51 | Anthony Aguirre on Cosmology, Zen, Entropy, and Information

51 | Anthony Aguirre on Cosmology, Zen, Entropy, and Information

Cosmologists have a standard set of puzzles they think about: the nature of dark matter and dark energy, whether there was a period of inflation, the evolution of structure, and so on. But there are also even deeper questions, having to do with why there is a universe at all, and why the early universe had low entropy, that most working cosmologists don't address. Today's guest, Anthony Aguirre, is an exception. We talk about these deep issues, and how tackling them might lead to a very different way of thinking about our universe. At the end there's an entertaining detour into AI and existential risk. Anthony Aguirre received his Ph.D. in Astronomy from Harvard University. He is currently associate professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where his research involves cosmology, inflation, and fundamental questions in physics. His new book, Cosmological Koans, is an exploration of the principles of contemporary cosmology illustrated with short stories in the style of Zen Buddhism. He is the co-founder of the Foundational Questions Institute, the Future of Life Institute, and the prediction platform Metaculus. Web site UCSC web page Google Scholar page Wikipedia Amazon.com author page Foundational Questions Institute Future of Life Institute Metaculus Twitter

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309 | Christof Koch on Consciousness and Integrated Information

309 | Christof Koch on Consciousness and Integrated Information

Consciousness is easier to possess than to define. One thing we can do is to look into the brain and see what lights up when conscious awareness is taking place. A complete understanding of this would...

24 Maalis 20251h 20min

308 | Alison Gopnik on Children, AI, and Modes of Thinking

308 | Alison Gopnik on Children, AI, and Modes of Thinking

We often study cognition in other species, in part to learn about modes of thinking that are different from our own. Today's guest, psychologist/philosopher Alison Gopnik, argues that we needn't look ...

17 Maalis 20251h 9min

AMA | March 2025

AMA | March 2025

Welcome to the March 2025 Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape! These monthly excursions are funded by Patreon supporters (who are also the ones asking the questions). We take questions asked by Patre...

10 Maalis 20252h 58min

307 | Kevin Peterson on the Theory of Cocktails

307 | Kevin Peterson on the Theory of Cocktails

A lot of science goes into crafting the perfect cocktail. Balancing sweet and bitter notes, providing the right amount of aeration and dilution, getting it to just the right temperature and keeping it...

3 Maalis 20251h 16min

306 | Helen Czerski on Our Energetic Oceans

306 | Helen Czerski on Our Energetic Oceans

It is commonplace to refer to the Earth's oceans as vast and largely unexplored. But we do understand some aspects, and improving that understanding is crucial to ensuring the continued viability and ...

24 Helmi 20251h 12min

305 | Lilliana Mason on Polarization and Political Psychology

305 | Lilliana Mason on Polarization and Political Psychology

Political outcomes would be relatively simple to predict and understand if only people were well-informed, entirely rational, and perfectly self-interested. Alas, real human beings are messy, emotiona...

17 Helmi 20251h 17min

Bonus | Cuts to Science Funding and Why They Matter

Bonus | Cuts to Science Funding and Why They Matter

The Trump administration, led by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency, has proposed sweeping cuts to spending on science research here in the US, in particular at the National Institu...

12 Helmi 20251h 10min

304 | James Evans on Innovation, Consolidation, and the Science of Science

304 | James Evans on Innovation, Consolidation, and the Science of Science

It is a feature of many human activities - sports, cooking, music, interpersonal relations - that being able to do them well doesn't necessarily mean you can accurately describe how to do them well. S...

10 Helmi 20251h 16min

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