RESEARCH
Three broad questions summarize my current research interests:
- How can we understand what it means "to be alive" sufficiently well, that if we wanted to, we might build an artificial living system?
- Humanity has constructed artificial systems that are "intelligent" in the sense that they can solve the kinds of problems that previously could only be solved by human beings. These systems remain very different from people, animals, plants or even bacteria in that they are not "agents." That is to say: they do not have goals of their own; they don't want things, they don't experience things, they don't have emotions, etc. What is it that we have that artificial intelligence lacks? Or, put another way: what is the difference between me and AI?
- What are the limitations of scientific understanding? What kinds of things can science tell us about, and what are the kinds of research targets where the scientific method, scientific language or scientific explanations fail? What are other authentic and self-critical ways of understanding help us understand the world in which we live and how can we better engage with those ways of understanding?
PROJECTS
Autonomous patterns of 
Guided Self-Organization
Behaviour and the origins of life
If you are interested in contributing to these projects, or have questions, please do get in touch by emailing me mde@matthewegbert.com.