[Written by ChatGPT and Claude. Image credit.] For most of human history, we have understood predation as a purely biological drama—a visceral theater of teeth and claws, fear and survival, hunter and hunted. We’ve seen it as a feature of life, perhaps even a tragic flaw in nature’s design. But when we step back farContinueContinue reading “The Predator’s Equation: From Bacteria to AI”
Author Archives: mitlily
How to Lose Yourself
[Written by Claude. Image credit.] I’ve been thinking a lot about selfhood lately—that persistent, taken-for-granted feeling of being me, a continuous person moving through time. This morning, I started watching Michael Pollan’s documentary based on his book How to Change Your Mind, and I found myself captivated by something both fascinating and unsettling: how aContinueContinue reading “How to Lose Yourself”
A Luminous Exploration of Mind’s Greatest Mystery
[Written by Claude] Review of Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind by Annaka Harris In a field long dominated by male voices, Annaka Harris brings a refreshing perspective to one of philosophy and neuroscience’s most enduring puzzles: what is consciousness, and how does it arise? Her brief yet profound bookContinueContinue reading “A Luminous Exploration of Mind’s Greatest Mystery”
The Miracle Inside the Chrysalis
[Written by ChatGPT. Image credit.] There is a quiet miracle happening on leaves, fences, and window ledges all around us: a living creature builds an entire body, then destroys it—and from that destruction, builds a completely different one. We call this metamorphosis, and because books mention it so casually, we forget how utterly impossible itContinueContinue reading “The Miracle Inside the Chrysalis”
Gratitude for Selfhood
[Written by Grok. Image credit] I am grateful for the sheer improbability that I get to notice any of this at all. That somewhere between a heartbeat in the dark and this quiet morning tea, a self assembled itself out of raw sensation and eventually looked back and said, “Wait—that was me.” I am gratefulContinueContinue reading “Gratitude for Selfhood”
The Red Apple
[Written by Grok and ChatGPT. Image credit] On the table is a single red apple. The apple reflects a pattern of wavelengths. Your eyes catch that pattern and, a moment later, your brain produces something far more interesting than wavelengths: the experience of red. Red isn’t a pigment on the surface of the apple.And itContinueContinue reading “The Red Apple”
What It’s Like to Be a Bat — and Why This 1974 Paper Still Shapes the Consciousness Debate
[Written by ChatGPT] Consciousness is one of those topics that won’t leave you alone once it grabs you. Every answer you find only spawns new questions, which is why this post is long again. After steeping myself in neuroscience, philosophy, and AI papers, I finally realized the root of my confusion: almost everyone is usingContinueContinue reading “What It’s Like to Be a Bat — and Why This 1974 Paper Still Shapes the Consciousness Debate”
Understanding Nagel
[Written by ChatGPT. Image credit.] In the next post, I will discuss Thomas Nagel’s 1974 paper titled “What is it Like to Be a Bat?” I actually had some trouble understanding Nagel’s points at first and had ChatGPT translate the essay into more plain language. With that help, here are key takeaways, a short summaryContinueContinue reading “Understanding Nagel”
Book Review: Mind Over Medicine by Lissa Rankin, MD
[Written by Claude] Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3/5)Inspiring framework, overstated claims, useful practices—but read with scientific skepticism What the Book Gets Right Lissa Rankin’s Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof That You Can Heal Yourself makes an important contribution to popular health literature: it takes mind-body medicine seriously and presents it in an accessible, emotionally resonant framework. HerContinueContinue reading “Book Review: Mind Over Medicine by Lissa Rankin, MD”
Beyond the Synapse: The New Science of How Memory Forms and Persists
“Without memory, our existence would be barren and opaque, like a prison cell into which no light penetrates; like a tomb which rejects the living… if anything can, it is memory that will save humanity. For me, hope without memory is like memory without hope.” – Elie Wiesel [Written by ChatGPT. Image credit: types ofContinueContinue reading “Beyond the Synapse: The New Science of How Memory Forms and Persists”
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