Robinson's Podcast - Robinson Erhardt

Latest Episodes:

121 - Julian Barbour: Thermodynamics, Boltzmann Brains, and a New Theory of Time Jul 30, 2023

Show notes

Julian Barbour is a physicist working in the foundations of physics and quantum gravity, with a special interest in time and the history of science. In this episode, Julian and Robinson discuss thermodynamics and the arrows of time, including a new theory of time developed by Julian and his collaborators, which is laid out in his book, The Janus Point: A New Theory of Time. If you’re interested in the foundations of physics—which you absolutely should be—then please check out the John Bell Institute (Julian is an Honorary Fellow at the JBI), which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. At this early stage any donations are immensely helpful.

Julian’s Website: http://platonia.com/index.html

The Janus Point: https://a.co/d/4NVOGqq

A History of Thermodynamics: http://platonia.com/A_History_of_Thermodynamics.pdf

Quantum without Quantum: https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.13335

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

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:56 Introduction

04:42 Julian’s Interest in Time

07:27 Time’s Arrows

23:34 The Problem of Time-Reversal Symmetry

25:54 A Potted Overview of Entropy and Thermodynamics

38:21 Entropy and Time’s Arrow

52:32 The Janus Point and a New Theory of Time

01:07:00 Intuition and The Janus Point

01:21:21 Entropy and Entaxy

01:26:00 Cosmic Inflation and Its Problems

01:44:05 Quantum Mechanics without the Wave Function

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.

120 - Simon Blackburn: Vanity, Narcissism, Lust, and Pride Jul 28, 2023

Show notes

Simon Blackburn was Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge and Edna J. Koury Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. This is Simon’s second appearance on the show. In episode 68, Simon and Robinson discussed metaethics and moral realism. In this episode, they talk about his latest books, Lust and Mirror, Mirror, with special attention to toxic vanity, the tale of Narcissus, and pride.

Lust: https://a.co/d/9dcOem9

Mirror, Mirror: https://a.co/d/9uy81GY

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:38 Introduction

03:08 Love and Simon’s Philosophy

10:04 L’Oreal and Toxic Vanity

31:09 The Tale of Narcissus

42:41 Lust and Self-Love

46:45 Psychology and Narcissism

52:43 Pride

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

119 - Mark Solms: Neuropsychoanalysis and the Source of Consciousness Jul 26, 2023

Show notes

Mark Solms is professor of Neuropsychology at the Neuroscience Institute at the University of Cape Town. He is also a psychoanalyst, and while Mark’s early research focused on the brain mechanisms of sleep and dreaming, he is currently working on the neural correlates of consciousness and affect. In this episode, Robinson and Mark talk about his new book The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness. More particularly, they discuss the hard problem of consciousness and how recent advances in neuroscience have pointed toward a solution.

The Hidden Spring: https://a.co/d/jcvbmLw

Mark’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mark_Solms

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:47 Introduction

03:09 What is Neuropsychoanalysis?

11:54 Was Freud a Neuroscientist?

26:17 What is the Hard Problem of Consciousness?

36:24 What is the Relationship between Dreaming and Consciousness?

54:44 Patients without a Cortex

01:03:01 Does Consciousness Have a Purpose?

01:14:53 Daniel Dennett and Karl Friston

01:24:49 Solving the Hard Problem of Consciousness

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

118 - Slavoj Žižek & Sean Carroll: Quantum Physics, the Multiverse, and Time Travel Jul 23, 2023

Show notes

Slavoj Žižek is international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, visiting professor at New York University, and a senior researcher at the University of Ljubljana’s Department of Philosophy. He was also the guest for Robinson’s Podcast #109 on psychoanalysis, wokeness, racism, and a hundred other topics. Sean Carroll is Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University and fractal faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. He is also host of Sean Carroll’s Mindscape, a terrific show (that influenced the birth of Robinson’s Podcast) about science, society, philosophy, culture, arts, and ideas. Sean was one of the guests—along with David Albert of Columbia—on Robinson’s Podcast #106, which covers the Many-Worlds theory of quantum mechanics, entropy and Boltzmann Brains, and the fine-tuned universe. In this episode, Robinson, Sean, and Slavoj (though mostly Sean and Slavoj) talk about quantum mechanics, the indeterminacy of small-scale reality, cosmology and the big bang, major figures like Niels Bohr, Einstein, and Stephen Hawking, and the world of sci-fi, including movies like Everything Everywhere All at Once, Indian Jones, and the Avengers. If you’re interested in the foundations of physics—which you absolutely should be—then please check out the John Bell Institute (Sean is an Honorary Fellow at the JBI), which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. At this early stage any donations are immensely helpful.

Robinson's Podcast #109 | Slavoj Žižek: Wokeness, Psychoanalysis, and Quantum Mechanics: https://youtu.be/IxmZ4AVac7U

Robinson’s Podcast #106 | David Albert & Sean Carroll: Quantum Theory, Boltzmann Brains, & The Fine-Tuned Universe: https://youtu.be/U6ZtmGIhIhU

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

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

The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: https://a.co/d/dPKZ40X

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

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:38 Introduction

04:40 Quantum Incompleteness

15:56 A Problem with Many-Worlds?

27:08 Niels Bohr and the Copenhagen Interpretation

40:30 Ontological Indeterminacy and Quantum Physics

47:23 On Superposition, History, and Art

01:02:10 What’s The Status of the Big Bang?

01:09:57 Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, and Indeterminacy

01:21:13 Will Quantum Mechanics Be in a Theory of Everything?

01:27:55 Everything Everywhere All at Once, Indiana Jones, and The Avengers

01:33:03 Time Travel and Killing Hitler

01:41:54 On Stephen Hawking

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

117 - Anna Lembke: Dopamine, Drug Addiction, and Recovery Jul 21, 2023

Show notes

Dr. Anna Lembke received her undergraduate degree in Humanities from Yale University and and her medical degree from Stanford University. She is currently Professor and Medical Director of Addiction Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine. She is also Program Director of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Fellowship, and Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. In this episode, Robinson and Anna discuss her latest, New York Times bestselling book Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence (Dutton/Penguin Random House, August 2021). More particularly, they talk about just what happens in the brain when someone develops an addiction, what current social and cultural conditions have led to increased rates of addiction, and how all of these factors—and addiction itself—ought to be combatted. Anna is also the author of Drug Dealer, MD: How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked, and Why It’s So Hard to Stop (Johns Hopkins, 2016), which sounded the alarm on—and covers—various dimensions of the opioid crisis.

Dopamine Nation: https://a.co/d/0AJw6Je

Drug Dealer, MD: https://a.co/d/2soL324

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:56 Introduction

04:10 Addiction and Narrative

11:18 The Role of Dopamine in Addiction

20:29 Risk Factors for Addiction

27:31 Anna’s Addiction to Romance Novels

40:39 Pain, Pleasure, and Addiction

59:11 How to Tackle Addictions?

01:15:09 Is The Hype For Medical Psychedelics Overblown?

01:21:51 Honesty, Shame, and Recovery from Addiction

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

116 - Massimo Pigliucci: Pseudoscience, Conspiracy Theories, and the Public Intellectual Jul 19, 2023

Show notes

Massimo Pigliucci is K.D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City University of New York, where he specializes in both ancient philosophy and the philosophy of science. In addition to a doctorate in philosophy, Massimo has a PhD in evolutionary biology. In this episode, Robinson and Massimo discuss the vast landscape between science on the one hand and pseudoscience on the other, covering how they should be distinguished, examples galore, and the role of the public intellectual in science education. Check out Massimo’s excellent book, which ranges across these topics and more, Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk.

Nonsense on Stilts: https://a.co/d/agrSGF4

Massimo’s Website: https://massimopigliucci.org

Massimo’s Substack: https://figsinwinter.substack.com/

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

01:22 Introduction

04:17 Massimo’s Interest in Pseudoscience

10:29 What Is Pseudoscience?

24:36 Pseudoscience and The Search For Aliens

39:43 Conspiracy Theories and Expert Selection

46:00 Should Scientists Debate Pseudoscientists and Conspiracy Theorists?

49:20 Aristotle and the Elements of Scientific Communication

59:41 The Decline of the Public Intellectual and the Rise of the Think Tank

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

115 - Craig Callender & Tim Maudlin: Time Travel, Time’s Arrow, and The Block Universe Jul 16, 2023

Show notes

Craig Callender is Professor of Philosophy and Co-Director of the Institute for Practical Ethics at UC San Diego. Tim Maudlin is Professor of Philosophy at NYU and Founder and Director of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. Craig and Tim are leading philosophers of science and physics. Craig also appeared on episode 73, in which he and Robinson discussed pseudoscience and conspiracy theories. Tim was a guest on episode 46, which covered laws of nature, space, and free will, and episode 67 with David Albert, which was all about the foundations of quantum mechanics. In this episode, Craig, Tim, and Robinson delve into the philosophy of time, touching on the reality of the past, present, and future, the direction of time, its relationship to relativity and quantum mechanics, and time travel. Craig and Tim have both written on time. Check out Craig’s book What Makes Time Special? (Oxford University Press, 2017) and Tim’s book Philosophy of Physics, Volume 1: Space and Time (Princeton, 2012). If you’re interested in the foundations of physics—which you absolutely should be—then please check out the John Bell Institute, which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. At this early stage any donations are immensely helpful.

Craig’s Website: https://www.craigcallender.com

Tim’s Website: www.tim-maudlin.site

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

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

01:12 Introduction

04:43 The A- and B-Series of Time

21:20 Presentism, Possibilism, and Eternalism

42:03 Foliations in Time

57:39 Foliations of Time in Quantum Theory

01:03:30 Superluminal Signaling

01:11:56 The Direction of Time

01:35:24 Philosophy and Time Travel

02:03:07 The John Bell Institute

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

114 - Eric Helms: Nutrition, Bodybuilding, & Supplementation for Strength and Aesthetics Jul 14, 2023

Show notes

Eric Helms is an AUT Research Fellow at the Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand (Auckland University of Technology) in the Strength & Conditioning and Sports Physiology and Nutrition research groups. He is also the Director and Chief Science Officer of 3DMJ, an organization devoted to strength training and education centered around the same, a competitive bodybuilder, co-host of the Iron Culture podcast—which comes highly, highly recommended by Robinson—and a founding editor and reviewer for Monthly Applications in Strength Sport. Eric is also the author of two terrific books on strength training and nutrition respectively, The Muscle and Strength Pyramid: Training and The Muscle and Strength Pyramid: Nutrition. In this episode, Robinson and Eric discuss one of his areas of expertise, nutrition, covering both broad topics like various approaches to structuring one’s diet and more specific questions like how much protein you should be consuming and what supplements you should be taking.

Eric’s Instagram: @helms3dmj

Iron Culture: https://ironculture.libsyn.com

MASS: https://massresearchreview.com

3DMJ: https://3dmusclejourney.com

OUTLINE

00:00 Introduction

03:36 Eric’s Academic Background

11:14 Should You Get Your Diet Advice From Bodybuilders?

18:28 The Benefits of Intuitive Eating

52:25 How to Determine Maintenance Calories

59:50 How Much Protein Should You Be Eating?

01:16:38 MASS

01:20:08 Creatine

01:30:43 Should You Take BCAAs?

01:38:33 The Role of Meta-analyses in Sports Science

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

113 - David Spiegel: Hypnosis and Mental Illness Jul 11, 2023

Show notes

David Spiegel is Willson Professor of Medicine and Associate Chair of Psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine. He did his undergraduate work at Yale and received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. David is highly regarded as one of the most creative psychiatrists in the field, and has worked on a wide array of topics within the discipline. In this episode, Robinson and David discuss his pioneering work in hypnotherapy, as David is the world’s leading hypnotherapist and hypnotherapy researcher. More particularly, they discuss the origins of hypnotherapy, its relationship to hypnosis in popular culture, how therapeutic interventions fare compare to pharmaceutical interventions for mental illness, how hypnosis treats mental disorders, and how self-hypnosis can be a useful tool in everyone’s mental health arsenal. David is also the Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Reveri, which is a groundbreaking self-hypnosis application for your smartphone that can guide you through a wide variety of modules to help improve sleep, anxiety, eating habits and many other facets of life.

Reveri: https://www.reveri.com

Trance & Treatment: Clinical Uses of Hypnosis: https://a.co/d/0lLXoU2

OUTLINE:

00:00 Introduction

4:24 David’s Start in Hypnotherapy

10:28 Hypnotherapy’s Rising Popularity

16:46 Therapy Versus Medication?

23:50 PTSD, MDMA, and Hypnosis

30:37 What Is Hypnotherapy?

36:05 Hypnosis and Comedic Gags

39:24 Are You Hypnotizable

59:31 Is Hypnotherapy Supported by Research?

01:04:41 Can Hypnosis Treat Eating Disorders?

01:09:20 Hypnosis, Restructuring, Psychopathy, and Understanding the Self

01:15:32 Reveri and Self-Hypnosis

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

112 - Victor Davis Hanson: Revisionist History and the Dying Citizen Jul 09, 2023

Show notes

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 Dying Citizen. More particularly, they talk about the Ancient Greek origin of a flourishing egalitarian society centered around the notion of citizenship, the way this history has been subverted and recast, the perils of judging the past through the lens of the present, how citizenship is threatened in the United States today, and the nature of human progress. 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

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

01:18 Introduction

04:10 The Dying Classics

10:28 Ancient Greece and the Perils of Revisionist History

20:55 Don’t Judge the Past Against the Present

24:32 The Difference between Citizens and Residents

40:04 The Importance of Citizenship