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Ep 71: David Deutsch explains "explanations" further. (A "question for David" 2) Jun 21, 2021

Show notes

This is the second part of my interview with David - with me making some remarks about it. I will eventually release the entire conversation.

If you would like to support this endeavor, do consider making a one off (or even monthly) donation by clicking the “Donate” button on the front page of www.bretthall.org or you may “subscribe” at https://patreon.com/BrettRHall

or contribute "per episode" at https://www.patreon.com/tokcast

Ep 70: A question for David 1 Jun 10, 2021

Show notes

The first episode in a new series of "Questions for David" - featuring David Deutsch himself - as a supplement or appendix to my series on "The Beginning of Infinity". This first one is about "The Reality of Abstractions".

Ep 69: "The Beginning" Part 4. The Final episode. May 27, 2021

Show notes

This is the final "The Beginning of Infinity" episode.

I must say: the Youtube version of this contains many useful videos and images to help with what is being described and explained.

Either way: Enjoy! (And rest assured "The Science of Can and Can't" and "The Fabric of Reality" episodes will continue to come out weekly. This is not the end, but "The Beginning").

Here is a time-stamped summary of the contents of this episode:

00:00 “The Horizon”: An introduction to “The Beginning of Infinity”

03:10 The Beginning. A throwback.

04:20 The point of all this.

06:15 Comments on Ricky Gervais and Sam Harris “Absolutely Mental” podcast and related themes

09:30 A place for religion and people.

16:00 A central message of BoI

16:45 Books that inform a worldview: including "The Fabric of Reality" by David Deutsch and "The End of Faith" by Sam Harris

22:30 Some criteria for understanding

27:40 Competing “epistemologies”.

31:20 Some comments on Ayn Rand’s philosophy

32:30 The “knowledge density” of "The Beginning of Infinity"

38:20 Critical thinking

43:15 Common Sense Realism

47:30 The end of the introduction

48:00 Reading Part 1

49:05 My reflections on historian Roy Porter and the competing Enlightenments

56:45 Reading Part 2

57:00 Prophesies and Predictions.

59:15 Reading Part 3

59:30 "Popperian Provisos"

1:00:35 Reading Part 4

1:00:51 The infinite potential of explanatory knowledge

1:01:40 Reading Part 5

1:04:10 Physical reality and laws of physics

1:05:15 Reading Part 6

1:05:30 Simulations vs recordings of people

1:06:35 Reading Part 7

1:08:00 Misunderstandings of Explanatory Universality

1:10:00 The Final Reading

1:11:00 The Beginning. A Throwback Part 2

1:12:30 Extended credits.

Music: "Double Slit Test" by Ketsa: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/The_Double_Slit_Test/Double_Slit_Test

Made for Mum & Jem.

Ep 68: Crypto Comments May 21, 2021

Show notes

This podcast is abut crypto - and recent volatility. I explain some of the psychological motivation for crypto currency and compare it to fiat currency and the liabilities of both. Some comments on so-called “Modern Monetary Policy/Theory”.

If you wish to support my podcast, that can be done here: ToKCast is creating Videos, Podcast and Articles | Patreonhttps://www.patreon.com › BrettRHall or here

Brett Hall is creating Videoes and Podcasts about ... - Patreonhttps://www.patreon.com › tokcast

or for Paypal donations - either one off or monthly go here and click on "Donate" http://www.bretthall.org

Ep 67:"The Fabric of Reality" episode 2. May 20, 2021

Show notes

In this, the second part of discussion about the first chapter of “The Fabric of Reality”, we delve more deeply into what the distinction between “The theory of everything” that particle physicists have in mind and what David Deutsch’s more encompassing, more grand vision is for a unification of our deepest theories (of which the particle-physicists hoped-for unification of the forces is only a part). The former, purely physics-of-motion theory may be “predictive” in some sense but not fully explanatory. We discuss the crucial importance of the concept of “emergence” and I end this episode with “The Parable of the Copper Atom” which is first encountered here, in this first chapter of “FoR” - makes a comeback in “The Beginning of Infinity” and has taken on a life of its own out there in social media and philosophical space as a withering refutation of reductionism.

Ep 66: “The Science of Can and Can’t” episode 2 May 17, 2021

Show notes

This episode is focussed on the physics content of chapter 1. I explain what the current “conception” of physics is in terms of dynamical laws and initial conditions. I run through a simple example of how equations of motion are used and discuss how this has been, hitherto, the way physics has been done, is done and is expected to continue to be done according to most philosophers and physicists. We then compare this vision of physics to what constructor theory aims to achieve by considering more than just a single thread through the fabric of reality (what was, is and will be) and instead to consider what might have been and might still be. This clearly has implications for knowledge and, again, we hint at the possibility of a physics of epistemology. It also opens up the possibility for physics to address questions about why the initial conditions are the way they are and thus provides a new window into the origins of the universe and the problem of "fine tuning" when it comes to the constant of nature and the form of the physical laws.

Ep 65: Quasars May 14, 2021

Show notes

The title says it all. This episode is about quasars. I return to my original “training” in astrophysics in order to correct some misconceptions that may have crept into my video titled “The Nexus” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpTxBkmr4LE

This episode covers three basic things:

The history of the discovery of quasars

The physics of quasars

Varieties of quasars

As with episodes of this kind, it is "image intensive" and although I hope listeners of the audio only will find value - there might be something missed without the images.

This episode is also in recognition of the long term work of author Danny Frederick's contribution to the promotion of Popperian epistemology. May Danny be remembered as a philosopher of deep insight into epistemology and a critically rational worldview.

Ep 64 Ch 18 "The Beginning" Part 3 May 12, 2021

Show notes

The Penultimate “The Beginning of Infinity” episode. Herein we contrast pessimism with optimism - what the conditions are for providing succour to either philosophy and who some of the leaders are. While science writers such as John Horgan, author of “The End of Science” may provide something of an introduction to the ways in which people can conclude “the end is night”, philosophers like Nick Bostrom and Verner Vinge take things further providing academic papers on “the singularity” and “the doomsday argument” and “the simulation argument” - all of which regard people as being but a prelude to something else: a time without or beyond people. The arguments are summarised and countered. I provide my own spin on things, and invoke the work of computer scientist Jaron Lanier, who (while at times writing of a bleak *now*) exhaults people in the same way as David Deutsch via a different method and looks forward to a future where people are ascendant. What does our best science tell us about what is to come? If we are to take seriously our best theories - is there hope? And is there an opportunity to even find fun and funniness in what we are promised for the future? I have some ideas.

Ep 63: "The Fabric of Reality" episode 1 May 07, 2021

Show notes

This is an exploration of the first 7 pages of "The Fabric of Reality". I spend much of the time talking about the significance of the book, how I missed so much even on my first few readings of it and how we find even in these first few pages not merely the seeds of aspects of David Deutsch's later work, but an entire forest of important ideas that motivate much in "The Beginning of Infinity" and his other philosophical work such as "The Logic of Experimental Tests": https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/271767/1-s2.0-S1355219816X00032/1-s2.0-S135521981530023X/main.pdf?X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjELP%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJIMEYCIQDFvidQX0HdiKbHk8tDPI6Xx3d%2B08WVdW4bvTrJtAYhMQIhAOt3a6GjnI1w40bclPo3W%2FmgEaTVnQbmCk0bLelHxjBMKrQDCDwQAxoMMDU5MDAzNTQ2ODY1IgxMZezhD4njxDVguhMqkQNVjXPy%2FvRGzs%2FHY9Eq0tQcEX79UhxDO7Y%2B1Q71GgGvyy3IIsw3VGCgbYaLsIV7h%2BhoB6bfELgfSNGiy33pRrgxKytokoNoIXVQRSCJdkc%2F93GAjaEDCpzMDX1NV9Jujj9iQOHeLzbiLkqMCXld1sWannla7s7Nm2MOb7GdKYkHcGnHcba5fugyQE8HUhiCtGFHzyPRyq2ZnuoL7SFFGeC5tLB7X7TFQhT2YO%2FuXrt9LLkIiFAPCGsCAYW2AMr0XuQdkuG7CxWDYmTIWLTJ734iOlYtppxYbperE3Y63xDqTS7Jq80A79It3GulbT9iStjm7JBFy4LF3ZZbhs%2F60XABJ8U3WyEV4d4sYYWIzPsoTFZoFB3OQlchQg6WNuFwQXUHj5yLYnJDRkVP%2BnggZ%2Boln%2BJw8ILAe9BUexIxS1qGO2J8xgQciX04NQG2ELZ6ciEQnC12rc7l2nIMtz56C3JfPaYJhMwk%2B6%2FJkkxYlNvT5bhxxSwq4hTVPpBWXbMZNWx%2B5FilnKR6kIbmVmPM2L8MvjDg2NKEBjrqAQG87WkTVsRgGe2AoR45PfFE%2BVUqtcUC9qY8q8vzdDIEKGwhaA3BMdfISXsH8Sl7Jxw0TxNioDazf5uueAEQB2yFowtSVc9udD9N6mhwOlRby4RBAPLwkAEgz%2FWl4aXXE3%2FaWxCuXQfWEFbN9mSHtc2kmafJWYYfijbeOdmTC9kRwrCVraCdWAGPgzcUNGW0ciNWBo6s%2B9Vci2sCyZo7OCcVfYMuWZFDjcWYK0t3kGvEvVWQuFTLyOTSLsDvZNf0JeZo5%2BggGnUuqs8DFMZ0GlcEaeP5GnNcPaMdAqitYYF67f9vfRQdGsbGbg%3D%3D&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20210507T033518Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAQ3PHCVTYQHJSKL4E%2F20210507%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=5f11cec79591e29071a4fd8800fd5d04f1af8a99e6afc05e17f2f07b201e3a92&hash=5835606749c3a73dfb50b1c1a16451933716d7dd085bc5ca765562e01bae8aa1&host=68042c943591013ac2b2430a89b270f6af2c76d8dfd086a07176afe7c76c2c61&pii=S135521981530023X&tid=spdf-d6a79e96-757a-4541-9f5d-c2e61a0df1ed&sid=cd7069598b3c214f033b0e3-bdecf1cfde71gxrqa&type=client For many who read "FoR" as it has affectionately become known prior to "The Beginning of Infinity" (BoI) - it was FoR that really shifted our mindset from a common-sense and traditional understanding of science and philosophy to a genuinely Popperian world view, updated and refined by David Deutsch. This is not a book to be read lightly if one is unaccustomed to the work of David Deutsch. It will change your mind. I do not mean in the colloquial sense of that phrase - like "It will change an idea you have". I mean it will change what your mind is to you. You will think differently. You be speak differently. You will behave differently. You will be different. In a much better way.

Ep 62: "The Science of Can and Can't" episode 1. May 06, 2021

Show notes

This is the first episode in a new series devoted to an entirely new book: “The Science of Can and Can’t” by Chiara Marletto. Get the book anywhere ebooks are available (as of May, 2021) and learn more about Chiara and her work here: https://www.chiaramarletto.com

This book is an amazing work. It presents for the lay reader an introduction to “Constructor Theory” without losing any scientific or philosophical rigour. In this first episode, I explain the motivation for Constructor Theory as a departure from the traditional conception of physics as being about “dynamical laws”. For the first time in science, Constructor Theory attempts to provide a way of creating physical theories about counterfactuals. We go some way to exploring what a counterfactual is and at this early stage of the series outline a sketch of where the constructor theory approach may be found useful. This episode constitutes the first part of chapter 1. It covers some of the philosophy of counterfactuals and the application of constructor theory to epistemology. Discussion of the physics will be left to episode 2.

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