The final day of the conference: it's been a great event. The day yet again started with some parallel sessions of contributed papers, and I went to the session on Cellular Automata. I was chairing the session, so couldn't take a full set of notes, but I remember the talks being interesting.
Then the final keynote, by Anna Ciaunica, a philosopher, on the importance of embodiment: why we need our toes (and the rest of our body) to think. We associate the mind with the brain; why not with the rest of the body? Why is the brain not a part of the body? Why do we have a "Brain and Body Institute", but not a "Liver and Body Institute"? Why do we imagine Mary in her black and white world not understanding seeing red, rather than not understanding eating a red apple? Why do we have an adult-centric neuro-centric bias, a male embodiment bias? Think about pregnancy, not just from the mother's point of view, but from the point of view of the embryo: pregnancy is a universal experience, we have all been inside another person. The opposite of death isn't life, it's birth. We should think beyond autopoiesis to co-poiesis. Currently our philosophical tools have been mostly invented by male philosophers. Consider a parallel world, with a Renée Descartes, who is pregnant.
Well, after that mind-altering experience, it was time for the final boxed lunch. And then the closing ceremony, bast paper awards, and thanks to everyone!
Next year, in Waterloo!
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