106 - David Albert & Sean Carroll: Quantum Theory, Boltzmann Brains, & The Fine-Tuned Universe
Robinson's Podcast25 Kesä 2023

106 - David Albert & Sean Carroll: Quantum Theory, Boltzmann Brains, & The Fine-Tuned Universe

David Albert is the Frederick E. Woodbridge Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University and Director of the Philosophical Foundations of Physics program at Columbia. David is a prior guest of the Robinson’s Podcast multiverse, having appeared on episodes #23 (with Justin Clarke-Doane), #30, and #67 (with Tim Maudlin). 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 also had a great conversation with David on Mindscape, linked below. Both David and Sean are rare breeds—philosophers who are physicists, and physicists who are philosophers—and in this episode Robinson, David, and Sean speak about some of the philosophical concerns at the foundations of physics. They first discuss the Many-Worlds theory of quantum mechanics before turning to the apparent fine-tuning of our universe for life and the possibility of Boltzmann Brains, or complex observers in the universe that arise spontaneously due to quantum fluctuations or the random motion of matter.


Preorder David’s A Guess at the Riddle: https://a.co/d/4MUEJZN


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


David Albert on Sean Carroll’s Mindscape: https://youtu.be/AglOFx6eySE


OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:59 Introduction

08:11 Superposition and The Many-Worlds Theory of Quantum Mechanics

22:34 Decoherence

27:20 Probability

41:32 Some Thought Experiments Concerning Probability

01:08:35 Parsimony

01:12:03 The Fine-Tuned Universe and Quantum Theory

01:14:52 Entropy

01:45:37 Intelligent Design

01:47:22 Boltzmann Brains Galore


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.

Jaksot(276)

84 - Chris Potts: Semantics, Pragmatics, and ChatGPT

84 - Chris Potts: Semantics, Pragmatics, and ChatGPT

Chris Potts is Professor and Chair of the Department of Linguistics at Stanford University, and also Professor by courtesy in the Department of Computer Science at the same. Chris has worked on a wide...

2 Touko 20231h 20min

83 - Barry Loewer: Probability, Laws of Nature, and Statistical Mechanics

83 - Barry Loewer: Probability, Laws of Nature, and Statistical Mechanics

Barry Loewer is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers. Before that he did his PhD in philosophy at Stanford (!). Barry works largely in the philosophy of physics, the philosophy of science,...

30 Huhti 20231h 27min

82 - Jonathan Wolff: Cities, States, and Political Philosophy

82 - Jonathan Wolff: Cities, States, and Political Philosophy

Jonathan Wolff is Alfred Landecker Professor of Values and Public Policy at the University of Oxford. He works in numerous areas of political philosophy. Some topics he has researched include equality...

27 Huhti 20231h 53min

81 - Anubav Vasudevan: Mathematics, Physics, and History of Logic

81 - Anubav Vasudevan: Mathematics, Physics, and History of Logic

Anubav Vasudevan is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Chicago, where he works in formal epistemology and the history of logic, though he has published in a numbe...

25 Huhti 20231h 57min

80 - Pamela Hieronymi: Free Will and Moral Responsibility

80 - Pamela Hieronymi: Free Will and Moral Responsibility

Pamela Hieronymi is Professor of Philosophy at UCLA. Before that, she did her undergraduate studies at Princeton and received her PhD from Harvard. Her work extends in a variety of directions, but som...

23 Huhti 20231h 16min

79 - Rachel Barney: Ancient Philosophy and the Sophists

79 - Rachel Barney: Ancient Philosophy and the Sophists

Rachel Barney is Professor of Classics and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. She received her PhD at Princeton and has taught at the University of Ottawa, Harvard, and the Universi...

22 Huhti 20231h 33min

78 - Paul Horwich: Truth, Realism, and Moral Facts

78 - Paul Horwich: Truth, Realism, and Moral Facts

Paul Horwich is Professor Philosophy at NYU. He has worked in a number of areas of philosophy, but is especially well-known for his writing on the philosophy of language, particularly with regard to t...

20 Huhti 20231h 16min

77 - Stephen Yablo: Non-Existence Claims, Jokes, and Defining Philosophy

77 - Stephen Yablo: Non-Existence Claims, Jokes, and Defining Philosophy

Stephen Yablo is David W. Skinner Professor of Philosophy at MIT. Before MIT, he taught at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Steve works in metaphysics, philosophy of mathematics, and the philoso...

18 Huhti 20231h 55min

Suosittua kategoriassa Tiede

rss-mita-tulisi-tietaa
tiedekulma-podcast
rss-duodecim-lehti
docemilia
utelias-mieli
mielipaivakirja
rss-tervetta-skeptisyytta
rss-kasvikutsut
hippokrateen-vastaanotolla
rss-bios-podcast
rss-ranskaa-raakana
rss-poliisin-mieli
rss-ammamafia
rss-astetta-parempi-elama-podcast
rss-tiedetta-vai-tarinaa