Polymath Medical Salon: A Reflection + Photos
Featuring the brilliant minds Michael Levin PhD, William Hahn PhD, Curt Jaimungal, Gil Blander PhD, Elan Barenholtz PhD, Dan Elton PhD, Rubin Gruber, and more!
The conversations we all had together at Polymath Medical were inspiring, informative, and refreshingly imaginative. Here’s a quick look at all the cool things that went on the evening on Polymath at the Rubin Gruber AI Sandbox in Florida Atlantic University.
• Tufts Professor Michael Levin led with his brilliant presentation on Bioelectric Networks: An Interface to the Plasticity and Potential of Agential Material of Life.
• At the panel, we continued discussing some of the topics and problems in biology Levin brought up and bridged it towards the big theme of what a Theory of Everything in Medicine and Biology would look like–and if tools like AI could actually be used to achieve that.
• Physicians and medical professionals voiced their support and criticisms of AI being implemented in healthcare.
• We raised a question to our guests in medicine: in what ways is AI being used in healthcare currently, and how will that evolve over the next few years across the industry? How will the role of patients and their physicians change over time?
• An afterparty dinner that went way past midnight! The more intimate setting made for great conversations that somehow maintained continuity as we went down rabbit holes.
An overview of topics:
• What does an AI-powered hospital actually look like for admin and patients? How does this get built correctly?
• Physicians once played the role of personal councilor and spiritual guide. How will the role of doctors evolve and grow in the age of AI?
• How different fields of science and philosophy can inspire unconventional solutions in health.
• What does a Complex Systems-trained team of physicians look like? How powerful are complex systems frameworks for medicine?
• How do we define and measure health and aging? What are practical interventions towards improving human ability that are lesser known?
• How rigorous philosophy drives deep questions about how we approach medicine and computing, from ethics to epistemology.
Thank you to my co-hosts and panelists Professor William Edward Hahn, Rubin Gruber, Gil Blander PhD, Dan Elton PhD, Professor Elan Barenholtz, and Curt Jaimungal from Theories of Everything. And an extra shoutout to Professor Susan Schneider for once again hosting a fantastic Mindfest event.
Also–check out Curt’s Substack post on Levin’s keynote + Polymath Medical.
Photos by ARVA. He’s an incredible artist working on some really cool projects this year. Follow him on Instagram and YouTube so you don’t miss out!
A giant thank you to all our special guests and speakers:
Professor William Edward Hahn (co-founder of Machine Perception Cognitive Robotics Lab)
Dan Elton PhD (NIH, ekkolápto) [ Dan Elton ]
Professor Elan Barenholtz (co-founder of Machine Perception Cognitive Robotics Lab) [ Elan Barenholtz ]
Tyler Goldstein (Theory of EveryOne Podcast) [ Tyler Goldstein ]
Curt Jaimungal (Theories of Everything Podcast) [ Curt Jaimungal ]
Luca Del Deo (Meditation Artifacts, Contempla, Harvard)
Dan Van Zant (MPCR, Gnosi.AI, ekkolápto) [ Daniel Van Zant ]
Somayya Upal (MD Student @ Boston University)
Willem Nielsen (NYU, Wolfram Institute, Computational Foundations of Medicine)
Misha Klopukh (MPCR, ekkolápto)
Michael Ostroff (MPCR, Wolfram Institute, ekkolápto) [ Michael Ostroff ]
PS: I want to give one last mention to one of the most intriguing researchers I’ve ever known–Misha. Besides his brilliance, he was also integral in keeping the entire ship running through all the difficulties that came our way during the event. Thank you to Misha!
Important Links to Follow:
• Ekkolápto has a growing calendar of in-person and online events, ranging from research hackathons and conferences to Polymath Salons. Some events are also added on short notice––make sure to subscribe to the Luma Event Calendar so you don’t miss anything you’d like! Calendar Page: https://lu.ma/mindandmatter
• The YouTube channel, where you’ll find interviews with folks like Professor William Edward Hahn and Professor Elan Barenholtz, as well as long-form salon discussions on things like tulpamancy and lucid dreaming, cognitive augmentation and longevity, conlangs, new theories in math and physics, theories of information and observer-dependency, and much more: https://www.youtube.com/@ekkolapto3
• X (Twitter): https://x.com/ekkolapto
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/ekkolapto/
• Website: https://ekkolapto.org/
Great photos! Very impressive event.