Robinson's Podcast - Robinson Erhardt

Latest Episodes:

211 - Jay Chandrasekhar: Comedy, Creative Integrity, Super Troopers, & Jackass Jun 10, 2024

Show notes

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7

Jay Chandrasekhar is a director, writer, stand-up comic, and actor. Some of his works include directing Super Troopers, Beerfest, and Dukes of Hazzard. He has also directed episodes of Arrested Development, Community, and New Girl. Jay also wrote Mustache Shenanigans (2017) and co-hosts the podcast Mustache Tales. In this episode, Robinson and Jay discuss his growth as a writer, the importance of purpose in comedy and film, creative integrity in Hollywood, working on Supertroopers, and his time with Johnny Knoxville and the Jackass crew.

Mustache Tales: https://www.mustachetales.com

Mustache Shenanigans: https://a.co/d/8DZscAT

Opening Scene of Super Troopers: https://youtu.be/-wdVF_zJS4s?si=goQsJLqLqvBbMyF0

OUTLINE

00:00 Introduction

02:58 Jay’s Name Means…What?

5:22 Mustache Shenanigans

7:54 The Importance of Strong Beginnings in Comedy

20:41 The Importance of Purpose in Comedy and Film

24:39 Keeping Creative Integrity in Hollywood

32:20 On Writing a Novel

36:32 How to Have a Good Podcast

41:34 On Working with the Jackass Crew

59:20 Developing the Talent of a Storyteller

1:12:20 Breaking Down the Raiders of the Lost Ark

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, and everyone in-between.

210 - David Albert & Tim Maudlin: A Discussion of Niels Bohr, Measurement, & Quantum Mechanics Jun 02, 2024

Show notes

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7

David Albert is the Frederick E. Woodbridge Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, director of the Philosophical Foundations of Physics program at Columbia, and a faculty member of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. Tim Maudlin is Professor of Philosophy at NYU and Founder and Director of the JBI. This is David’s seventh appearance on Robinson’s Podcast. He last appeared on episode 189 with Barry Loewer to talk about the Mentaculus, their joint project on the foundations of statistical mechanics. This is Tim’s sixth appearance on the show. He last appeared on episode 188 with Sheldon Goldstein to discuss Bohmian mechanics. Tim and David last joined Robinson together for episode 67, which gave an overview of the foundations of quantum mechanics. In this episode, Robinson, David, and Tim talk about the measurement problem, the role of philosophy in physics, various thought experiments, like Schrödinger’s cat and Wigner’s friend, and Niels Bohr’s effects both on quantum mechanics and the philosophy of science. If you’re interested in the foundations of physics, then please check out the JBI, which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. Any donations are immensely helpful at this early stage in the institute’s life.

A Guess at the Riddle: https://a.co/d/6qcsidl

Tim’s Website: www.tim-maudlin.site

The John Bell Institute: https://www.johnbellinstitute.org

OUTLINE

00:00 Introduction

04:04 Einstein, Bell, and Pearl on the Measurement Problem

13:00 On “Measurement” in Quantum Mechanics

25:34 What IS the Measurement Problem?

34:42 John Bell on the Measurement Problem

40:32 An Example of the Measurement Problem

43:08 Von Neumann on the Measurement Problem

45:38 Niels Bohr and the Measurement Problem

57:54 Niels Bohr’s Drastic Revision of Physics

1:08:36 Quantum Measurement and the Philosophy of Physics

1:22:52 On Schrodinger’s Cat and Wigner’s Friend

1:38:34 On Consciousness and Quantum Mechanics

1:45:40 The Measurement Problem, Solved?

1:51:04 On the Role of Philosophy in Physics

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, and everyone in-between.

209 - Peter Singer: Controversial Ideas, Utilitarianism, and Animal Liberation May 26, 2024

Show notes

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7

Peter Singer is Ira W. DeCamp Professor Emeritus of Bioethics in the Department of Philosophy at Princeton University. He is among the most influential living philosophers, and among the most influential moral philosophers of the last century. Peter is best known for his work in applied ethics on animal welfare and global poverty. In this episode, Robinson and Peter discuss these topics after first introducing his more general views on moral philosophy, including those on utilitarianism and meta-ethics. Throughout their conversation they also touch on Peter’s new podcast, Lives Well Lived, co-hosted with Kasia de Lazari Radek, the Journal of Controversial Ideas, Peter’s Substack, Bold Reasoning with Peter Singer, and his latest and next books, which are respectively The Buddhist and the Ethicist (Shambhala, 2023) and Consider the Turkey (Princeton, 2024).

Peter’s Website: https://www.petersinger.info

Lives Well Lived Podcast: https://shows.acast.com/6628460c6b51e80012b834c2

The Life You Can Save Organization: https://www.thelifeyoucansave.org.au

The Journal of Controversial Ideas: https://journalofcontroversialideas.org

Peter’s Substack: https://boldreasoningwithpetersinger.substack.com

The Buddhist and the Ethicist: https://a.co/d/38DOmbK

Consider the Turkey: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691231686/consider-the-turkey

OUTLINE

00:00 Introduction

04:14 Peter Singer’s Entry into Philosophy

08:54 What Is Utilitarianism?

10:58 On Consequentialism vs Deontology

13:12 On Trolley Problems and Moral Facts

16:40 On Moral Realism and Anti-Realism

20:51 On Hedonistic Utilitarianism

26:17 The Lives Well Lived Podcast

33:43 A Puzzle About Trolley Problems

38:48 On the Origin of Peter Singer’s Concern for Animals

49:38 Is It Ever Morally Permissible to Eat Meat?

55:32 Consider the Turkey

1:03:07 Famine, Affluence, and Morality

1:09:08 The Life You Can Save

1:10:50 The Buddhist and the Ethicist

1:18:08 The Journal of Controversial Ideas

1:25:50 Peter’s Substack

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, and everyone in-between.

208 - Victor Davis Hanson: Annihilation, Genocide, and World War III May 20, 2024

Show notes

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7

Victor Davis Hanson is a renowned classicist, military historian, and political commentator. He is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Among numerous other awards, Victor was presented the National Humanities Medal in 2007. In this episode, Robinson and Victor discuss his latest book, The End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation (Basic Book, 2024), which was released on May 7th. More particularly, they cover the historical connection between annihilation and genocide, how we should interpret the past through today’s moral standards, genocides in the present, and the likelihood of World War III. Victor appeared as a guest on episode #112, in which he and Robinson talked about what was at the time Victor’s latest book, The Dying Citizen. He was also a guest on episode #191, which covered Victor’s views on the current crisis in Israel and Palestine. Keep up with Victor on Twitter, through his website, and on his podcast, The Victor Davis Hanson Show.

Victor’s Website: https://victorhanson.com

Victor’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/VDHanson

The Victor Davis Hanson Show: https://art19.com/shows/the-victor-davis-hanson-show

The Dying Citizen: https://a.co/d/dPocUJg

The End of Everything: https://a.co/d/46O0mMB

OUTLINE

00:00 Introduction

03:41 On Annihilation, Extinction, and Genocide

09:31 What Causes Genocide?

16:38 The Applicability of Military Strategy to Everyday Life

24:00 On Alexander the Great

36:26 Should We Judge the People of the Past by the Moral Standards of the Present?

44:29 Uyghurs, Jews, and Genocides of the Present

50:45 What Are the Biggest Existential Threats to America?

59:28 Is World War III on the Horizon?

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

207 - Sean Carroll: Quanta, Fields, and the Philosophy of Quantum Physics May 12, 2024

Show notes

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7

Sean Carroll is Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University and fractal faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. He is also the host of Sean Carroll’s Mindscape, a podcast about science, society, philosophy, culture, arts, and ideas. This is Sean’s fourth appearance on the show. He appeared with David Albert of Columbia University on episode 106, which covers the Many-Worlds theory of quantum mechanics, Boltzmann Brains, and the fine-tuned universe. He was also on episode 118 with Slavoj Žižek on quantum physics, the multiverse, time travel, and a whole lot more, and then episode 200 with Daniel Dennett and Steven Pinker on AI, parapsychology, and consciousness. This episode is coming out in advance of Sean’s next book, Quanta and Fields: The Biggest Ideas in the Universe (Penguin, 2024), which will be released on May 14, 2024. Sean and Robinson discuss many of the topics and themes of Quanta and Fields, including the books’ namesake subjects, as well as more decides, like scientific realism, free will, the simulation hypothesis, and the end of physics. If you’re interested in the foundations of physics—which you absolutely should be—then please check out the JBI, which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. Any donations are immensely helpful at this early stage in the institute’s life.

Sean’s Website: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com

Sean’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/seanmcarroll

Quanta and Fields (The Biggest Ideas in the Universe): https://a.co/d/gfMDLQo

The John Bell Institute: https://www.johnbellinstitute.org

OUTLINE

00:00 Introduction

5:00 The Biggest Ideas in the Universe

9:38 Do Physicists Understand Physics?

15:51 What Is the Role of Philosophers in Physics?

18:24 The Measurement Problem and Quantum Field Theory

20:24 Scientific Realism and the Standard Model of Particle Physics

25:11 What Is the Wave Function?

34:46 What Is Quantum Field Theory?

37:45 What Is the Fundamental Layer of Reality?

41:01 What Is the Standard Model of Particle Physics?

45:42 What Are the Fundamental Objects in the Standard Model of Particle Physics?

47:39 How Do We Test the Standard Model of Particle Physics?

49:38 What Are the Weaknesses of the Standard Model of Particle Physics?

54:41 Will We Ever Find a Theory of Everything?

56:19 Is String Theory the Final Theory of Physics?

58:14 String theory and the Fine-Tuning Problem

01:00:18 Is Quantum Gravity the End of Progress in Physics?

01:06:12 What is Philosophical Naturalism?

01:08:05 On Naturalized Epistemology

01:10:24 On the Philosophy of Mathematics

01:19:08 On Naturalizing Morality

01:22:33 The Myths of Quantum Entanglement

01:29:53 Is There Only One Electron?

01:34:09 Are Atoms Mostly Empty Space?

01:36:51 Are We Living in a Simulation?

01:39:58 Is Infinity a Problem for Quantum Mechanics?

01:41:59 The Mysteries of Quantum Mechanics

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, and everyone in-between.

206 - Slavoj Žižek & Lee Smolin: Marxism Meets Quantum Physics May 05, 2024

Show notes

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Slavoj Žižek is international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London and a senior researcher at the University of Ljubljana’s Department of Philosophy. He was also the guest for episodes 109—on psychoanalysis, wokeness, racism, and a hundred other topics—and 118, where he appeared with Sean Carroll to discuss quantum physics, the multiverse, and time travel. Lee Smolin is a founding and senior faculty member at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and the author of a number of bestselling books, including The Trouble with Physics (Mariner, 2006). He was the guest for episode 148, in which he and Robinson discussed presentism, the foundations of mathematics, and the philosophy of quantum mechanics. In this episode, Robinson, Slavoj, and Lee discuss time, space, superposition, and other concepts at the core of physics, as well as postmodernism, the big bang, problems with democracy, and much more. Lee is also an Honorary Fellow of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. If you’re interested in the foundations of physics—which you absolutely should be—then please check out the JBI, which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. Any donations are immensely helpful at this early stage in the institute’s life. Lee’s Website: ⁠http://leesmolin.com⁠ The Trouble with Physics: https://a.co/d/eJZPWaE OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 06:26 Breaking the Copenhagen Interpretation 11:55 On Sabine Hossenfelder 21:11 On Monads, Atoms, and Democritus 30:18 Is the World a Game of Physics? 38:46 On the Big Bang 45:26 On European Immigration and Populism 53:09 A Few Jokes

Robinson’s Website: ⁠http://robinsonerhardt.com⁠ Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.

205 - Nick Bostrom: Superintelligence, Posthumanity, and AI Utopia Apr 28, 2024

Show notes

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7

Nick Bostrom is a Swedish philosopher who was most recently Professor at Oxford University, where he served as the founding Director of the Future of Humanity Institute. He is best known for his book Superintelligence (Oxford, 2014), which covers the dangers of artificial intelligence. In this episode, Robinson and Nick discuss his more recent book, Deep Utopia: Life and Meaning in a Solved World (Ideapress, 2024). More particularly, they discuss the alignment problem with artificial intelligence, the problem of utopia, how artificial intelligence—if it doesn’t make our world horrible—could make it wonderful, the future of technology, and how humans might adjust to a life without work.

Nick’s Website: https://nickbostrom.com

Deep Utopia: https://a.co/d/b8eHuhQ

OUTLINE

00:00 Introduction

02:50 From AI Dystopia to AI Utopia

9:15 On Superintelligence and the Alignment Problem

17:48 The Problem of Utopia

21:14 What Are the Different Types of Utopia?

28:04 AI and the Purpose of Mathematics

38:59 What Technologies Can We Expect in an AI Utopia?

43:59 Philosophical Problems with Immortality

55:14 Are There Advanced Alien Civilizations Out There?

59:54 Why Don’t We Live in Utopia?

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.

204 - Philip Goff: Panpsychism and the Mystery of Consciousness Apr 21, 2024

Show notes

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7

Philip Goff is a professor of philosophy at Durham University in the United Kingdom, where he researches consciousness and the philosophy of mind. He is the best known proponent of a view about consciousness known as panpsychism, which takes mentality to be fundamental in the world rather than something that either emerges out of complex structures or exists parallel to physical objects (as an immaterial property of things like souls). In this episode, Robinson and Philip discuss the major camps in the debate over consciousness, including physicalism, dualism, and panpsychism, touching on both their strengths and weaknesses. They then turn to a few questions raised in Philip’s most recent book, Why? The Purpose of the Universe (Oxford, 2023), in which he seeks to find a middle ground between atheism and deism.

Why? The Purpose of the Universe: https://a.co/d/2cqj5Us

Philip’s Website: https://philipgoffphilosophy.com

OUTLINE

00:00 Introduction

04:41 Philip’s Interest in Consciousness

8:11 What Is Consciousness?

14:36 Is Consciousness a Spectrum?

19:42 On Dualism About Consciousness

31:37 On Physicalism and the Mind

46:56 What Is Panpsychism?

53:27 The Best Arguments for Panpsychism

57:11 Panpsychism and the Combination Problem

1:02:20 On Panpsychism and Parapsychology

1:07:06 On Panpsychism and Free Will

1:13:04 On the Fine-Tuning Problem

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

203 - Vijay Prashad: Colonialism, Israel-Palestine, Marxism, and European Anti-Semitism Apr 15, 2024

Show notes

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7

Vijay Prashad is a historian and journalist. He obtained his PhD in history at the University of Chicago and was most recently the George and Martha Kellner Chair in South Asian History at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. Vijay is a Marxist, and much of his work and writing has been devoted to critiques of capitalism and colonialism, and this notably includes research on Israel, Palestine, and the Middle East. In this episode, Robinson and Vijay discuss the Israel-Palestine conflict as a problem of anti-semitism and colonialism, and touch on various other dimensions of the issue, such as how the war might end, Noam Chomsky’s contributions to the discussion, and the legitimacy of Palestine.

Tricontinental: https://thetricontinental.org/institutes/

OUTLINE

00:00 Introduction

04:20 Human Rights and the Crisis in Palestine

10:50 Decolonizing Palestine and the Problem of European Antisemitism

19:33 Is Israel a European Colonialist Enterprise?

31:06 Is Palestine a Legitimate Nation?

43:14 On Noam Chomsky and a One-State Solution to Israel-Palestine

53:26 Communism, Israel-Palestine, and Dreams of Utopia

59:46 Is There a Practical Solution to the War in Gaza?

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

202 - Jeffrey Sachs: JFK, Conspiracy Theories, Israel-Palestine, and Ending the War in Gaza Apr 07, 2024

Show notes

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7

Jeffrey Sachs is University Professor at Columbia University, where he serves as the Director of the Center for Sustainable Development. Before that, he taught at Harvard University for twenty years. Jeff is the author of numerous books, including three New York Times bestsellers. His latest is The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions (Columbia, 2020). In addition to his work as an economist on the cutting edge of sustainable development—including research on changes related to extreme poverty, climate change, and other national economic reforms—Jeff is an authority on geopolitics and international relations, with particular expertise on Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Palestine, and other currently contentious areas. In this episode, Jeff and Robinson discuss practical solutions to the war in Gaza, the geopolitics surrounding the conflict in Israel and Palestine, allegations of anti-semitism in American universities, the assassination of JFK, and the truth behind conspiracy theories.

The Ages of Globalization: https://a.co/d/34yO8HB

Jeff’s Website: https://www.jeffsachs.org

OUTLINE

00:00 Introduction

03:48 Was October 7th Justifiable?

05:35 Can the UN End the War in Palestine?

09:31 Is Israel an Apartheid State?

11:28 Is Israel Committing Genocide?

17:50 Is a Two-State Solution Right for Israel and Palestine?

21:14 What Is the Pathway to Ending the War in Gaza?

26:06 Did the CIA Assassinate JFK?

28:12 On the Legitimacy of Conspiracy Theories