39 | Malcolm MacIver on Sensing, Consciousness, and Imagination
Consciousness has many aspects, from experience to wakefulness to self-awareness. One aspect is imagination: our minds can conjure up multiple hypothetical futures to help us decide which choices we s...
25 Mar 20191h 19min
38 | Alan Lightman on Transcendence, Science, and a Naturalist's Sense of Meaning
Let's say, for sake of argument, that you don't believe in God or the supernatural. Is there still a place for talking about transcendence, the sacred, and meaning in life? Some of the above, but not ...
18 Mar 20191h 16min
37 | Edward Watts on the End of the Roman Republic and Lessons for Democracy
When many of us think "Ancient Rome," we think of the Empire and the Caesars. But the Empire was preceded by the Roman Republic, which flourished for a full five centuries. Why, after such a long and ...
11 Mar 20191h 31min
36 | David Albert on Quantum Measurement and the Problems with Many-Worlds
Quantum mechanics is our best theory of how reality works at a fundamental level, yet physicists still can't agree on what the theory actually says. At the heart of the puzzle is the "measurement prob...
4 Mar 20191h 42min
35 | Jessica Yellin on The Changing Ways We Get Our News
Everything we think about the world outside our immediate senses is shaped by information brought to us by other sources. In the case of what's currently happening to the human race, we call that info...
25 Feb 20191h 8min
34 | Paul Bloom on Empathy, Rationality, Morality, and Cruelty
Within every person's mind there is on ongoing battle between reason and emotion. It's not always a battle, of course; very often the two can work together. But at other times, our emotions push us to...
18 Feb 20191h 10min
33 | James Ladyman on Reality, Metaphysics, and Complexity
Reality is a tricky thing. Is love real? What about the number 5? This is clearly a job for a philosopher, and James Ladyman is one of the world's acknowledged experts. He and his collaborators have b...
11 Feb 20191h 7min
32 | Naomi Oreskes on Climate Change and the Distortion of Scientific Facts
Our climate is in the midst of dramatic changes, driven largely by human activity, with potentially enormous consequences for humanity and other species. That's why science tells us, anyway. But there...
4 Feb 20191h 10min
