Marieke Van Vugt Finding Balance
In this episode, Wendy speaks with cognitive scientist, contemplative practitioner, and ballet dancer Marieke Van Vugt. Marieke is a pioneer in studying mind wandering and meditation through computer modeling, and is also advancing participatory research through her collaborations with Tibetan monastics. This conversation covers many topics, including:\n \n \nher braided interests in meditation, dance, and cognitive science;\n \ncomputer modeling of mind and meditation;\n \nexploring distraction, mind wandering, and becoming aware;\n \nhow thoughts can get "stuck" in our minds;\n \ncreating a meditating computer;\n \nthe relevance of stuck thoughts to various mental disorders;\n \ntrauma through the lens of predictive models of mind;\n \nanalytical meditation and Tibetan monastic debate;\n \ncollaborating with monastics in research;\n \nhumility and fluidity of mind;\n \nre-thinking the tasks used in cognitive science;\n \nthe phenomenon of brain synchrony;\n \ndance and embodiment;\n \nthe roots of thinking in the body;\n \nproblems with abstraction in science;\n \ncuriosity vs. the critical mind in ballet;\n \nflow, responsiveness, and compassion;\n \nand advice to young scholars.\nFull show notes and resources