The Future World – A conversation with David Krakauer

David Krakauer is the President and William H. Miller Professor of Complex Systems at the Santa Fe Institute. His research explores the fundamental character of problem-solving matter. This is in contrast to the ordinary and abiotic matter of the universe. This research spans the origin of life and the evolution of intelligence and stupidity on earth, to include processes of “exbodiment” through which intelligence is enhanced and outsourced, using languages and artifacts. The details of this research include studying the evolution of cellular, linguistic, social, and cultural mechanisms supporting communication, memory, and a panoply of information-processing systems. He is also interested in the history of complexity and the way in which language games, rule systems, and paradigms help us to understand systems of knowledge.

Additionally, David’s research centers around a series of fundamental questions. These questions are all pursued using a combination of carefully selected model systems and mathematical and computational frameworks: 1. How did life and intelligence evolve in the universe? 2. What is the relationship of evolved problem-solving to fundamental physical and biological laws, to include entropy production, the arrow of time, and natural selection? 3. How do collectives of adaptive agents generate novel ideas and come to predict and understand the worlds in which they live? 4. How do ideas evolve and how do they encode natural and cultural life? 5. What is the relationship of organic to inorganic, cultural, and institutional mechanisms of computation and representation?

 Previously David served as Founding Director of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, Co-Director of the Center for Complexity and Collective Computation, and Professor of Mathematical Genetics all at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He was included in Entrepreneur Magazine’s 2016 list of visionary leaders advancing global research and business.