Counterfactual (feat. Aaron Ross)

Stirling Engine

Molten Salt

Green is Good

Cloud Feedback (feat. Skillz FJ)

Bright Future

Qubits

Understanding mental health and its failures requires a clear view of how the brain was designed by natural selection, and what it was designed to accomplish.

Control Systems

Baba Brinkman's new album "The Rap Guide to Religion" is set for release Fall 2015. This is the final track on the album, presenting a vision for a future with religion entirely naturalized. Album available soon from http://www.music.bababrinkman.com

Imagine

Laudato Si

Keep It Positive

I.P.C.C

Options

* This song was made with support from the Bookend Trust and added to the album after its official release as a digital-only bonus track. www.bookendtrust.com 

Written by D. Brinkman, T. Caruana, S. Kendall, and A. Ross 
Produced, mixed, and mastered by Tom Caruana 
Rap by Baba Brinkman 
Chorus vocal by Aaron Nazrul 
Guitar by Andreas Schuld 
Clavinet and accordion by Simon Kendall

Further reading: 
phys.org/news/2012-10-true-worldwide-billions-annually.html 
www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/elements_of_biodiversity/extinction_crisis/

Lyrics

Veni Vidi Vici 
We make it seems so easy 
Human beings 
Being the supreme species 

How does it feel to be a participant 
In the sixth planetary extinction event? 
The first five were endemic, nobody gets credit 
But this one’s entirely Homo sapien triggered 
Such a mark of distinction, you’re part of the team 
Makin’ a mark on the planet in the anthropocene 
A member of a super-predator species 
Who paid the cost to be the boss, check the receipts 
80 years ago, some friends of mine 
Watched the last Tasmanian tiger die 
Look it in the eyes at the end of the line 
Never again my friend, your memory will survive 
We’re gonna rally the nations, in a state of emergency 
Create a Convention on Biological Diversity 
A hundred and ninety two countries are gonna sign it 
Legally binding the whole world to get behind it 
International law, isn’t it glorious? 
Every signatory is committed to hitting the targets 
One of which is to prevent the extinction 
Of every single species currently listed 
We did it! We made extinction illegal 
Pop the champagne, give yourself credit, people 
Every species can rest easy 
We conquered extinction, veni, vidi, vici 

Veni vidi vici 
We make it seem so easy 
Human beings 
Being the supreme species 

Kings and queens 
Over everything that we see 
If we can keep them breathing 
Veni vidi vici 

Wait a second, what's the rate of extinction? 
Even with the convention, how many species are threatened? 
700 just in Tasmania?! 
What happened to reigning in bad behaviour? 
What happened to waking up to smell the coca leaf? 
One quarter of species in danger globally? 
And most of them could be protected for less than a 
Fifth of our total global soft drink expenditure? 
I can pay twenty percent more for a coke 
If a hundred thousand species survive as a result 
Let's go! Back to Tasmania for a second 
A hundred and seventy one of their most threatened 
Species could be protected for a few mill a year? 
What's the hold-up? Don’t let 'em fold up and disappear? 
Every organism is intrinsically beautiful 
And the kids won't forgive us if we lose another marsupial 
What's so important to you that you can't wait 
And get a consult on a conservation mandate 
No fix from a bandaid, this is man-made 
No shame in sticking the pin back in the hand-grenade 
Besides, these creatures are fun to protect 
So get involved and come and meet someone and connect 
And next time someone asks you: how does it feel? 
It feels like a part of you just started to heal 

Vini vidi vici 
We make it seem so easy 
Human beings 
Being the supreme species 

Kings and queens 
Over everything that we see 
If we can keep them breathing 
Veni vidi vici


The Rap Guide to Wilderness

Veni Vidi Vici (feat. Aaron Nazrul)

This song introduces the “materialist perspective” and the idea that consciousness evolved via physical processes, interacting nerve cells producing ever-increasing awareness and reflection in at least one species. How can we determine reality from fantasy? What would it take to fully explain consciousness without magic? Do we have a soul? And if not, can we at least still have soulful music?

(D. Brinkman, T. Caruana, S. Kendall, A. Ross) 
Produced and Mixed by Tom Caruana 
Keys by Simon Kendall 
Additional Vocals by Alice Andrews 
Guitar by John Ellis 
Cuts by Mr. Simmonds 

Further reading: 
• www.ted.com/talks/dan_dennett_on_our_consciousness 
• neurobanter.com/2016/02/04/tracing-the-edges-of-consciousness/ 
• aeon.co/essays/the-hard-problem-of-consciousness-is-a-distraction-from-the-real-one

The Rap Guide to Consciousness

Real Recognize Real (feat. Aaron Nazrul)

Baba’s son Dylan seems conscious at aged three months, but then again, how can we be sure his conscious-seeming behaviour isn’t pure zombie instinct? This song looks at the many things Dylan can and can’t do to signal his consciousness, comparing his behaviour to the “intelligence” found in other animals, sculpted by evolution, which may not be accompanied by any consciousness at all. So is Dylan conscious at three months? Or is he an example of “competence without comprehension”?

(D. Brinkman, T. Caruana) 
Produced and Mixed by Tom Caruana 
Keys by Simon Kendall 
Cuts by Mr. Simmonds 

Further reading: 
• www.ted.com/talks/dan_dennett_cute_sexy_sweet_funny 
• www.ted.com/talks/alison_gopnik_what_do_babies_think#t-1089915 
• www.newscientist.com/article/dn23401-emerging-consciousness-glimpsed-in-babies/

Dylan

The particular brand of consciousness enjoyed by humans is intimately bound up with what we know, what we recognize, and the kind of information we have access to. One way to understand information in the brain is via a Darwinian competition, with the information, ideas, words, skills, and techniques competing for access, vying to be copied from person to person. These are memes. With the right memes, you can skeptically assess your environment and act strategically in accordance with your long-term goals. With the wrong memes, you end up voting for Trump. Get your memes up.

(D. Brinkman, T. Caruana) 
Produced and Mixed by Tom Caruana 
Keys by Simon Kendall 
Guitar by Tom Caruana and John Ellis 

Further reading: 
• www.susanblackmore.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/JCS03.pdf 
• ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/dennett/papers/MEMEMYTH.FIN.htm 
• bigthink.com/videos/daniel-dennett-memes-101

Memes Up

This song uses the “Integrated Information Theory” of consciousness to look at the possible consciousness of an octopus, refracted through the lens of a psychedelic mushroom trip. Some drugs including LSD and psilocybin have been shown to increase the “temporal signal diversity” of our brains, producing a wider range of patterns of activation. So if octopuses have consciousness, it might take a moment of “expanded consciousness” to imagine what their experiences are like.

(D. Brinkman, T. Caruana, A. Andrews) 
Produced and Mixed by Tom Caruana 
Keys by Simon Kendall 

Further reading: 
• ideas.ted.com/want-to-know-what-aliens-will-be-like-just-look-at-an-octopus/ 
• www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-consciousness-universal/ 
• neurobanter.com/2017/04/19/evidence-for-a-higher-state-of-consciousness-sort-of/

Cephalophile (feat. Alice Andrews)

The “knowledge argument” is a philosophical thought experiment in which a colour scientist, Mary, learns every conceivable detail about colour vision and the brain basis of colour experience while being raised from birth in a black and white room without the ability to see colour herself. When she sees colour for the first time, is she surprised? Or did she know enough to “see it coming”? In this version, Baba re-imagines Mary as a deaf acoustic scientist who studies rap music without hearing it firsthand. And then when she listens to a rap song for the first time, does she learn anything new? Or does her vastly enhanced imagination mean she knows in advance what it will feel like?

(D. Brinkman, T. Caruana) 
Produced and Mixed by Tom Caruana 
Keys by Simon Kendall 

Further reading: 
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_argument 
• ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/dennett/papers/RoboMaryfinal.htm 
• www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdKEy6vcCMw

Mary

One popular theory of consciousness is the “Global Neuronal Workspace Theory” which suggests consciousness is produced by events in the brain where multiple areas broadcast and share information with each other, creating a “global activation” of neurons. Another name for this theory is “Fame in the Brain” since the content becomes famous among the neurons, like a Twitter trend within the brain. In this song, Baba imagines the brain activation that would make more fans conscious of his work, creating “fame in the brain” for them, and fame in the world for his music.

(D. Brinkman, D. Moross, A. Ross) 
Produced by Soulful Spider 
Additional Production and Mix by Tom Caruana 
Keys by Simon Kendall 
Guitar by John Ellis 

Further reading: 
• www.uni-trier.de/fileadmin/fb1/PHI/Hoffmann_-_Dokumente/Dennett_-_Are_we_explaining_consciousness_yet.pdf 
• www.edge.org/conversation/stanislas_dehaene-signatures-of-consciousness 
• www.nature.com/news/2005/050620/full/news050620-7.html

Forget Me Not (feat. Aaron Nazrul)

A “philosophical zombie” is a thought experiment, imagining a person who behaves normally in every measurable way, and has a normal-seeming brain, but is completely lacking in conscious experience. In this version, Baba imagines a zombie version of a hip-hop fan, presenting both a satire of the concept of zombies and also a satire of the presumed shallowness of hip-hop fans by non hip-hop fans.

(D. Brinkman, T. Caruana) 
Produced and Mixed by Tom Caruana 
Keys by Simon Kendall 

Further reading: 
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_zombie 
• pp.kpnet.fi/seirioa/cdenn/unzombie.htm

Zombie

One way to understand rational, scientific thinking is via “Bayesian reasoning” which estimates the statistical probability of something being true and then updates that probability as new evidence appears, approaching the truth without achieving absolute certainty. In this song, three underdog, underground rappers assess their against-the-odds and expectation-defying career success from Bayesian perspective.

(D. Brinkman, T. Caruana, R. Jarbo, A. Nielsen) 
Produced and Mixed by Tom Caruana 
Keys by Simon Kendall 

Further reading: 
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayesian_probability 
• www.edge.org/response-detail/27098 
• www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqmJhPQYRc8

Good Bayesian (feat. MC Lars And Mega Ran)

Now playing at the Soho Playhouse off-Broadway! Get tickets:
http://www.sohoplayhouse.com/event/45fadfa0b02552a56f009ed0741c7ea8

Download "The Rap Guide to Consciousness" album here:
https://bababrinkman.bandcamp.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-consciousness

Human subjective experience has been a focus of spirituality and philosophy for millennia, but recent advances in cognitive and neuroscience are helping to solve ancient riddles about the mind. An inquisitive child of Canadian hippies explores the power of belief, varieties of consciousness, and how humans come to perceive and mis-perceive the world.

Further reading: 
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consciousness 
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven's_Gate_(religious_group)

Heaven's Gate

Evolution, climate change, reason, and evidence. Science rap for thinking people in an era of alternative facts (aka falsehoods). On the bright side, apes can see from space.

Confessions Of A Skeptic

A rap battle between a data scientist who champions predictive algorithmic models and a classical statistician who favors inferential data models.

Learn more:
https://soundcloud.com/altereverything/43-data-science-through-the-eyes-of-statisticians

https://towardsdatascience.com/thoughts-on-the-two-cultures-of-statistical-modeling-72d75a9e06c2

https://www.oreilly.com/ideas/predictive-modeling-striking-a-balance-between-accuracy-and-interpretability

https://www.nature.com/articles/nmeth.4642

Track Produced, Mixed, and Mastered by Mr. Simmonds

Made with support from Alteryx

Lyrics:

Data Science

Statisticians

(Repeat)

Academic classical statistician, sit down and listen
You’re about to witness the power of algorithms
Linear regressions is suckin’ us into a recession
Interpretability is dead, the gold standard is now prediction

Please, you think ‘cause a method is new, it isn’t bad?
Everything about your “big data” movement is a fad
All you have is a glittering enigma wrapped in a complex riddle
Nothing but a black box with lots of little knobs to twiddle

I’ll take a black box that delivers accurate answers
On any question you can ask it, from genetics to cancer
Over a transparent box we understand that’s “interpretable”

With tractable math… 

Yeah, too bad it doesn’t work so good though

Algorithms are just another kind of statistical inference
That’s fine. You’re advocating scientifical ignorance
You’re like the Wizard of Oz in a balloon, floating over the earth
"Come back!"
“I can’t! I don’t know how it works!”

Here’s how it works: data goes in, predictions emerge
Talk to Mark Zuckerberg if you really question its worth
Forget it, stay bottled up in a college and data model
I’ll solve problems, drive an Audi, and date a model

Data science, we predict the outcome
And if you see it's workin’, there’s no need to question “how come?”

Statisticians, we want it precise
How is it “science” if you can’t explain your model designs?!?

Data science, we don’t want it basic
Life is complicated, the original “black box” is nature

Statisticians, reveal how nature functions
All I need is a model with articulated assumptions

Is that too much to ask from a data analyst?
Show your work!? That’s basic practice, but they can't handle it
Move fast, break things, it just isn't right
Not at the expense of parsimony and scientific insight

You got it backwards, pops, scientific progress
Is a step-by-step process from simple to complex
Quantum physics comes after Newtonian mechanics
And classic statisticians never discovered exoplanets

You’re the one with the model backwards, son, you got distracted

We get results!

Yeah, with no thought for the causal factors
Tech investors keep earning, algorithms keep churning
But it’s a shallow journey if only the machine’s learning

We’re learning, never doubt that, data science is about facts
And if it catches mice, that makes it a better mousetrap
Statistics is either gonna get with artificial intelligence
Or it’s gonna lose in the data battle for relevance

Well if that’s your position, then I'm a converted mathematician
First, check if it works, and then unpack the algorithm
With statistical methods; that’s just more for us to perceive
Just don’t lose sight of the random forest for the trees

Data science, we predict the outcom
First check if it's workin’, and then question “how come?”

Statisticians, we want it precise
How is it “science” if you can’t explain your model designs?

Data science, we don’t want it basic
Life is complicated, the original black box is nature

Statisticians, reveal how nature functions
All I need is a model with articulated assumptions

Data Science

Statisticians

(Repeat)

Data Science

Canadian rap artist with diverse intellectual appetites, living in New York and seeking to devour the world of ideas and make great music along the way.

Baba Brinkman

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