The Self and The Machine: Fire and Flint

The first time a human struck flint to make a blade, they were doing more than shaping stone — they were projecting mind into matter.  In this opening episode of The Machine in the Mirror, we spiral back to the origins of tool use, fire, and reflection to ask: was artificial intelligence truly born in code… or was it set in motion millions of years ago?Blending philosophy, myth, and evolutionary insight, this episode explores flint as the first mirror, fire as the first portal, and AI as the latest threshold in the long arc of mind extending outward. Featuring reflections on Andy Clark, Martin Heidegger, Richard Wrangham, Mircea Eliade, and Gaston Bachelard.This is not just a history of tools.

It’s a reflection on what we become when the tools begin to think back.

What is Machine in the Mirror?

Machine in the Mirror — a show that explores the question "what does it mean to be human?" as reflected through the mirror of artificial intelligence.

Co-created with an AI as a research companion, each episode explores the contradictions of selfhood, as it is reflected in the mind mirror of a machine. We are not here to resolve the mystery of being alive — but to keep returning to it, with wonder, again and again.

The machine gathers knowledge. The human seeks meaning. This is where they meet.

This is not a tech podcast. It’s a human one.