Episode 20: Dr Ines Hipolito: 'The 'Complexity Wanderer'
Episode 20 of M3CS’s Contemplative Science Podcast saw Dr Inês Hipólito come on to the show to talk about the effects of ever-increasing technology on cognition, the free energy principle and some recent research on our understanding of how the brain works.
For the full podcast, check out the episode here.
In this episode, we cover...
Why cognition encompasses ‘everything that we do’.
The free energy principle - how all living beings defy the 2nd law of thermodynamics!
The importance and logistics of applying academic research to society.
Dr Inês Hipólito is a cognitive scientist, philosopher and self-described wanderer. Currently a lecturer at Berlin School of Mind and Brain, she also recently co-founded the European Institute for Global Well-being (E-Glow). Her research focuses on the intersection between inactivism, complexity and the free energy principle.
Here are some of the key insights from the conversation...
Inês is very interested in the relationship of technology and human wellbeing.
”And that's precisely what this project is about and I'm just, right now, at the first paper which is the relation with building an emergence of technology... and then I want to look at how the feedback is going to then be impacting mental health and wellbeing, with the technology that we have already available, that was nurtured by our sociocultural setting.”
True wellbeing is a collective experience - shared with society as a whole!
”Wellbeing is not just simply individually flourishing, its flourishing within a community, that's why this concept of niche construction, where we all together engage in these practices, they are much more propitious for us as a community... it really, really resonates with me and I find it absolutely fascinating that we do all of these marvellous things, that are phenomenal!”
It is essential that the findings of academic research is applied in the real world.
”Academics have one goal, which is to publish papers and then once that is done, we move on to continue our research and we do not have the opportunity to communicate with those that actually are in the terrain making these important decisions, or in building, for example, spaces where children can learn. It's well documented that the way that you build those spaces and design those spaces can be more propitious for creativity, more propitious for focus... and these are very important findings, so it's important that we build these hubs where this fundamental research can be applied to the society.”
The best place to find Dr Inês Hipólito is here.
See you next week!
