Talks at Google

From the bestselling authors and hosts of "The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe" podcast, Steven Novella, Jay Novella & Bob Novella visit Google to discuss their book "The Skeptics' Guide to the Future: What Yesterday's Science and Science Fiction Tell Us About the World of Tomorrow." The book is a high-tech roadmap of the future, cracking open the follies of futurists' past and how technology will profoundly change our world, redefining what it means to be human. Our predictions of the future are a wild fantasy, inextricably linked to our present hopes and fears, biases and ignorance. Whether they be the outlandish leaps predicted in the 1920s, like multi-purpose utility belts with climate control capabilities and planes the size of luxury cruise ships, or the forecasts of the ‘60s, which didn’t anticipate the sexual revolution or women’s liberation, the path to the present is littered with failed predictions and incorrect estimations. The best we can do is try to absorb the lessons from futurism's checkered past, perhaps learning to do a little better. In the book, Steven Novella and his co-authors build upon the work of futurists of the past by examining what they got right, what they got wrong, and how they came to those conclusions. By exploring the pitfalls of each era, they give their own speculations about the distant future, transformed by unbelievable technology ranging from genetic manipulation to artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Applying their trademark skepticism, they carefully extrapolate upon each scientific development, leaving no stone unturned as they lay out a vision for the future. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

6 Des 20221h 7min

In "How to Create a Mind, The Secret of Human Thought Revealed," futurist and author Ray Kurzweil explores the limitless potential of reverse engineering the human brain. Ray Kurzweil is arguably today's most influential—and often controversial—futurist. In "How to Create a Mind," Kurzweil presents a provocative exploration of the most important project in human-machine civilization—reverse engineering the human brain to understand precisely how it works and using that knowledge to create even more intelligent machines. Kurzweil discusses how the brain functions, how the mind emerges from the brain, and the implications of vastly increasing the powers of our intelligence in addressing the world's problems. He thoughtfully examines emotional and moral intelligence and the origins of consciousness while envisioning the radical possibilities of our merging with the intelligent technology we are creating. A prolific inventor, Kurzweil was the principal developer of the first CCD flat-bed scanner, the first omni-font optical character recognition software, the first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind, the first text-to-speech synthesizer, the first music synthesizer capable of recreating the grand piano and other orchestral instruments, and the first commercially marketed large-vocabulary speech recognition software. Originally published in November of 2012. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

2 Des 20221h 21min

Astrophysicist and folklorist Dr. Moiya McTier visits Google to discuss her book "The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy." This approachable and fascinating autobiography of our galaxy details what humans have discovered about everything from its formation to its eventual death, and what more there is to learn about this galaxy we call home. After a few billion years of bearing witness to life on Earth, of watching one hundred billion humans go about their day-to-day lives, and of hearing its own story told by others, The Milky Way would like a chance to speak for itself. All one hundred billion stars and fifty undecillion gaseous tons of it. It all began some thirteen billion years ago, when clouds of gas scattered through the universe's primordial plasma could not keep their metaphorical hands off each other. They succumbed to their gravitational attraction, and the galaxy we know as the Milky Way was born. Since then, the galaxy has watched as dark energy pushed away its first friends, as humans mythologized its name and purpose, and as galactic archaeologists have worked to determine its true age. The Milky Way has absorbed supermassive black holes, made enemies of a few galactic neighbors, and mourned the deaths of countless stars. This fascinating autobiography recounts the history and future of the universe in accessible but scientific detail, presenting a summary of human astronomical knowledge thus far that is unquestionably out of this world. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

29 Nov 202249min

Weird Al Yankovic visits Google to discuss his new album "Mandatory Fun." He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific songs by world-renown artists such as Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Queen, and many more. Since having a comedy song aired on The Dr. Demento Radio Show in 1976 at age 16, Yankovic has sold more than 12 million albums, recorded more than 150 parodies and original songs, and performed more than 1,000 live shows. His work has earned him five Grammy Awards and a further 11 nominations, four gold records, and six platinum records in the U.S.. His first top ten Billboard album "Straight Outta Lynwood" and single "White & Nerdy" were both released in 2006, nearly three decades into his career. His latest album, "Mandatory Fun," became his first number-one album during its debut week. Yankovic's success comes in part from his effective use of music videos to parody pop culture, which are sometimes shot-for-shot recreations of the original. With the decline of music television and the onset of social media, he used YouTube and other video sites to publish his videos; this strategy has boosted sales of his later albums and returned him to the eye of popular culture. Most recently, his life and career were celebrated by the release of the semi-biographical parody film “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story”, starring Daniel Radcliffe as Weird Al. Originally published in July of 2014. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

25 Nov 202238min

Dandapani visits Google to discuss his book "The Power of Unwavering Focus." Anxiety, stress, worry, and fear—these mental maladies are making us increasingly unhappy and unhealthy. Dandapani—argues that learning how to concentrate is the cure. "The Power of Unwavering Focus" distills his wisdom and learnings into a step-by-step guide to taking charge of your life by understanding the mind, harnessing awareness, and cultivating a concentration practice. Dandapani is a Hindu priest, entrepreneur, and former monk of ten years. After graduating university with a degree in Electrical Engineering, he left it all behind to become a Hindu monk under the guidance of one of Hinduism’s foremost spiritual leaders of our time, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. For 10 years he lived a life of serious personal discipline and training at his guru’s cloistered monastery in Hawaii. When his vows expired, he chose to venture out into the world making New York City his home. He now works with entrepreneurs and some of the top athletes in the world in helping them understand and leverage their mind so that they can be the best at what they do. He does this by empowering them with tools and teachings that have been used by Hindu monks of his tradition for thousands of years. An internationally renowned speaker and world-leading expert on leveraging the human mind to create a life of purpose and joy, Dandapani has shared the stage with world-renowned leaders, companies and many individuals. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

22 Nov 20221h 5min

Moriyasu Ito, a priest with the renowned Meiji Jingu shrine in Tokyo, visits Google to share the history of Shintoism and how it has become an important part of Japanese culture. He talks about how Shinto first started in Japan, the way of Shinto in life, and its numerous festivities and celebrations. According to Ito, Shinto can be difficult for many foreigners to understand because it is not organized in the same way as many Western religions; it does not have initiation rituals or even a specific membership. Shinto focuses on the worship of kami, numerous divinities who are believed to inhabit all things. Numerically, it is Japan's largest religion, the second being Buddhism. Most of the country's population takes part in both Shinto and Buddhist activities, especially festivals, reflecting a common view in Japanese culture that the beliefs and practices of different religions need not be exclusive. Originally published in July of 2016. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

18 Nov 202225min

Randall Munroe visits Google to discuss his book "What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions." The millions of people around the world who read the first "What If?" book still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. Planning to ride a fire pole from the moon back to Earth? The hardest part is sticking the landing. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyone’s freezer door at the same time? Maybe it’s time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. Want to know what would happen if you rode a helicopter blade, built a billion-story building, made a lava lamp out of lava, or jumped on a geyser as it erupted? Okay, if you insist. But before you go on a cosmic road trip, feed the residents of New York City to a T. rex, or fill every church with bananas, be sure to consult this practical guide for impractical ideas. Unfazed by absurdity, Randall consults the latest research on everything from swing-set physics to airplane-catapult design to clearly and concisely answer his readers’ questions. As he consistently demonstrates, you can learn a lot from examining how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances. This book is filled with bonkers science, boundless curiosity, and Randall’s signature stick-figure comics. Randall Munroe is the author of the number one New York Times bestsellers "How To", "What If?", and "Thing Explainer"; the science question-and-answer blog “What If?”; and the popular web comic xkcd. A former NASA roboticist, he left the agency in 2006 to draw comics on the internet full time. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

15 Nov 20221h 4min

Richard Dawkins visits Google to discuss his book "The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True." Magic takes many forms. Supernatural magic is what our ancestors used in order to explain the world before they developed the scientific method. The ancient Egyptians explained the night by suggesting a goddess swallowed the sun. The Vikings believed a rainbow was the gods’ bridge to earth. The Japanese used to explain earthquakes by conjuring a gigantic catfish that carried the world on its back, and that earthquakes occurred each time it flipped its tail. These are magical, extraordinary stories. But there is another kind of magic, and it lies in the exhilaration of discovering the real answers to these questions. It is the magic of reality—science. Packed with clever thought experiments, dazzling illustrations and jaw-dropping facts, "The Magic of Reality" explains a stunningly wide range of natural phenomena. What is stuff made of? How old is the universe? Why do the continents look like disconnected pieces of a puzzle? What causes tsunamis? Why are there so many kinds of plants and animals? Who was the first human to walk the earth? This is a page-turning, graphic detective story that not only mines all the sciences for its clues, but primes the reader to think like a scientist as well. Richard Dawkins, perhaps the world’s most famous evolutionary biologist and one of science education’s most passionate advocates, has spent his career explaining the wonders of science for adult readers. Now he has teamed up with acclaimed artist Dave McKean and used his unrivaled explanatory powers to share the magic of science with readers of all ages. Dawkins and McKean have created an illustrated guide to the secrets of our world—and the universe beyond—that will entertain and inform for years to come. Originally published in March of 2012. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

11 Nov 20221h 9min