whats
Throughout 2024, I’ve engaged with and learned from numerous academic fields related to biophysics. I anticipate releasing beginner-friendly materials in 2025 about diverse forms of biological intelligence, organoids, and shepherding-style biological relationships. These resources will target people interested in biomimicry and diverse intelligence from theoretical and scientific perspectives. Formats might include journal clubs, wikis, interactive textbooks, or one-day workshops. I aim to ensure both scientific rigor and patient, vivid explanations (adding learning opportunities). My motivation stems from a longstanding desire to engage in citizen science, approaching cell shepherding and cellular xenolinguistics through art, play, and historical perspectives. I’ve also accumulated a year’s worth of field notes on active matter research, including observations about how scientists conduct their work. My imagined audience includes artists, engineers, and organizers. The Tasting Hundred Society (尝百社) serves as an inspiration—this group of botanical enthusiasts and herbal doctors in Kobe-era Japan collected samples from across the country and collaborated to study and localize both Western medicine from the Netherlands and the Chinese Compendium of Materia Medica. They employed organizational and integration methods not commonly found in today’s academic environments.
whys
here are some thoughts that are derivatives of the biology learning but motivating this “club” format instead of a personal textbook.
- In my exploration, I’ve developed preferences for certain types of questions and query algorithms. I’m particularly drawn to understanding how microscopic parts and interactions compose macroscopic phenomena. My methodological approach typically follows a pattern: system → key questions → conservation laws → dynamic formulas → simulation → data → machine learning applications.
- Regarding assumptions and analogies, I’ve found myself skeptical of the equation of “intelligence” with machine learning in physical computing systems, though I haven’t yet identified a suitable alternative framework. So I would appreciate discussion with those who are more familiar with metaphors and their alternative tenors. This skepticism relates to the parallel historical development of computers and the physicalization of biology. Similarly, I’m hesitant to embrace biological methods that rely exclusively on single-item elimination or pure equilibrium states. Wendi helped me see that the eternal debate between vitalism and mechanistic approaches has cycled throughout history and will continue into the future. Perhaps the most productive stance is to occupy the middle ground, embracing this contradiction?
- I also am on the lookout for concrete stories to apply or adapt my clunky framework around interacting with living beings towards. In animal collective decision-making research, I’ve developed a narrative outline to guide my explorations. I’ve returned to reading recent literature to understand current developments in the field. Iain Couzin, for example, has revisited consensus mechanisms in group decision-making processes with new tools at his disposal. His use of projection technology and robotic fish allows complete control of individual responses in experimental settings. The projection technique is particularly fascinating—essentially providing fish with a virtual reality environment painted on their tank. In this “brain in a vat” scenario, the fish function as the brain while the tank and electrical signals represent our interface. These advances have generated substantially more data, reducing the need for pure conjecture. As Couzin’s vision unfolds, our relative position might shift toward more conceptual contributions, since we lack access to these technical tools. Our strength lies in the journey from experience to language to qualitative insights—a different kind of treasure. This distinction matters because scientific practice, especially theoretical work, depends heavily on metaphors and hypotheses. In this context, one powerful metaphor suggests that collective decision-making and individual motivation in fish schools share consistency with human democratic versus autocratic governance systems. Individual motivation primarily involves cost-benefit calculations related to survival and adaptation.
- and I noticed that I learn and appreciate different worldviews of nature through my mind vs my body. for comparison: In late May, I visited ecological stations to connect with both human and other living friends. Upon returning home, my eyes felt refreshed, newly able to perceive all the life forms thriving in the summer environment. I witnessed the rich, concrete intelligence present in nature. In early June, I attended a biophysics conference where researchers employed thermodynamic machine metaphors to describe “life as an information processor.” While this metaphor has limitations in its mechanistic approach that neglects vitalism, it effectively identifies common ground and measurable aspects of living systems.