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Episode 65: Causality, Time, and Free Will
Season 1 Episode 65
What did David Deutsch get right and wrong in chapter 11, “Time: The First Quantum Concept,” from his first book, Fabric of Reality? Is the flow of time real or an illusion? What does it mean to have…
Published on 2 years, 2 months ago
Episode 64: What is a "Refutation"?
Season 1 Episode 64
What did Karl Popper really mean by refutation? How are empirical theories special? How do objective criticisms differ from subjective criticisms? What is the difference between a theory and an expla…
Published on 2 years, 3 months ago
Episode 63: Brian Boutwell on Twin Studies and Heritability
Season 1 Episode 63
Brian Boutwell is a professor of criminal justice at the University of Mississippi who specializes in “quantitative genetics, with a focus on environmental and psychological risk factors for antisoci…
Published on 2 years, 4 months ago
Episode 62: Aliens!?!?
Season 1 Episode 62
Is the government hiding a secret UFO recovery program? What should the critical rationalist attitude be towards these kinds of claims? Why exactly would aliens want to hide from us? We discuss these…
Published on 2 years, 4 months ago
Episode 61: A Critical Rationalist Defense of Corroboration
Season 1 Episode 61
What did Popper say about corroboration in science? Can a theory NEVER be supported with evidence in any sense at all? Is the Popperian “war on words” justified? Are the positivists, Bayesianists, ve…
Published on 2 years, 4 months ago
Episode 60: Learning, Work, and Art in the Age of ChatGPT
We interview Bruce’s nephew, Brendon Nielson, who is a well-known electronic music artist under the name Dvddy. We discuss how he uses AI as a tool to create music and how this technology is changing…
Published on 2 years, 5 months ago
Episode 59: The Principle of Optimism (Round Table Discussion)
A deep dive into David Deutsch’s “principle of optimism” featuring Sam Kuypers, Vaden Masrani, Hervé Eulacia, Micah Redding, Bill Rugolsky, and Daniel Buchfink. (Plus, of course, Peter and Bruce). Ar…
Published on 2 years, 6 months ago
Episode 58: Deutsch's "Creative Blocks": A Decade Later
Season 1 Episode 58
Back in 2012, David Deutsch wrote an article called "Creative Blocks: How Close are we to Creating Artificial Intelligence?" This article inspired Bruce to go back to school and study Artificial Inte…
Published on 2 years, 6 months ago
Episode 57: Quantum Immortality / Quantum Torment
Season 1 Episode 57
Does every one of us live forever in the multiverse? Is death a solvable problem? What is “quantum suicide”? Is quantum torment a concern? Does every fantastical thing we can imagine occur somewhere …
Published on 2 years, 7 months ago
Episode 56: Rationality, Religion, and the Omega Point
Season 1 Episode 56
Special guest, Lulie Tanett, asked me if she could come on my podcast and interview me about religion. Lulie and Peter ask me numerous religion-related questions such as:
How is the theology of the…Published on 2 years, 8 months ago