C From thermostats to thought: cognition on a continuum

 C

Here’s a concise gist of your passage on the origins of mindedness and cognition:

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Gist – From Homeostasis to Mindedness

• Goal-directed behavior as the root of intelligence: Levin argues that intelligence begins with goal-directedness, starting with homeostasis—organisms (or systems) maintaining internal conditions like temperature.

• From simple to complex cognition: Even a thermostat embodies memory, prediction, and preferences. This “basement of cognition” can gradually evolve into more complex forms of intelligence and consciousness.

• A mindful world without sharp boundaries: Levin’s gradualism blurs lines between life, machines, and matter; even elementary particles may have tiny forms of agency. He envisions a world inherently full of cognition, though he doesn’t fully endorse traditional panpsychism.

Key idea: Cognition and mindedness may emerge gradually from basic, goal-directed systems, suggesting intelligence is a spectrum rather than a binary property.

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