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Interdisciplinary Colloquium 2025
Monday,
September 08, 2025
PDT 09:00 AM
Alan KayUniversity of California, Los Angeles
Point of View is Worth 80 IQ Points
Point of View is Worth 80 IQ Points
Abstract: When I was asked in 1992 by the ACM to write a history that explained how Smalltalk and other inventions for Personal Computing came about, I wrote: "This history is too long, but I was amazed at how many people and systems that had an influence appear only as shadows or not at all".
The invitation for this talk was that I should try to give a larger sense of "the less well known contributors and influences" to provide a more rounded picture of how the germs of ideas can be "in the air" and much of the process of invention is often more like "recognition" and "interpretation" and "point of view" than pure creativity.
This talk will try to reverse figure and ground, so it will be more about what I saw going on around me than my own contributions.
The invitation for this talk was that I should try to give a larger sense of "the less well known contributors and influences" to provide a more rounded picture of how the germs of ideas can be "in the air" and much of the process of invention is often more like "recognition" and "interpretation" and "point of view" than pure creativity.
This talk will try to reverse figure and ground, so it will be more about what I saw going on around me than my own contributions.
PDT 11:30 AM
Bryan CantleyCalifornia State University, Fullerton
Speculations on Coolness
Speculations on Coolness
Abstract: My work as a threshold through the Culture of Technology, the Technology of Culture, and Annotative Space. Current and recent work as seen in my book Speculative Coolness.
PDT 01:00 PM
Yuxi LiuUniversity of California, Berkley
The History of Neural Networks, 1900-1990
The History of Neural Networks, 1900-1990
Abstract: We view the history of neural networks in the 20th century through the lens of feedback control. The feedback theme began with Cajal’s strictly feed‑forward biological networks, followed by Lorente de Nó's discovery of recurrence in the oculomotor reflex, Hebb's “reverberating” cell assemblies, wartime antiaircraft cybernetics, McCulloch and Pitts, and Minsky's 40-neuron reinforcement learner, ending with the early 1960s as neural networks began to learn by primitive negative feedback algorithms. After this period, there was a long 20 years of dry spell as backpropagation struggled to be recognized. We follow Werbos along his comedy of errors during the 1970s, then see Hinton refusing to backprop for years. We end with some comments on (anti-)lessons of history.
Tuesday,
September 09, 2025
PDT 09:00 AM
Carter HinsleyGeorgia State University
Geometric Structures in Neurodynamics
Geometric Structures in Neurodynamics
Abstract: This talk will review the dynamics of neuronal models and discuss the fundamental geometric structures that arise from them. The primary focus will be on the quasistochastic-pseudohyperbolic dichotomy, developing computational tools for studying low-dimensional neuronal branched manifolds and robustly chaotic bundles. Some discussion of the implications for biological neural network dynamics will follow.
PDT 10:30 AM
Nick PattersonBroad Institute of MIT & HarvardHarvard Medical School
A Package of Statistical Methods to Learn Genetic History
A Package of Statistical Methods to Learn Genetic History
Abstract: We describe a methodology for analysis of genetic history.
Generalizes phylogenetic trees. We will discuss:• Basic mathematical genetics.• Why trees are insufficient• A formal test for ‘treeness’• Some results that greatly surprised archaeologists• Many other related techniques
These methods are implemented in a package ADMIXTOOLS which is currently used in the majority of papers on human genetic history (more than 2700 citations).
Generalizes phylogenetic trees. We will discuss:• Basic mathematical genetics.• Why trees are insufficient• A formal test for ‘treeness’• Some results that greatly surprised archaeologists• Many other related techniques
These methods are implemented in a package ADMIXTOOLS which is currently used in the majority of papers on human genetic history (more than 2700 citations).
PDT 12:00 PM
Peter WattsIndependent Author
Ad Astra Or Extinction:A Pipe Dream At The End of Need
Ad Astra Or Extinction:A Pipe Dream At The End of Need
Abstract: Humanity appears behaviorally incapable of living sustainably within its biosphere. This can be understood in light of evolutionary forces common to all species, coupled with technology unique to ours. The combination has effectively transformed us into a pest species, with current research suggesting that technological civilization is on track for collapse around the middle of the century. Certain neurological studies suggest that Human nature might, in theory, be rewired for reduced virulence, a potential which could be realized in the course of developing interstellar travel. Paradoxically, prospects for long-term survival might be maximized by ditching the survival instinct, which would have radical implications for the functional utility of consciousness itself.
Of course, this all presumes that our high-tech civilization establishes a permanent off-world presence before it collapses: admittedly, a delusionally optimistic scenario. Unfortunately, more plausible alternatives tend to converge on extinction.
Of course, this all presumes that our high-tech civilization establishes a permanent off-world presence before it collapses: admittedly, a delusionally optimistic scenario. Unfortunately, more plausible alternatives tend to converge on extinction.
Wednesday,
September 10, 2025
PDT 09:00 AM
Francis HeylighenVrije Universiteit Brussel
From Self-Organization to Goal-Directedness: The Origins of Autopoiesis and Minimal Cognition
From Self-Organization to Goal-Directedness: The Origins of Autopoiesis and Minimal Cognition
Abstract: This presentation explores the emergence of goal-directed behavior and cognition from the foundational principles of autopoiesis and far-from-equilibrium self-organization. Drawing on the process ontology of Maturana and Varela, and extending it with insights from cybernetics and artificial life, it shows how reaction networks can spontaneously evolve into self-sustaining, resilient systems. These autopoietic organizations exhibit goal-directedness not through pre-set representations, but through their ability to compensate perturbations via acquired condition-action rules. Cognition emerges as the system’s capacity to adaptively regulate its internal dynamics in response to environmental challenges, guided by implicit “knowledge” encoded in its components. The presentation outlines how evolutionary dynamics select for increasingly robust and adaptable systems, leading to layered architectures of control, from dissipative structures to catalyzed networks and genetic regulation. This framework bridges theoretical biology, systems science, and artificial life, offering a minimal yet rigorous account of the origins of agency, cognition, and purpose in living systems.
PDT 10:30 AM
Luke GlowackiBoston University
The Cultural Evolution of Peace
The Cultural Evolution of Peace
Abstract: While some species have affiliative and even cooperative interactions between members of different social groups, humans are likely alone in having durable, interdependent relationships across unrelated social groups. This ability is an important aspect of our species’ success, ultimately driving cumulative cultural evolution. I explore the conditions required for peace, why they are so difficult to achieve, and when we expect peace to have emerged in the human lineage. I argue that intergroup cooperation was an important component of human relationships beginning at least 300 thousand years ago. But the preconditions for peace only emerged in the past 100 thousand years with the cultural evolution of social technologies to prevent aggression and restore relationships. Ironically, the same technologies that enable peace also facilitate the increased scale and destructiveness of conflict.
PDT 12:00 PM
Cody MoserUniversité Mohamed VI Polytechnique
Quantifying the Role of Central Actors in Systems of Thought
Quantifying the Role of Central Actors in Systems of Thought
Abstract: In this talk, I combine insights from two projects that explore how social structure mediates both individual performance and collective epistemic vitality. First, through an agent-based model, we examine how network properties shape not just population-level innovation but the emergence of inequality within groups. Our findings confirm that population size and connectivity affect innovation, but also reveal that high-performing individuals disproportionately occupy central network positions. Moreover, every network factor that boosts innovation also increases inequality, suggesting that network structure can amplify “genius effects” even among agents with identical abilities.
Second, I turn to a real-world analogue: the history of philosophy. In a data-driven study of 3,000 years of philosophical interaction across traditions, from ancient India to modern Europe, we find that intellectual progress correlates not with the level of conflict in a community, but with its structural integration. Philosophical periods marked by high epistemic vitality tend to be those in which debates are centralized and previously disconnected groups become more integrated.
Second, I turn to a real-world analogue: the history of philosophy. In a data-driven study of 3,000 years of philosophical interaction across traditions, from ancient India to modern Europe, we find that intellectual progress correlates not with the level of conflict in a community, but with its structural integration. Philosophical periods marked by high epistemic vitality tend to be those in which debates are centralized and previously disconnected groups become more integrated.
PDT 01:30 PM
Zachary HamakerUniversity of Florida
Uncle Paul and Random Graphs
Uncle Paul and Random Graphs
Abstract: Outside of mathematics, Paul Erdos is best remembered for his itinerant lifestyle, exceptional idiosyncrasies and devotion to his craft. Within mathematics, he is remembered as a problem solver par excellence and conduit of knowledge. I will discuss one piece of his legacy the random graph as a tool to make sense of the world. My goal is to help us gain a sense of how mathematicians perceived this contribution, how others have made use of it and the interactions between these parties.
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