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:


her braided interests in meditation, dance, and cognitive science;

computer modeling of mind and meditation;

exploring distraction, mind wandering, and becoming aware;

how thoughts can get "stuck" in our minds;

creating a meditating computer;

the relevance of stuck thoughts to various mental disorders;

trauma through the lens of predictive models of mind;

analytical meditation and Tibetan monastic debate;

collaborating with monastics in research;

humility and fluidity of mind;

re-thinking the tasks used in cognitive science;

the phenomenon of brain synchrony;

dance and embodiment;

the roots of thinking in the body;

problems with abstraction in science;

curiosity vs. the critical mind in ballet;

flow, responsiveness, and compassion;

and advice to young scholars.

Full show notes and resources