Biology Is Cognition The Whole Way Down! Best of Giant's Shoulder 2025

About the conversation

I've condensed the best moments from a year of Giant conversations with scientists such as Michael Levin, Terrence Deacon, Anna Ciaunica and more on Diverse Intelligence and multi-scale cognitive biology. We explore the radical idea that biology itself is cognitive, all the way down, and that intelligence, agency, and problem-solving did not suddenly appear with brains but emerged gradually across evolution. Its the most incredible idea in modern biology. Are cells themselves intelligent or even conscious? Is cognition best understood as a spectrum rather than a category? Do xenobots, organoids, and tissues without brains possess goals, preferences, and problem-solving abilities? And what happens to our ethical frameworks if minds exist far beyond animals and humans? Timestamps: 00:48 Michael Levin: “Cells were doing advanced behaviours we could NOT have predicted!” 32:42 Philip Ball Meet The Man Who Grew Mini Brains From His Own Skin Cells 43:24 Anna Ciaunica Biology is Cognition The Whole Way Down 54:00 Individual Cells Are Conscious And Intelligent William Miller 01:08:31 How Many Times Has The Brain Evolved Independantly? Terrence Deacon ... Email for sponsorship enquiries: evan@thegiantsshoulder.com Full Length Episodes 1) Meet the Scientist Creating New Forms of Synthetic Life! Dr Michael Levin - https://youtu.be/LTBZRVKUwyM 2) Philip Ball: Why Quantum Mechanics is NOT What you think, Consciousness, Brain Organoids, AI & Life! - https://youtu.be/nNbG5lnp51E 3) Meet the Scientist Proving Your Whole Body is Conscious! - https://youtu.be/GCnz1e54GBI 4) Meet the Scientist Showing Every Cell In Your Body is Conscious! - https://youtu.be/eNi-_2cOVtc 5) Meet the Scientist Exploring Consciousness Through Thermodynamics! - https://youtu.be/sl79x5yti2g ❤️ Subscribe to our main channel - https://www.youtube.com/@thegiantsshoulder?sub_confirmation=1 💚 Follow on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5m3Gta5MtIYdk59pb2GJ7M?si=Ka2rAQv7TyqiC9wvGwERpA 💜 Follow on Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-giants-shoulder/id1752486249 Download my FREE EBook 26 Neuroscience Books for 2026 HERE: https://thegiantsshoulder.com/