Patterson in Pursuit

Latest Episodes:

Coming Around to Platonism Jan 10, 2020

Show notes

For years, I've been making anti-Platonist arguments. Now, I think I was wrong. The universe seems to be composed of both concrete and abstract stuff.

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Ep. 100 - Trying to Solve Philosophy | Patterson in Pursuit Nov 19, 2019

Show notes

Episode 100 of Patterson in Pursuit! Wow, what a milestone. Thanks to everybody who has listened to and supported the show. I hope it's created value for you.

In this episode, I share my personal thoughts about the show, some of my motivations, the conversations that were impactful to my own philosophy, and some funny experiences along the way. And of course, more heretical thoughts about the philosophy of mathematics.

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Ep. 99 - Non-Rationality and Psychedelics | Dr. Bernardo Kastrup Sep 08, 2019

Show notes

Do logic and rationality have limits? Are there ways to "get outside" of rational thinking? Do altered states caused by psychedelics provide true insight about the world, or are they illusory?

These are the questions I discuss with Dr. Bernardo Kastrup, who shares some of his personal experiments and insights gained psychedelic drugs.

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Ep. 98 - "A Consciousness-Only Ontology" | Dr. Bernardo Kastrup Sep 01, 2019

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Is everything ultimately mental? Do we need a theory of a physical world at all? Dr. Bernardo Kastrup joins me again to talk about idealism.

This time, we go into great detail, both put our ideas to the test, and the result was one of my favorite interviews ever. I end up asking Bernardo some of the most difficult questions in philosophy.

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Understanding God as Nature or the Universe Aug 22, 2019

Show notes

Finally, after investigating for more than 20 years, I have a concept of God I can rationally grasp. The idea is one of the oldest in existence, and it turns baroque theological claims into true and important insights.

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Solving the Interaction Problem Aug 02, 2019

Show notes

Dualism is an attractive philosophy with an Achilles' heel. Dualists since Descartes have never given a good answer to the problem of interaction.

Finally, I think I've got one. I have a working resolution to the problem of interaction that I call a theory of indirect interaction, which allows effective interaction between objects in different ontological categories.

Original article here: http://steve-patterson.com/mind-body-dualism-solving-problem-interaction/

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There Are No Objective Definitions May 19, 2019

Show notes

Lots of confusion is caused by the nature of language.

This is a narration of the article "There Are No Objective Definitions", which you can read here: http://steve-patterson.com/there-are-no-objective-definitions/

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Ep. 97 - Math Heresy: Ultrafinitism | Dr. Doron Zeilberger Apr 21, 2019

Show notes

Dr. Doron Zeilberger is the Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at Rutgers University. He's also a math heretic who thoroughly rejects the orthodox conceptions of infinity in modern mathematics. So we got along quite well.

We had a fantastic conversation covering a wide range of topics, including set theory, calculus and limits, pi, irrational numbers like the square root of two, real analysis, and Godel's Incompleteness Theorems.

If you're interested in the philosophy of mathematics, this is a must-listen.

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Ep. 96 - Truth and Postmodernism | Breakdown of Thaddeus Russell Interview Apr 07, 2019

Show notes

The most requested interview breakdown ever - my conversation with Thaddeus Russell about the postmodern theory of truth. Fun episode!

Can we know that experience is happening?

If somebody denies that they know, is it possible to convince them?

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Ep. 95 - The Highest IQ in America | Christopher Langan Mar 24, 2019

Show notes

Christopher Langan is an independent intellectual known for having the highest IQ in America - somewhere around 200, which is six standard deviations above the norm.

His story is fascinating. Chris is not working within the academy. Instead, he's splitting his time between ranching and philosophizing.

We spoke about a wide range of topics, including the problems of modern academia, the concept of IQ, and his attempt at a Theory of Everything entitled "The Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe" - or the "CTMU".

You can find more information about the CTMU at:

http://hology.org/

You can also find Chris's work and support him on Patreon at:

https://www.patreon.com/CTMU

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