permès accelerar el coneixement (no pas substituir-lo). La qüestió és si les regulacions podran limitar-ne els problemes derivats.
Agreed. The rest make a lot of noise. he problem is that they are too often the ones that create public opinion about all that.
November 21, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Agreed. The rest make a lot of noise. he problem is that they are too often the ones that create public opinion about all that.
Why? Don't you realize that you are trying to provide an explanation of a large-scale phenomenon using atomic-scale concepts? There is no need for that. We have lots to do and understand but the recurrent appeal to the QM is the wrong direction (why the hell we ned that?).
November 21, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Why? Don't you realize that you are trying to provide an explanation of a large-scale phenomenon using atomic-scale concepts? There is no need for that. We have lots to do and understand but the recurrent appeal to the QM is the wrong direction (why the hell we ned that?).
I think the common attraction to physics-like views ignores the great understanding that we already have about the ways n which dynamical integration of information takes place. It's computational neuroscience, emergent dynamics and an evolutionary perspective. Reductionistic views are nonsense.
November 21, 2025 at 10:41 PM
I think the common attraction to physics-like views ignores the great understanding that we already have about the ways n which dynamical integration of information takes place. It's computational neuroscience, emergent dynamics and an evolutionary perspective. Reductionistic views are nonsense.
This is already happening among a broad range of disciplines, from network science, physics, imaging or biophysics to psychology, engineering and philosophy. Neuroscience IS the central part, and fairly well developped. Much to do ahead, but no magic QM is needed.
November 21, 2025 at 10:22 PM
This is already happening among a broad range of disciplines, from network science, physics, imaging or biophysics to psychology, engineering and philosophy. Neuroscience IS the central part, and fairly well developped. Much to do ahead, but no magic QM is needed.
Penrose authority in Theoretical Physics has been instrumental in failing to see how weak is the "microtubule" argument. No one has shown the causal relation, and the QM effects themselves are not relevant. The Emperor is naked. Check:
November 21, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Penrose authority in Theoretical Physics has been instrumental in failing to see how weak is the "microtubule" argument. No one has shown the causal relation, and the QM effects themselves are not relevant. The Emperor is naked. Check:
I think is a really good one, with lots of estimates that sugggest that quantum decoherence dominates the small-scale neural world (and thus no causal explanation for consciousness).
November 21, 2025 at 7:18 PM
I think is a really good one, with lots of estimates that sugggest that quantum decoherence dominates the small-scale neural world (and thus no causal explanation for consciousness).
I know many physicists who have moved into neuroscience (seriously, not just superficially) and are doing groundbreaking work. And I think this is awesome. And some have made strong points concerning QM and its lack of relevance to consciousness:
November 21, 2025 at 5:25 PM
I know many physicists who have moved into neuroscience (seriously, not just superficially) and are doing groundbreaking work. And I think this is awesome. And some have made strong points concerning QM and its lack of relevance to consciousness:
That's exactly what I said: "physicists WHO invoke", not ALL physicists. Tired of listening that quantum events (probably not even happening) in neurons "explain" consciousness. This is a very dishonest and arrogant view.
November 21, 2025 at 4:49 PM
That's exactly what I said: "physicists WHO invoke", not ALL physicists. Tired of listening that quantum events (probably not even happening) in neurons "explain" consciousness. This is a very dishonest and arrogant view.
Big Brother is already here.
November 15, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Big Brother is already here.
Reposted by Ricard Solé
Phase transitions, bifurcations, thermal vents, exoplanets and their interactive maps, as well as pointers to a whole special issue just published in @royalsocietypublishing.org about origin of life.
With Spotify and Apple podcasts as usual.
What do you need more?
CC: @ricardsole.bsky.social
With Spotify and Apple podcasts as usual.
What do you need more?
CC: @ricardsole.bsky.social
When matter came alive: the physics of life’s emergence
Exploring the origins of life through the mathematical theory of transitions
manlius.substack.com
November 14, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Phase transitions, bifurcations, thermal vents, exoplanets and their interactive maps, as well as pointers to a whole special issue just published in @royalsocietypublishing.org about origin of life.
With Spotify and Apple podcasts as usual.
What do you need more?
CC: @ricardsole.bsky.social
With Spotify and Apple podcasts as usual.
What do you need more?
CC: @ricardsole.bsky.social
I am really intrigued by your comment...
November 13, 2025 at 10:09 PM
I am really intrigued by your comment...
... which connects with the problem of individuality. Multicellular organisms (animals in particular) achieve a unique potential to develop nervous systems and learn through their lives. The multicellularity of biofilms and bacterial aggregates has a very different nature and limits.
November 13, 2025 at 6:22 PM
... which connects with the problem of individuality. Multicellular organisms (animals in particular) achieve a unique potential to develop nervous systems and learn through their lives. The multicellularity of biofilms and bacterial aggregates has a very different nature and limits.
I would say that the Physarum Lagrangian has the same variational structure as a free-energy functional: flows act like variational parameters, the dissipation term plays the role of expected energy, and the conservation constraints act like normalization constraints. First thoughts...
November 13, 2025 at 4:59 PM
I would say that the Physarum Lagrangian has the same variational structure as a free-energy functional: flows act like variational parameters, the dissipation term plays the role of expected energy, and the conservation constraints act like normalization constraints. First thoughts...
Indeed, I think these properties are too often used to make big claims about intelligence that are not supported by the observations. Bacteria in particular display remarkable collective patterns which can have adaptive meaning, but the range of behavioral responses is very limited.
November 13, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Indeed, I think these properties are too often used to make big claims about intelligence that are not supported by the observations. Bacteria in particular display remarkable collective patterns which can have adaptive meaning, but the range of behavioral responses is very limited.
There is a key point beyond the approach taken here, which is to articulate a message concerning the ongoing discussion about basal cognition and its origins. We try to make clear that the physics side of the process when dealing with a predefined graph is the right origin of the "smart" behavior.
November 13, 2025 at 4:28 PM
There is a key point beyond the approach taken here, which is to articulate a message concerning the ongoing discussion about basal cognition and its origins. We try to make clear that the physics side of the process when dealing with a predefined graph is the right origin of the "smart" behavior.
Writing this as a Lagrangian is simply a compact variational device—it enforces “least dissipation under constraints”. The true Physarum dynamics occur in the slow evolution of the edge conductivities, while the instantaneous flow is always the solution of this constrained least-action problem.
November 13, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Writing this as a Lagrangian is simply a compact variational device—it enforces “least dissipation under constraints”. The true Physarum dynamics occur in the slow evolution of the edge conductivities, while the instantaneous flow is always the solution of this constrained least-action problem.