1 - Haim Gaifman: Vagueness & the Sorites Paradox

Jay McClelland is Lucie Stern Professor in the Department of Psychology at Stanford University, where he is also Director of the Center for Mind, Brain, Computation and Technology. Along with other towering figures like Geoffrey Hinton, Jay is considered one of the fathers of artificial intelligence. In this episode, Robinson and Jay discuss some of his main interests in and contributions to the field, including his work on parallel distributed processing with David Rumelhart, the relationship between neural networks and the brain, and just what developments are necessary for artificial intelligence to replicate the thinking of the greatest human scientists and engineers. Parallel Distributed Processing: https://a.co/d/aELzYx2 OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 00:30 Introduction 02:55 Jay’s Beginnings in Psychology 07:46 What Is Parallel Distributed Processing? 24:21 Cognitive Phenomena and Neural Networks 37:27 Fodor and Pylyshyn on Neural Networks 52:10 Affective Reasoning 55:52 Advancing AI to Compete with Scientists 01:10:02 What Distinguishes AI From Our Greatest Thinkers? 01:14:15 AI and Mathematical Cognition 01:18:47 Macrostructure and Microstructure 01:43:32 Final Thoughts 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.

6 Elo 20231h 47min

Paul Boghossian is Silver Professor of Philosophy at New York University, where he is also Chair of the Philosophy Department. Paul has worked in a wide variety of areas within philosophy, including epistemology and the philosophy of language, mind, and logic respectively. Robinson and Paul discuss the sociological relationship between physics and philosophy, the Sokal Hoax, philosophy in public life, the role of the a priori and a posteriori distinction in metaphysics, logic, and epistemology, and the nature of moral facts. For more detail on the latter, check out Paul’s book with Timothy Williamson, Debating The A Priori (Oxford, 2020). Debating The A Priori: https://a.co/d/diNADPx OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 00:32 Introduction 04:33 Physics and Philosophy 17:12 The Sokal Hoax 26:52 Distinguishing the A Priori and A Posteriori 31:59 Does The A Priori/A Posteriori Distinction Hold Water? 48:07 Clarifying the Distinction 53:51 Debating the A Priori with Timothy Williamson 01:03:11 Are There Moral Facts? 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.

4 Elo 20231h 19min

David Pizarro is Professor of Psychology at Cornell University. While he teaches and publicly discusses a wide variety of material in the discipline, his primary research interest is in moral judgment. In this episode, Robinson and David discuss some of the conceptual underpinnings of moral psychology before turning to the research on praise, blame, social cognition, and the relationship between disgust and political affiliation. David is also the co-host of two podcasts, Very Bad Wizards with Tamler Sommers and Psych with Paul Bloom. David’s Website: http://peezer.net David’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/peez Very Bad Wizards: https://verybadwizards.fireside.fm Psych: https://psych.fireside.fm OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 00:39 Introduction 02:52 David’s Interest in Moral Psychology 06:42 Morality, Judgment, and Intuition in Psychology 30:40 Did Psychology Advance Too Fast 33:44 The Psychology of Praise and Blame 56:26 Why Do We Blame Objects and Robots? 01:10:09 Ostracism, Loneliness, and the Human Condition 01:14:27 The Psychology of Disgust 01:32:26 Disgust and Moral Judgement 01:40:10 Disgust Sensitivity and Political Affiliation 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.

2 Elo 20231h 49min

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.

30 Heinä 20231h 57min

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 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.

28 Heinä 20231h 3min

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 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.

26 Heinä 20231h 32min

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 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.

23 Heinä 20231h 48min

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 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.

21 Heinä 20231h 28min