Your Brain is Running a Simulation Right Now [Max Bennett]

Tim sits down with Max Bennett to explore how our brains evolved over 600 million years—and what that means for understanding both human intelligence and AI.Max isn't a neuroscientist by training. He's a tech entrepreneur who got curious, started reading, and ended up weaving together three fields that rarely talk to each other: comparative psychology (what different animals can actually do), evolutionary neuroscience (how brains changed over time), and AI (what actually works in practice).*Your Brain Is a Guessing Machine*You don't actually "see" the world. Your brain builds a simulation of what it *thinks* is out there and just uses your eyes to check if it's right. That's why optical illusions work—your brain is filling in a triangle that isn't there, or can't decide if it's looking at a duck or a rabbit.*Rats Have Regrets**Chimps Are Machiavellian**Language Is the Human Superpower**Does ChatGPT Think?*(truncated description, more on rescript)Understanding how the brain evolved isn't just about the past. It gives us clues about:- What's actually different between human intelligence and AI- Why we're so easily fooled by status games and tribal thinking- What features we might want to build into—or leave out of—future AI systemsGet Max's book:https://www.amazon.com/Brief-History-Intelligence-Humans-Breakthroughs/dp/0063286343Rescript: https://app.rescript.info/public/share/R234b7AXyDXZusqQ_43KMGsUSvJ2TpSz2I3emnI6j9A---TIMESTAMPS:00:00:00 Introduction: Outsider's Advantage & Neocortex Theories00:11:34 Perception as Inference: The Filling-In Machine00:19:11 Understanding, Recognition & Generative Models00:36:39 How Mice Plan: Vicarious Trial & Error00:46:15 Evolution of Self: The Layer 4 Mystery00:58:31 Ancient Minds & The Social Brain: Machiavellian Apes01:19:36 AI Alignment, Instrumental Convergence & Status Games01:33:07 Metacognition & The IQ Paradox01:48:40 Does GPT Have Theory