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

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