Limits of (Im)mortality in Complex Living Systems
September 27 – 29, 2023
Santa Fe Institute – Cowan Campus, Noyce Conference Room
Organized by
David Krakauer (SFI) & Caitlin McShea (SFI)
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
8:15 am Santa Fe Valet Shuttles Depart Hotel -> SFI
8:30 am Breakfast at SFI
9:00 am Introductions & Housekeeping: David, Caitlin, Everyone
9:40 am David Krakauer
10:00 am Coffee break
10:15 am -12:30 pm SESSION 1: BIOLOGICAL AGING
Geoffrey West, Ontogeny to Mortality
Chris Kempes, Energetic Pathways to Cellular Immortality
Van Savage,
Discussion moderated by Walter Fontana
12:30 – 1:30 pm Lunch
1:30 - 3:30 pm SESSION 2: ART AND IDEAS
Manfred Laubichler
Tony Eagan, The Folly of Immortal Designs
Tom McCarthy, Being Forever Dead, or, The Graft and the Crypt
Ted Chiang, Some Arguments For and Against Immortality
3:30 – 3:45 pm Tea Break
3:45 - 4:15 pm OPEN DISCUSSION
4:15 pm Shuttles pick up at SFI, return to Hilton
6:15 pm Shuttles Depart Hilton -> Iconik Red. Dinner by Aruna
6:30 pm (Im)mortality in 4D* Part I:
*Dinners, Drinks, Debates, Discussion
8:30 pm Shuttles Depart Iconik -> return to Hilton
Thursday, September 28, 2023
8:15 am Shuttle Departs Hotel -> SFI
8:30 am Breakfast at SFI
9:00 - 11:00 am SESSION 3: BRAIN, MIND, BEHAVIOR
Scott Small, The Anatomical Biology of the Aged Brain
Dietmar Plenz, The Nesting of Critical Dynamics in Establishing Resilient Brains to Face Future Outcomes
Thalia Wheatley,
Robert Hawkins, Cognitive Processes and the Longevity of Social Conventions
11:00 am Coffee break
11:10 am - 1:10 pm SESSION 4: INSTITUTIONS AND CIVILIZATIONS
Stefani Crabtree, What You Intend May Not Be What Future Generations Interpret
Kyle Harper, The Life and Death of Civilizations
Luke Kemp, Do States Age?
Dan Lawrence, Immortality and Persistence: Cities, States, and Empires in Ancient Southwest Asia
Jo McDonald, Discontinuity is Death! Or is it?
1:10 – 2:10 pm Lunch
2:10 – 3:10 pm OPEN DISCUSSION
3:10 pm Shuttles pick up at SFI, return to Hilton
6:15 pm Shuttles Depart Hilton -> Iconik Red. Dinner by Opuntia
6:30 pm (Im)mortality in 4D Part II
8:30 pm Shuttles Depart Iconik -> return to Hilton
Friday, September 29, 2023
8:15 am Shuttle Departs Hotel -> SFI
8:30 am Breakfast at SFI
9:00 - 10:00 am SESSION 5: CULTURE AND METAPHYSICS
Lisabeth During
Indré Zliobaite, Patterns of longevity in Nature and Society
10:00 am Coffee break
10:30 am – 12:00 pm SESSION 6: PLANETARY EVOLUTION, AND ECOLOGY
Mary O’ Connor
Veronica Mierzejewski
Doug Erwin
12:00 pm Lunch
1:00 - 1:30 pm SESSION 7: COSMIC IMMORTALITY
Sean Carroll
1:30 – 2:30 pm CLOSING DISCUSSION
2:30 pm Shuttles pick up at SFI, return to Hilton
5:45 pm Shuttles Depart Hilton -> SFI
6:00 pm Dinner on Noyce Portal, Monolith Alpha. Dinner by Adobo
8:00 pm Shuttles Depart SFI-> return to Hilton