Santa Fe Institute Courses

Ignorance, Failure, Uncertainty, and the Optimism of Science

Explore how ignorance, failure, and uncertainty drive scientific progress, fostering an optimistic outlook that embraces complexity and opens new possibilities for understanding and innovation.

• YouTube
• 1 hour 16 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

The Active Grandparents Hypothesis

Explore how lifelong physical activity promotes health and longevity from an evolutionary perspective, challenging myths and offering insights to encourage exercise without stress.

• YouTube
• 1 hour 22 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Transient Dynamics - The Key to Ecological Understanding - Alan Hastings, SFI + UC Davis

Explore transient dynamics in ecology, challenging classical theory focused on long-term behavior. Examine implications for modeling, management, and understanding complex ecological systems.

• YouTube
• 1 hour
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

How on Earth Can Aliens Survive? Concept and Case Study

Explore evolutionary robustness, its breakdown, and implications for complex diseases. Delve into concepts like shifting balance theory and cultural evolution in this thought-provoking seminar.

• YouTube
• 1 hour 21 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Validating Daily Social Media Macroscopes of Emotions

Explore how social media sentiment analysis can accurately measure daily emotional dynamics of online communities, validated through surveys and applied to COVID-19 impact studies.

• YouTube
• 44 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Can Algorithms Bend the Arc Toward Justice?

Explore algorithmic fairness, intersectionality, and the challenges of balancing accuracy with equity in machine learning and public safety applications.

• YouTube
• 1 hour 25 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Daniel Casasanto: The Ad Hoc Construction of Meaning

Explore how meaning is constructed on-the-fly, challenging traditional views of fixed word meanings and examining the role of bodily experiences in language comprehension.

• YouTube
• 35 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Yoshua Bengio- System 2 GFlowNets- Induction Biases Towards Machines that Understand and Think

Explore Yoshua Bengio's insights on System 2 GFlowNets, examining induction biases for AI that understands and thinks. Delve into deep learning, cognitive theories, and innovative approaches to machine intelligence.

• YouTube
• 30 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Why "Self-Generated Learning" May Be More Radical and Consequential Than First Appears

Explore self-generated learning's radical impact on cognitive development through data-driven insights, experiments, and complex dynamic systems analysis with Linda Smith.

• YouTube
• 39 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Could a Purely Self-Supervised Foundation Model Achieve Grounded Language Understanding?

Exploring the potential of self-supervised foundation models for grounded language understanding, discussing semantics, multi-modal streams, and causal abstraction in large networks.

• YouTube
• 35 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Penny Pexman - Multimodal Grounding for Concrete and Abstract Concepts

Explore multimodal grounding for concrete and abstract concepts with Professor Penny Pexman, examining lexical-semantic processing, sensorimotor experience, and dimensions of meaning in language comprehension.

• YouTube
• 32 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Guy Dove- Language Is a Neuroenhancement

Explore how language enhances cognitive abilities, examining embodied cognition, abstract concepts, and the elastic mind. Gain insights into human intelligence and its implications for AI development.

• YouTube
• 32 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

C. Brandon Ogbunu on Epistasis and The Primacy of Context in Complex Systems

Exploring context-dependency in complex systems, from protein folding to neighborhood effects, using interdisciplinary approaches. Discusses evolutionary biology, epidemiology, and the intersection of science and culture.

• YouTube
• 1 hour 14 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

The Evolution of Root Systems & Biogeochemical Cycling

Exploring root system evolution and its impact on biogeochemical cycles. Insights into plant adaptation, nutrient acquisition, and ecological interactions, with implications for understanding complex systems and future technologies.

• YouTube
• 54 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

From Undirected to Directed Networks of Dynamical Agents - Robin Delabays

Explore the impact of directedness in network models, focusing on diffusive interactions and their consequences in systems like power grids, brain networks, and social networks.

• YouTube
• 51 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video