Sarah Walker

I think the question there is about whether life can be described in terms of matter and physical things, or whether there is some Other feature that's not physical that actually animates living things. So for a long time, people maybe have called that a soul. It's been really hard to pin down what that is. So I think the vitalist idea is really that it's kind of a dualistic interpretation.

I think the question there is about whether life can be described in terms of matter and physical things, or whether there is some Other feature that's not physical that actually animates living things. So for a long time, people maybe have called that a soul. It's been really hard to pin down what that is. So I think the vitalist idea is really that it's kind of a dualistic interpretation.

I think the question there is about whether life can be described in terms of matter and physical things, or whether there is some Other feature that's not physical that actually animates living things. So for a long time, people maybe have called that a soul. It's been really hard to pin down what that is. So I think the vitalist idea is really that it's kind of a dualistic interpretation.

That there's sort of the material properties, but there's something else that animates life that is there when you're alive and it's not there when you're dead. And materialists kind of don't think that there's anything really special about the matter of life and the material substrates that life is made out of. So they disagree on some really fundamental points.

That there's sort of the material properties, but there's something else that animates life that is there when you're alive and it's not there when you're dead. And materialists kind of don't think that there's anything really special about the matter of life and the material substrates that life is made out of. So they disagree on some really fundamental points.

That there's sort of the material properties, but there's something else that animates life that is there when you're alive and it's not there when you're dead. And materialists kind of don't think that there's anything really special about the matter of life and the material substrates that life is made out of. So they disagree on some really fundamental points.

Yeah, I think the entire universe is just a giant mystery. I guess that's what motivates me as a scientist. And so oftentimes when I look at open problems like the nature of life or consciousness or what is intelligence or are there souls or whatever question that we have that we feel like we aren't even on the tip of answering yet, I think we have a lot more work to do to really understand that.

Yeah, I think the entire universe is just a giant mystery. I guess that's what motivates me as a scientist. And so oftentimes when I look at open problems like the nature of life or consciousness or what is intelligence or are there souls or whatever question that we have that we feel like we aren't even on the tip of answering yet, I think we have a lot more work to do to really understand that.

Yeah, I think the entire universe is just a giant mystery. I guess that's what motivates me as a scientist. And so oftentimes when I look at open problems like the nature of life or consciousness or what is intelligence or are there souls or whatever question that we have that we feel like we aren't even on the tip of answering yet, I think we have a lot more work to do to really understand that.

the answers to these questions. So it's not magic, it's just the unknown. And I think a lot of the history of humans coming to understand the world around us has been taking ideas that we once thought were magic or supernatural and really understanding them in a much deeper way that we learn what those things are. And they still have an air of mystery even when we understand them.

the answers to these questions. So it's not magic, it's just the unknown. And I think a lot of the history of humans coming to understand the world around us has been taking ideas that we once thought were magic or supernatural and really understanding them in a much deeper way that we learn what those things are. And they still have an air of mystery even when we understand them.

the answers to these questions. So it's not magic, it's just the unknown. And I think a lot of the history of humans coming to understand the world around us has been taking ideas that we once thought were magic or supernatural and really understanding them in a much deeper way that we learn what those things are. And they still have an air of mystery even when we understand them.

There's no sort of bottom to our understanding.

There's no sort of bottom to our understanding.

There's no sort of bottom to our understanding.

I think that no tradition, vitalists included, is ever fully wrong about the nature of the things that they're describing. So a lot of times when I look at different ways that people have described things across human history, across different cultures, there's always a seed of truth in them.

I think that no tradition, vitalists included, is ever fully wrong about the nature of the things that they're describing. So a lot of times when I look at different ways that people have described things across human history, across different cultures, there's always a seed of truth in them.

I think that no tradition, vitalists included, is ever fully wrong about the nature of the things that they're describing. So a lot of times when I look at different ways that people have described things across human history, across different cultures, there's always a seed of truth in them.

And I think it's really important to try to look for those because if there are narratives that humans have been telling ourselves for thousands of years, for thousands of generations, there must be some truth to them. We've been learning about reality for a really long time, and we recognize the patterns that reality presents us. We don't always understand what those patterns are.

And I think it's really important to try to look for those because if there are narratives that humans have been telling ourselves for thousands of years, for thousands of generations, there must be some truth to them. We've been learning about reality for a really long time, and we recognize the patterns that reality presents us. We don't always understand what those patterns are.