Dec 2, 2005. Lecture on Chapter 5 of “The Lifebox, the Seashell, and the Soul”. Flocking behaviors, how conversations can exemplify different computation classes, the hive mind of society, the nature of language, the ubiquity of social power laws. (If you want to follow the computer demos, download the “Boppers” and “CAPOW” programs from the Lifebox book site, and run these on a Windows machine.) (51.80MB. 60 min.)

Nov 17, 2005. Lecture on the second half of Chapter Four of “The Lifebox, the Seashell, and the Soul.” Arguing that a computer program can be conscious, and that this will happen within a hundred years. (48.27MB. min.)

Nov 15, 2005. Final reading at KFJC. This short-short science fiction story, from my nonfiction book, “The Lifebox, the Seashell, and the Soul,” illustrates some questions about whether every thinkable process is physically realizable, and whether every computation is thinkable. (7.85MB. min.)

Nov 8, 2005. At radio KFJC with Ann Arbor, reading the fifth thought experiment story from my nonfiction Lifebox book. Can a rainstorm be conscious? (6.61MB. 7 min.)