Dr Arik Kershenbaum is a globally renowned zoologist and researcher at Girton College, University of Cambridge, specialising in animal communication and astrobiology.
Arik is an international bestseller for his book, The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy, and has also released a more recent book, Why Animals Talk: The New Science of Animal Communication.
His research and books explore the science of animal communication and its implications for understanding ourselves and potentially extraterrestrial life.
Timestamps:
(00:00:00) – Preview
(00:03:31) – What is the true meaning of intelligence, and how did it evolve?
(00:12:40) – Do animals talk, and does language mean higher intelligence?
(00:18:59) – Why wolves and dolphins have closely related communication dynamics?
(00:21:23) – Group thinking, conflicts and shared intelligence demonstrated by wolves and dolphins
(00:29:48) – Why do humans question their existence and the meaning of life, while animals don't?
(00:35:40) – What has Arik's research in zoology and astrobiology revealed about humans' evolution?
(00:40:35) – Are humans aliens? Why do we appear to be different from all other animals?
(00:40:35) – Why do humans feel disconnected from the environment and earth?
(00:47:55) – How technology made humans less intelligent, too comfortable, and less robust
(00:49:57) – How our limited interpretation of intelligence influences the growth of AI
(01:00:44) – Tim and Arik debate whether machines can ever become intelligent and conscious
(01:17:36) – Can AI help us translate animal communication and define consciousness?
(01:23:11) – The peculiar case of Alex the parrot and his cognitive and communicative abilities
(01:32:45) – Based on Alex the parrot's anomaly, could parrots or any other animals have evolved linguistically like humans in a different environment?
(01:37:08) – Based on Arik's data models, how will humans and animals evolve in the next 4 million years?
(01:44:05) – Astrobiology and intelligence beyond Earth: What alien civilisations look like if they were 1 million years ahead of us?
(01:50:06) – Arik's fascinating story with zoology, his upcoming expeditions with his new AI tech
Episode Notes & Citations:
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