Morphospace / Physical Intelligence: thermodynamic roots of agency

Physical Intelligence: thermodynamic roots of agency

  • Date published: 2026-10-28
  • Speakers: Benjamin De Bari-Cheung (Thomas Jefferson University), guest talk with discussion
  • Format: Guest talk
  • Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCIF_h7qwME
  • Topics: Control and energy, Cognition in cells

In one paragraph

An ecological psychologist presents the "physical intelligence" program from his graduate work at the University of Connecticut, which looks for the roots of agency in thermodynamics. His main example is a non-living electrical system that grows tree-like structures, which he analyzes with the idea that systems tend toward the fastest rate of entropy production their circumstances allow.

Main ideas (plain words)

  • Ecological psychology aims for "a psychology for all organisms": explain behavior in terms that apply to birds and amoebas, not just humans (he cites Hume on this).
  • Far from equilibrium, systems may follow principles such as maximum rate of entropy production. That is the sense of goal-directedness he works with.
  • In the electrical tree system, structure forms as entropy production rises, oscillations appear on their own, and when one tree is locked down the other changes its dynamics in a way that compensates for the lost current.
  • In discussion he says he does not think experience is universal; he sees it as emergent, and thinks systems like these are probably close to where that line would be.

Key quotes (word for word from YouTube's auto-generated captions)

"I am interested in sort of the roots of biological behavior and thinking about how it is that living organisms could have ever uh, developed the ability to do things like know about the world and"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCIF_h7qwME&t=0s

"we focus mostly on the maximum rate of entropy production, this assumption that systems will converge on a state where the uh entropy produced by irreversible processes in the system happens at the fastest rate possible for the prevailing circumstances and constraints."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCIF_h7qwME&t=1080s

"I'm perfectly happy that some systems don't have experience and to think of experience as something that's emergent."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCIF_h7qwME&t=3720s

Source: YouTube auto-generated captions, speakers not labeled; wording is provisional. Timestamps point to the start of the 30-second stretch that holds the quote.