What is Ekkolapto?

"Ekkolapto likes to think deeply about the simple or mundane."

At Ekkolapto we are highly multidisciplinary — we research and talk about physics, mathematics, computer science, neuroscience, biology, medicine, and metascience. There is an overarching theme to a lot of Ekkolapto's work, however - understanding and enhancing cognitive systems. This post describes a framework we developed that ties together Ekkolapto's diverse research activities.

People have been trying to hack their brains since the first human ate a suspicious mushroom. Today, we're doing the same thing — but with better tools and fancier words. Ekkolapto digs into this age-old quest from many angles, encouraging wild thinking while remaining grounded by careful scientific testing. 

Recently we realized that Ekkolapto research activities can be clustered into four quadrants along two dimensions: internal modification versus external extension, and pure science versus application. Internal modification focuses on changing existing cognitive processes, while external extension involves augmenting them with external tools. Pure science seeks understanding, while application puts that understanding to practical use.

Clustering Ekkolapto’s activities into four quadrants

The four quadrants represent distinct approaches to understanding and enhancing cognition. 

Internal modification/pure science examines how internal manipulations to the brain reveal fundamental principles about how the mind works. These changes can be brought about by either molecules or behavioural change. Example: quantifying the effects of sleep deprivation on learning

Internal modification/application is concerned with designing internal manipulations to improve cognitive capabilities. Examples: psychedelics to enhance creativity, fasting to enhance learning, meditation to enhance insight.   

External extension/pure science uses artificial systems and tools to better understand cognition by creating technological analogues of mental processes. Example: understanding how LLMs work and the relation between language and intelligence. 

External extension/application creates technologies that expand human cognitive capabilities beyond their natural limits, from memory aids to reasoning tools. Examples: AI to enhance scientific research,  wearable AI to enhance memory, brain computer interfaces to enable new sensory modalities. 

Ekkolapto aims to explore wild new ideas across these frontiers while maintaining scientific rigor. The stakes are high — we're talking about fundamental human capabilities, which could create autocatalytic feedback loops that change the future of humanity. If you're fascinated by these possibilities and willing to think beyond conventional boundaries while keeping your feet planted in solid science, we're your kind of people. The human mind remains the most interesting and important piece of matter in the universe. Understanding and enhancing it requires both wild speculation and careful analysis.

By:

Dan Elton

and

Daniel Van Zant

.