Robinson's Podcast - Robinson Erhardt

Latest Episodes:

161 - James Owen Weatherall: Nothingness and the Physics of the Void Nov 01, 2023

Show notes

James Owen Weatherall is Professor of Logic and the Philosophy of Science and Department Chair at the University of California, Irvine, where he is also a member of the Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Science, the Center for Cosmology, and the Jack W. Peltason Center for the Study of Democracy. Jim is a physicist, mathematician, and philosopher, and works broadly on the mathematical and conceptual foundations of classical and quantum field theories, as well as the philosophy of science more generally, though he has plenty of other interests, such as model building in finance. In this episode, Robinson and Jim discuss nothingness and the physics of the void, beginning with the debate between Leibniz and Newton on the nature of space, moving through the revolution ushered in by Einstein’s special and general relativity, and ending with the quantum vacuum state.

Jim’s Website: http://jamesowenweatherall.com

Void: https://a.co/d/eEwbGCh

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:49 Introduction

03:04 MFA, PhD, PhD

06:04 Physics and Metaphysics

16:00 Newton, Leibniz, and the Debate Over Absolute Space

39:32 How Did Einstein Change Our Understanding of Space?

01:03:28 How Does Quantum Theory Change Our Classical Picture of the World

01:14:15 Fields and the Quantum Mechanics of the Void

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.

160 - David Friedman: What is Anarcho-Capitalism? Oct 29, 2023

Show notes

David Friedman is Professor Emeritus at the Santa Clara University School of Law. While he was trained as a physicist, David is best known for his work in economics, and particularly his defense of anarcho-capitalism, a political philosophy that advocates for a free-market system unhampered by government. In this episode, Robinson and David discuss some criticisms of current economic systems, the varieties of anarchism, David’s arguments for anarcho-capitalism, and one of his fascinating hobbies, anachronism.

David’s Website: http://www.daviddfriedman.com

David’s Substack: https://daviddfriedman.substack.com

The Machinery of Freedom: https://a.co/d/iKpTQYK

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:17 Introduction

02:55 Physics to Economics

09:35 What is Anarchism?

16:09 Is Government an Agency of Legitimized Coercion?

27:41 Could Anarchy Be More Efficient than Government?

37:52 What Are Moral Facts?

44:46 Was John Rawls a Quack?

48:44 What Are Moral Facts?

56:07 How Much Should We Trust the Government?

01:02:05 Can Governments Prevent Climate Change?

01:13:18 Could We Privatize Police?

01:30:11 Would Anarchy Lead to Wealth Inequality?

01:40:08 Will the United States Ever Become Anarchic?

01:46:26 Anachronism

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

159 - Erik Verlinde: Entropic Gravity, Black Holes, and the Holographic Principle Oct 27, 2023

Show notes

Erik Verlinde is Professor of Physics in the Faculty of Science at the University of Amsterdam, where he specializes in quantum gravity and string theory, black holes, and cosmology. In this episode, Erik and Robinson discuss his studies with the Nobel laureate Gerard ’t Hooft, black holes, the holographic principle, string theory, entropic gravity, and dark matter.

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:51 Introduction

02:16 Studying with Gerard ‘t Hooft

13:33 How Do Black Holes Connect Quantum Theory and General Relativity?

20:57 Why Are Black Holes the Most Symmetric Objects in the Universe

24:10 How Do You Measure a Black Hole’s Entropy?

30:32 What Is The Holographic Principle in Physics?

44:17 What is String Theory and What Does It Teach Us About Black Holes?

01:04:49 What Is Entropic Gravity?

01:24:09 What’s the Connection Between String Theory and Quantum Mechanics?

01:29:33 Entropic Gravity and General Relativity

01:40:32 Does Entropic Gravity Explain Dark Matter?

01:47:50 The Present and Future of Emergent Gravity

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

158 - Sheldon Solomon: Terror Management Theory and the Denial of Death Oct 25, 2023

Show notes

Sheldon Solomon is Professor of Psychology at Skidmore College. He is best known for developing terror management theory with Tom Pyszczynski and Jeff Greenberg, which explores human psychology and mortality. In this episode, Robinson and Sheldon discuss Ernest Becker’s groundbreaking book The Denial of Death, how it influenced him and his collaborators, and how they have studied—with the tools of contemporary social psychology—how humans are affected by their sense of mortality.

The Worm at the Core: https://a.co/d/7p05yA6

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:51 Introduction

03:33 Discovering Ernest Becker

08:29 What Is Self-Esteem?

19:04 Freud and the Denial of Death

27:20 Man and the Heroic Journey

46:41 Where Was Becker Wrong?

54:44 What Is Terror Management Theory?

01:06:26 Children’s Fear of Death

01:10:23 A History of Death Denial

01:14:19 Possible Criticisms

01:18:00 A Prescriptive Dimension to Death Denial

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

157 - David Albert: The Metaphysics of Quantum Mechanics Oct 22, 2023

Show notes

David Albert is the Frederick E. Woodbridge Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University and one of the world’s most respected philosophers of physics. He is also the director of the Philosophical Foundations of Physics program at Columbia and a faculty member of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. This is David’s fifth (!) appearance on Robinson’s Podcast. He appeared on episode #23 with Justin Clarke-Doane on metaethics and absolute space, episode #30 on the philosophy of time, episode #67 with Tim Maudlin on the foundations of quantum theory, and episode #106 with Sean Carroll on Many-Worlds and fine-tuning. In this episode, Robinson and David discuss his new book, A Guess at the Riddle: Essays on the Physical Underpinnings of Quantum Mechanics (Harvard, 2023), and the metaphysics of quantum mechanics. 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.

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

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

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:56 Introduction

05:12 On The Metaphysics of Quantum Mechanics

30:24 The Complex Origins of Antirealism in Quantum Physics

37:29 Instrumentalism and String Theory

45:31 The Amazing History of Locality in Physics

01:22:38 Quantum Mechanics as Experimental Metaphysics

01:26:27 What Is Wave-Function Realism in the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics?

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

156 - Fay Dowker: Wormholes, Quantum Gravity, and Causal Set Theory Oct 20, 2023

Show notes

Fay Dowker is Professor of Theoretical Physics at Imperial College London, where she works broadly on quantum gravity, and more particularly on an approach called causal set theory that takes the most basic pieces of the universe to be atoms of spacetime. In this episode, Robinson and Fay begin by discussing her studies with Stephen Hawking and their work on wormholes before turning to quantum gravity and causal set theory. Fay is also a faculty member at 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.

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

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:50 Introduction

04:49 How Do Physicists Think of Wormholes?

15:56 Stephen Hawking, Philosophy, and Quantum Gravity

26:00 Causal Set Theory and The Problem of Quantum Gravity

43:45 What is the Path Integral?

54:43 Is Spacetime Discrete?

57:40 Causal Set Theory and Black Holes

01:14:27 Lorentz Symmetry, Non-Locality, and Phenomenology in Causal Set Theory

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

155 - Tony Padilla: Mathematical Platonism, Intergalactic Doppelgängers, and Gigantic Numbers Oct 18, 2023

Show notes

Tony Padilla is Professor of Physics in the School of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Nottingham, where he is the Associate Director of the new Nottingham Centre of Gravity. Tony works in cosmology, quantum gravity, and related areas. He is also a host of the YouTube channel Numberphile, and the author of Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them: A Cosmic Quest from Zero to Infinity (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2022). In this episode, Robinson and Tony discuss some of these fantastic numbers. They begin with the question of how numbers relate to physics and the world more generally before turning to Graham’s Number, Tree(3), and the question of whether or not we have doppelgängers elsewhere in the universe.

Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them: https://a.co/d/jiLCOJe

Numberphile: https://www.youtube.com/@numberphile

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:13 Introduction

02:57 Tony’s Interest in Numbers

07:51 Are Numbers Parts of the Physical World?

20:12 Do We Have Doppelgängers Elsewhere in the Universe?

54:16 What is Graham’s Number?

01:03:22 Tree(3)

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

154 - Richard Wolff: Karl Marx and the Myths of Marxism Oct 15, 2023

Show notes

Richard Wolff is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a visiting professor at The New School, where he works on economics in the Marxist tradition. This is Richard’s second appearance on Robinson’s Podcast. In episode #127, he and Robinson discussed some of the most profound criticisms of capitalism. In this installment, they focus on Marx himself, including Karl Marx’s background, his most important views, what he wrote and didn’t write, and some of the common—and potentially devastating—criticisms of Marxism.

Richard’s Website: https://www.rdwolff.com

Economic Update: https://www.democracyatwork.info/economicupdate

The Sickness is the System: https://a.co/d/jf5w5wy

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:22 Introduction

03:55 Who Was Karl Marx?

32:15 Karl Marx, Armchair Intellectual?

37:40 Answering Karl Marx’s Critics

50:38 Is Karl Marx Responsible for the Communist Genocides?

01:14:09 Marxism and The World Economy of Today

01:17:53 Is Socialism a Monolith? Does Marxism Evolve?

01:25:13 On Marxism and Mass Death

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

153 - Alan Stern: New Horizons and Mankind’s First Mission to Pluto Oct 13, 2023

Show notes

Alan Stern is a planetary scientist, space program executive, aerospace consultant, and author. He leads NASA’s 880 million dollar New Horizons mission, which explored Pluto and its moons before heading deeper into the Kuiper Belt that surrounds the solar system. In 2007 and 2008, Alan was also NASA’s chief of space and Earth science programs. In this episode, Robinson and Alan talk all about Pluto and how Earth got there through New Horizons. They begin by discussing whether or not Pluto should be classified as a planet, before turning to the logistics of flying to Pluto and then what the New Horizons probe discovered there. Alan’s book, Chasing New Horizons (Picador, 2018) details the story of the groundbreaking mission.

Alan’s Website: https://alanstern.space

Chasing New Horizons: https://a.co/d/gwvun3e

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:56 Introduction

02:46 Why Planets?

08:23 Is Pluto a Planet?

22:19 New Horizons’ Journey to Pluto

30:14 NASA’s Flyby-Then-Probe Model

37:20 What Did NASA’s New Horizons Mission Learn About Pluto?

50:11 New Horizons After Pluto and Beyond

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

152 - Geraint F. Lewis: Is The Universe Fine-Tuned For Life? Oct 11, 2023

Show notes

Geraint F. Lewis is Professor of Astrophysics at the Sydney Institute for Astronomy in the University of Sydney’s School of Physics. While the focus of his research is on dark matter and energy, Geraint has written about and worked on many topics in cosmology and astrophysics more generally. In this episode, Robinson and Geraint discuss the question of fine-tuning: Our universe seems extremely well-suited for life, and with just the slightest variations in physics life as we know it would not exist. In what ways does the universe appear finely tuned, and how should we account for this?

Geraint’s Website: https://www.geraintflewis.com

A Fortunate Universe: https://a.co/d/aLKIcG5

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:34 Introduction

2:59 The Bigger Questions

05:40 Was the Earth Designed for Humans?

10:33 Fine-Tuning and the Standard Model of Particle Physics

18:40 What Is the Anthropic Principle?

28:46 Is the Weak Nuclear Force Necessary For Life?

36:36 Are The Strong and Electromagnetic Forces Necessary for Life?

52:52 The Higgs Boson and Fine-Tuning