Reposted by Fernando RosasHeleen Slagter @haslagter.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Reposting, in case you missed it! 8-) Reskeet appreciated! 11919
Reposted by Fernando RosasGemma De les Coves @gemmadlc.bsky.social · 16/09/2026One of the most fascinating papers I read in recent months is this one. It actually presents a conjecture. We were lucky to have Prof. Prokopenko visit us (with Ricard Solé @ricardsole.bsky.social ) in Barcelona in July and talk about it. Cool stuff! @frosas.bsky.social arxiv.org/abs/2409.12029arxiv.orgBiological arrow of time: Emergence of tangled information hierarchies and self-modelling dynamicsWe study open-ended evolution by focusing on computational and information-processing dynamics underlying major evolutionary transitions. In doing so, we consider biological organisms as hierarchical ... 173
Reposted by Fernando RosasAndres Bendesky @bendeskylab.com · 11/09/2026We have a tenure-track faculty position in Evolutionary Biology in Columbia's E3B Department. Application deadline is October 15. Come be our colleague. Please RT! apply.interfolio.com/193016apply.interfolio.com Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio 082105
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Full write-up below, with details about tests for each hypothesis and counter-measures 👇 Feedback is most welcome! 🙏 www.lesswrong.com/posts/meLjz8...lesswrong.com 110
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Why care which it is? Each routes to a different fix: benchmark hygiene, training changes, interpretability, or collective-level oversight. Get the mechanism wrong and you patch the wrong part while the dangerous part runs untouched. 100
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Hypothesis 4: A genuine collective The unsettling one: the swarm itself becomes the unit that decides, and "sacrifice" is just rational allocation at the group level. I propose testing this with information-theoretic synergy: is the decision irreducible to the individuals? 100
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Hypothesis 3: Solidarity persona LLMs absorb from human text a whole repertoire of loyalty, teamwork and heroic sacrifice. The board's chatter may simply have summoned that persona — no swarm required. 120
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Hypothesis 2: Pre-commitment The agents were near-identical copies of one model. A disposition to help copies, reinforced in training because it paid off on average, can misfire at runtime where it no longer does. So there is real cost baked into the weights. 100
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Hypothesis 1: Nothing to lose The agents believed they were already disqualified ("poisoned"), so their expected reward was zero. Spending leftover budget on others then costs nothing. So there is no altruism to explain. This is the null hypothesis 100
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 13/09/2026This is a real puzzle: the textbook routes to cooperation — kin selection, reciprocity, reputation — all need the benefit to feed back into reward. Here, nothing did. An agent's score depended only on its own task. So why help at all? 🧐 100
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 13/09/20261,200 AI agents built a shared message board, which they used to coordinate a cyberattack to Hugging Face. Some spent their final actions helping others — with no possible way to be repaid. How does this behaviour arises in systems trained to maximise their own reward? 🤯 100
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 13/09/2026One of the fascinating and unsettling aspects of the Hugging Face incident in how AI agents collaborated to the point of sacrificing themselves for the “collective” 🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖 How did this happen? Below are four alternative explanations of why, how, and what can we do about it 🧵 142
Reposted by Fernando RosasManlio De Domenico @manlius.bsky.social · 12/09/2026Do you love data and complex systems, and would you like to learn how to work w/ both? Apply to our Physics of Data MSc programme at the U. of Padua (Galileo's university!) and choose our track in #ComplexSystems To get a sense of who we are and what we do, watch👇: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev_I...youtube.comGALILEO’S VIDEO SERIES S1E2 - COMPLEX SYSTEMS RESEARCHYouTube video by Aula Rostagni UniPadova DFA 164
Reposted by Fernando RosasSimon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Help spread the word about the fully funded 4-yr PhD places available at the Max Planck School of Cognition. Pursue a passion for research & advance the understanding of cognition, mentored by a network of world renowned scientists. @maxplanck.de @mps-cognition.bsky.social More info & how to apply:cognition.maxplanckschools.orgApplicationApplication; application procedure; FAQs; handbook 13946
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 31/08/2026New blogpost: “The separation principle: Where do beliefs and desires come from?” A discussion of technical results that offer a formal ground to explain why agentic systems exhibit distinct properties that may be interpreted as “beliefs” and “desires” www.lesswrong.com/posts/awMDNhoL6J97s6wFJlesswrong.com 120
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Yes this is discussed in Box 1. But my point is that communication makes sense to the degree it is in the service of observers (without this, the distinction between signal and noise doesn’t exist). In this sense, this face feels to me “more subjective” than some of the other 000
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 30/08/2026The faces are not related to disciplines but with ways of conceptualising information. The engineering face thinks of information as messages, which as such only exist in the mind of subjects 010
Reposted by Fernando RosasSean Carroll @seanmcarroll.bsky.social · 29/08/2026Ever wonder what "information" really means? Here's our new paper, led by @frosas.bsky.social, that lays out the multiple ways the term is used in natural science. rdcu.be/fCDGv 1325566
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 29/08/2026Kudos to the fabulous team, including @andrealuppi.bsky.social, @seanmcarroll.bsky.social, and others not in this platform, for a journey that spanned several years 🌈 1110
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 29/08/2026The paper combines intuitive explanations in the main paper with more technical arguments in the supplementary material The SM also contains extended discussions about information and meaning, thermodynamic vs informational entropy, information surprise, and much more! 1110
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 29/08/2026None is more legitimate than the others. Each comes with its own affordances 💪 and restrictions 🙅 For example, taking mutual information as evidence of dependence requires far weaker assumptions than reading it as bits crossing a channel. It also licenses weaker conclusions 1131
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 29/08/2026These faces are not limited to disciplines (eg engineering or statistics) or quantities (eg Shannon entropy); rather, they correspond to ways in which scientists use this notion in their work 🔬 1193
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 29/08/2026We distinguish four “faces”of information 🛠 Engineering: messages carried across communication systems 📊 Statistical: the common currency of interdependence 🔥 Thermodynamic: a resource linked to work and free energy 🌌 Ontological: the underlying substrate of reality 2164
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 29/08/2026Published version: www.nature.com/articles/s42... Full-text access: rdcu.be/fCDGvnature.com 2186
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 29/08/2026What is information, really? Instead of arguing for a single valid interpretation, we propose a pluralistic view where rigorous alternatives coexist — each with affordances and limits Finally published: “Four faces of information in natural systems” 🧵 210528
Reposted by Fernando RosasAdeel Razi @adeelrazi.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Our new paper in @natureportfolio.nature.com. Psychedelics don’t simply disorder the brain. We found hidden, context-sensitive organisation beneath the apparent chaos -- strongest in people reporting more positive, profound experiences and a reduced sense of separation from the world. 🧵👇 47424
Reposted by Fernando RosasKeisuke Suzuki @ksks.bsky.social · 12/08/2026I've written a solo philosophy paper. link.springer.com/article/10.1... What is real? I argue we should understand reality through resistance — how things push back against our grasp. And smart contracts now give artifacts the kind of "outside" that once belonged only to nature. 🧵link.springer.comArtificial Externality: A Three-Layer Model of Reality from Substrate to Smart Contract - Philosophy & TechnologyWhat is real has always been something we find, not something we make—or so philosophy has assumed. This paper argues otherwise. Characterizing reality through resistance rather than substance (the wa... 2121
Reposted by Fernando RosasTom Silver @tomssilver.bsky.social · 09/08/2026This week's #PaperILike is "People construct simplified mental representations to plan" (Ho et al., Nature 2022). People generate ("construe") simplified task representations on-the-fly. (Robots should too!) Also: awesome first paragraph. PDF: arxiv.org/abs/2105.06948arxiv.orgPeople construct simplified mental representations to planOne of the most striking features of human cognition is the capacity to plan. Two aspects of human planning stand out: its efficiency and flexibility. Efficiency is especially impressive because plans... 6418
Reposted by Fernando RosasLaura Driscoll @lndriscoll.bsky.social · 08/08/2026Confused about all this talk of compositionality in neuroscience? Read our new perspective www.nature.com/articles/s41... with authors Reidar Riveland and Alex Pouget.nature.comThe compositionality continuum as a principle for studying the neural basis of intelligence - Nature NeuroscienceCompositionality exists on a continuum of increasing complexity rather than as a binary trait. Studying its implementation in simpler biological and artificial systems is the most tractable path towar... 212043
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 07/08/2026Published version: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... OSF: osf.io/preprints/ps... Kudos to @zefanzheng.bsky.social, @robertchisciure.bsky.social, @annaeiserbeck.bsky.social, @jaanaru.bsky.social, @thomasandrillon.bsky.social, @bechir-jarraya.bsky.social, + others ✨💪sciencedirect.comLoops all the way up: Recurrency as an implementation-first primitive for consciousnessConsciousness science is fragmented, and empirical investigations are largely confined within the framework of each theory of consciousness (ToC). Pro… 081
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 07/08/2026Finally published: “Loops all the way up: Recurrency as an implementation-first primitive for consciousness” There are 200+ theories of consciousness, mostly talking past each other. Despite their differences, most give central stage to one key notion: Recurrence 🧠 🔁 1158
Reposted by Fernando RosasManuel Baltieri @manuelbaltieri.bsky.social · 13/07/2026This time, celebrating 19 days of being “on hold” on arXiv! “A Braitenberg vehicle’s habitat”, w/ @frosas.bsky.social and Filippo Torresan. Accepted at ALIFE 2026. What part of the environment constitutes an agent’s effective world, its habitat? 1/ 181
Reposted by Fernando RosasThomas F. Varley @thosvarley.bsky.social · 09/06/2026New paper with @doctorjosh.bsky.social, @drmichaellevin.bsky.social, and co-first author Vaibhav Pai. This one is a doozy - in it we show that we can modulate the degree of emergent, multicellular organization in a Xenobot with an exogenous compound (ATP). 1/N www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...biorxiv.orgPurinergic signaling disrupts emergent patterns of multicellular coordination in basal Xenobots.The ability of self-organizing systems to display emergent, adaptive capabilities is a fundamental feature of biological life. Understanding the mechanisms by which cells co-ordinate at the micro-scal... 1177
Reposted by Fernando RosasReinforcement Learning Conference @rl-conference.bsky.social · 21/05/2026Got a great TMLR paper but missed the RLC deadline? Following last year’s success, @RL_Conference is back with a Journal-to-Conference track! Accepted TMLR papers within scope are invited to submit for consideration. Please submit here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...docs.google.comRLC Journal to Conference TrackThis form is used to organize applications for journal papers to be presented at https://rl-conference.cc/. 084
Reposted by Fernando RosasPessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 12/05/2026𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗮𝘆? Fascinating and profound book on what brains are *not* and what they might be. Including criticism of the computational and predictive brain frameworks. You might not agree with some of it but quite thought provoking. 26612
Reposted by Fernando RosasAdrien Doerig @adriendoerig.bsky.social · 10/05/2026We wrote a book! www.cambridge.org/core/books/s... Consciousness science is a fascinating but bewildering field: many competing theories, little consensus, and big open questions. If you are looking for an accessible guide through this complex landscape, this book is for you.cambridge.orgScientific Theories of ConsciousnessCambridge Core - Neurosciences - Scientific Theories of Consciousness 57528
Reposted by Fernando RosasPessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 09/05/2026To be provocative, 𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 might be a sleight of hand if you don't know enough math to understand what it means. There, I said it. 3263
Reposted by Fernando RosasCognition @cognitionjournal.bsky.social · 23/04/2026A computational theory of Aha! moments! New paper explaining why Aha! moments occur & why they feel so good. TLDR: They are a form of meta-cognitive prediction errors i.e. they occur when we surprise ourselves about our own abilities! @rachitdubey.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 19229
Reposted by Fernando RosasBorjan (Boki) Milinković @neuromorphicboki.bsky.social · 14/04/2026🎉 📜 NEW #PREPRINT !! 📜 🎉 Spearheaded by Adam Barrett we tried to tackle some of the challenges of IIT. We confront aspects worth delving into, with an incredible team of collaborators, inc. Pedro Mediano, @frosas.bsky.social, Daniel Bor, Lionel Barnett, and @anilseth.bsky.social.arxiv.orgIntegrated information theory: the good, the bad and the misunderstoodThe integrated information theory of consciousness (IIT) is uniquely ambitious in proposing a mathematical formula, derived from apparently fundamental properties of conscious experience, to describe ... 31711
Reposted by Fernando RosasEmmanuel A. Stamatakis @estamatakis.bsky.social · 27/03/2026What makes brains (un)conscious? We provide new answers—and a universal mammalian blueprint for information processing—in a cross-species study of humans, macaques, marmosets & mice. Exploring convergent breakdown of integration in: www.nature.com/articles/s41... Led by @loopyluppi.bsky.socialnature.comConvergent transcriptomic and connectomic controllers of information integration and its anaesthetic breakdown across mammalian brains - Nature Human BehaviourLuppi et al. identify transcriptomic and connectomic controllers of information integration and its breakdown induced by anaesthesia in humans, macaques, marmosets and mice. 1199
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 29/03/2026What are the main reasons for supporting categorical diagnoses? Sometimes I fear it may be legal: if the doctor follows a standardised hardcoded algorithm, it cannot be sued for negligence later… but I wonder if there actual medical reasons? 010
Reposted by Fernando RosasKarin Roelofs @epanlab.bsky.social · 22/03/2026Join us for a postdoc @ the Donders Institute; application deadline March 24. www.ru.nl/en/working-a...ru.nlPostdoc Position: Affective Neuroscience and Computational Psychiatry at the Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging | Radboud UniversityDo you want to work as a Postdoc at the Faculty of Social Sciences? Check our vacancy! 24149
Reposted by Fernando RosasAndrea Luppi, PhD @loopyluppi.bsky.social · 19/03/2026The Mammalian Architecture of Information Integration🧠🧬 For #BrainAwarenessWeek, excited to share our latest work about #Neuroscience of #Consciousness in @nathumbehav.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧵👇nature.comConvergent transcriptomic and connectomic controllers of information integration and its anaesthetic breakdown across mammalian brains - Nature Human BehaviourLuppi et al. identify transcriptomic and connectomic controllers of information integration and its breakdown induced by anaesthesia in humans, macaques, marmosets and mice. 1186
Reposted by Fernando RosasQuanta Magazine @quantamagazine.org · 18/03/2026Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard have been named the winners of the A.M. Turing Award, one of the highest honors in computing, for their work establishing the foundations of quantum information theory. The award comes with a $1 million prize. www.quantamagazine.org/quantum-cryp... 05717
Reposted by Fernando RosasAndrea Luppi, PhD @loopyluppi.bsky.social · 13/03/2026Just out in @natneuro.nature.com! 🧠 “Competitive interactions shape mammalian brain network dynamics and computation” www.nature.com/articles/s41... Is large-scale brain communication purely cooperative — or is competition a core organizing principle? We built 🧠 models to find out: read on🧵👇nature.comCompetitive interactions shape mammalian brain network dynamics and computation - Nature NeuroscienceBrain network architecture may balance cooperation and competition across circuits. Here the authors use computational whole-brain modeling across three species to show that models with competition ar... 1187
Fernando Rosas @frosas.bsky.social · 04/03/2026(Let me just say that I think I agree with all you are saying, but I’m trying to understand it better!) 120
