Minds as mathematical patterns

Michael Levin’s work proposes that 'minds' are not tied to particular physical substrates but are patterns in a mathematical/informational space that can be instantiated by biological, synthetic, or hybrid systems. If true, experiences that look like encounters with external agents (from psychedelics or synthetic-life experiments) could be interactions with instantiated patterns rather than mere hallucinations. — This reframing changes how we think about consciousness, the ethics of creating synthetic life or agentic systems, the interpretation of psychedelic experience, and who or what counts as an entity deserving moral or legal consideration.