248 | Yejin Choi on AI and Common Sense
Over the last year, AI large-language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT have demonstrated a remarkable ability to carry on human-like conversations in a variety of different concepts. But the way these LLMs ...
28 Aug 20231h 12min
247 | Samuel Bowles on Economics, Cooperation, and Inequality
Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2023/08/21/247-samuel-bowles-on-economics-cooperation-and-inequality/ Economics, much like thermodynamics, is a story of collect...
21 Aug 20231h 20min
246 | David Stuart on Time and Science in Maya Civilization
You might remember the somewhat bizarre worries that swept through certain circles back in 2012, based on the end of the world being predicted by the Maya calendar. The world didn't end, which is unsu...
14 Aug 20231h 9min
AMA | August 2023
Welcome to the August 2023 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 Patr...
7 Aug 20233h 38min
245 | Solo: The Crisis in Physics
Physics is in crisis, what else is new? That's what we hear in certain corners, anyway, usually pointed at "fundamental" physics of particles and fields. (Condensed matter and biophysics etc. are just...
31 Jul 20234h 22min
244 | Katie Elliott on Metaphysics, Chance, and Explanation
Is metaphysics like physics, but cooler? Or is it a relic of an outdated, pre-empirical way of thinking about the world? Closer to the former than the latter. Rather than building specific quantitativ...
24 Jul 20231h 36min
243 | Joseph Silk on Science on the Moon
The Earth's atmosphere is good for some things, like providing something to breathe. But it does get in the way of astronomers, who have been successful at launching orbiting telescopes into space. Bu...
17 Jul 20231h 11min
242 | David Krakauer on Complexity, Agency, and Information
Complexity scientists have been able to make an impressive amount of progress despite the fact that there is not universal agreement about what "complexity" actually is. We know it when we see it, per...
10 Jul 20231h 33min
