017 Us and Not Us with Michael J. Spivey

Michael J. Spivey is a professor of cognitive science at the University of California Merced. He earned his BA in Psychology at the University of California Santa Cruz and his PhD in Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Rochester. After 12 years as a psychology professor at Cornell University, Michael moved to UC Merced to help build a department of cognitive and information sciences. He has published over 100 journal articles and book chapters on the embodiment of cognition and interactions between language, vision, memory, syntax, semantics, and motor movement. His most recent book, published in 2020, is "Who You Are: The Science of Connectedness." (MIT Press) In this conversation, KMO and Michael discuss: 03:20 – The book's title and table of contents; externalism and egregore 07:30 – The role of the prefrontal cortex in our conception of self 11:30 – Non-scientific view of interactions between brain parts 12:50 – Mental representations of the world and the tricks they can play on us 15:35 – Letting go of oneself 17:25 – The value of familiar environments 18:45 – The futility of widely used time-management tricks 19:40 – Extending our mind past our skin 25:20 – The skipped question of emergent group intentions and desires 26:15 – Connecting to other bodies and life forms; emergence, again 28:25 – Murmurations and being in charge of a flock 28:45 – Boundaries between objects 35:20 – Perceiving objects as extensions of ourselves 37:02 – Virtual reality and tracking the direction of gaze 43:15 – AI and dogs 44:55 – Computer-generated imagery; deep fakes and their antidotes 49:35 – Extending your sense of self to the planetary scale 53:55 – Apocalyptic predictions, prepping, and the future of civilization 55:47 – Going beyond our planet and contacting life elsewhere 58:20 – Anti-natalism, suffering, and feeling one with the universe 1:02:28 – Michael's closing points; practical advice in the book Michael (The Guest): Michael's page at ucmerced.edu Who You Are at MIT Press KMO (The Host): Twitter: @Kayemmo en.padverb.com/kmo Padverb: The Padverb Telegram Channel: t.me/padverbpodcast