ToKCast

Ep 262: David Deutsch's "The Fabric of Reality" Chapter 13 "The Four Strands" Part 3

This episode is heavily focussed on Dawkin's "Selfish Gene" explanation of Darwin's evolution by natural selection. Obviously there are readings from the relevant part of this chapter from The Fabric of Reality but I augment that with sections from "The Selfish Gene" itself as well as "The Beginning of Infinity" as well as a larger portion of me providing additional unpacking and exposition.

Ep 261: Objective Morality II

Do not destroy the means of error correction. A deep unification of knowledge akin to unifying quantum theory with computation to create the theory of quantum computation. David Deutsch will be known for not merely forging the basis of quantum computing but also a new basis for morality and epistemology. I explain much of that here. "What should we do next?" is a question with an answer that is right or wrong, good or evil, better or worse. All existing moral frameworks philosophers debate are theories that can serve as criticisms of "what to do next". Morality is as objective as domain as mathematics, physics or anything else. Relativism, like it's sister philosophy dogmatism is false.

Ep 260: I don't believe it!

Response to a question about my discussion with  @drpeterboghossian  here: https://youtu.be/72vhtT0pFmA?si=hAx1kPho4DkLkBFN This is yet another way of coming at a critique around the concept of "belief" or those who profess to "believe" and so on using Deutsch's approach that knowledge is "information with causal power". I explore that for around the first 40 mins. If you're in a hurry, skip to the final 15 or 20 minutes where I get to responding to the meat of the matter in the question itself.

Ep 259: Reaction to Michael Levin Part 3: Bait and Switch, Podcastistan and Surprising(?) algorithms.

In this, the third and final part of a series, I break down some work Michael Levin has done with sorting algorithms. That seems very dry until you hear his claim that these algorithms that are well known and have been studied for decades exhibit extremely unusual behaviour never before spotted because "no one ever bothered to look". This part of the interview is between Ferris and Levin is referring to this paper: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10597123241269740 which is available on the arXiv at https://arxiv.org/pdf/2401.05375 and which a Forbes writer authored this "explainer" of sorts here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/andreamorris/2025/11/13/the-secret-life-of-algorithms/ and which Levin himself explains here: https://thoughtforms.life/algorithms-redux-finding-unexpected-properties-in-truly-minimal-systems/ Michael Levin has done some very interesting work in biology around worms regrowing heads and so on. But this "research" is quite a departure from that. Get my book here: https://www.amazon.com/Farthest-Reaches-Important-Entities-Universe/dp/B0GRR2LLZV/ref=sr_1_1?crid=157SNHQC0QFHK&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.D5jlSZxhaQmrjzrnV209t0-bvV-i5un48Fwu5tb8Y42AKywnL9YRXJ8ylEe8EPH2SBLoKpU2AXag0llMQ3XfVILgUrAiohRqKjRaBiNdrcUqVQIV6MyEUBdAWiwjufzS4dCs_m5HBm-Px8errzQVyqzjO7F9UEGMeOgpjDGyJBB5Qbi98LHHSYb91z0J5sP9fRT8BaP4wXNvi4p0Va4kbQNBXxPjUb0OOwORDDGbWGo.HBT8A2pQNHYK8NyTIn91VtLaPJEMt17xp7qCt4bNcv4&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+farthest+reaches&qid=1773231582&sprefix=the+farthest+reac%2Caps%2C346&sr=8-1

Ep 258: Reaction to Michael Levin, Part 2: Bioelectricity, Consciousness and Knowing

This is the second in a multipart series where I react to some interviews with ‪@drmichaellevin‬ a biologist who, among other things, specialises in bioelectricity. His research can be found here: https://www.drmichaellevin.org and his "explainer articles" for his own professional papers here: https://thoughtforms.life . In this episode I mention the discussion he had with ‪@timferriss‬ which is found here:    • Dr. Michael Levin — Reprogramming Bioelect...   Part 1 is here:    • Reaction to Michael Levin, Part 1: Categor...   Part 3 will be out soon.
 

Ep 257: Reaction to Michael Levin, Part 1: Categories and Continuums.

This is the first in a multipart series where I react to some interviews with  @drmichaellevin  - a biologist who, among other things, specialises in bioelectricity. His research can be found here: https://www.drmichaellevin.org/publications/ and his "explainer articles" for his own professional papers here: https://thoughtforms.life . Although in this first episode I mention the discussion he had with  @timferriss  which is found here: https://youtu.be/kz1jnoKfRrI?si=O-TTxrVleMbDsEH8 I never actually get to it in this first part. I do comment on Michael's interview with  @lexfridman  found here: https://youtu.be/Qp0rCU49lMs?si=jYN_SbXCd6ziO_pe and even then only in brief because I'm verbose. Part 2 will be out soon.

Ep 256: David Deutsch’s ”The Fabric of Reality” Chapter 13 ”The Four Strands” Part 2

Comparing Kuhn and Popper on Quantum Theory: Here we go deeper into the differences between Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn's account of how science moves from one theory to another. David applies the theory set out in part 1 of this chapter to the specific case of quantum theory. Did social forces have a major impact on whether quantum theory was adopted as Kuhn would have it, or were rational factors like argument and experiment crucial in dictating how science broadly, physics and the community of physicists took on a new "counter-cultural" idea?

Ep 255: Does this research explain how LLMs work?

I take a look at these three papers: 1. https://www.arxiv.org/abs/2512.22471 2. https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.23752 3. https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.22473 Collectively titled "The Bayesian Attention Trilogy" along with some other material - in particular an interview with one of the authors "Vishal Misra" - https://www.engineering.columbia.edu/faculty-staff/directory/vishal-misra For those familiar with my output on this you can probably skip to about halfway through at 42:40. Prior to this is a lot of background on Induction, Bayesianism, Critical Rationalism and so on that people may have heard from me before in different contexts - although for what it's worth these are new ways of expressing those ideas. At the end I am reacting to a video found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRuY0ozEm3Q

Ep 254: Australia: The Land of Bans. (Social Media prohibited for under-16s. Analysis of the arguments "for".)

This is effectively part 3 in a series of responses to the Prime Minister of Australia about censorship, legislation, policy, philosophy, Bondi and Social Media. The Prime Minister attempted to explain, as best he could, the reasons for banning under-16 year olds from certain social media platforms. I remark on an interview he conducted and make some broader remarks in conclusion to a short series on his response to the Bondi tragedy and other issues.
These are largely off-the-cuff rather than prepared remarks - so expect the tone, tenor, tempo and expression to be a little different than usual.

Ep 253: Further Comments on the Bondi Massacre.

Here I remark on comments made by Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and Education Minister Jason Clare and then make some broader points about the recent tragedy on Bondi Beach. This is part 2 of a response to the Prime Minister of Australia and others.

Ep 252: Response to the Prime Minister of Australia

A reaction "episode" where I make some remarks about a speech by Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister of Australia, in the wake of the Bondi Beach Massacre by Islamists terrorists who attacked Jews at a Hanukkah celebration on 14 December, 2025

Ep 251: OK Doomer!

This is a reproduction of a talk I gave to some trainee surgeons in Sydney who, among other things, were learning about AI as it was affecting their own field. It is, in a sense, a summary of many of the points I have been making recently on this channel with respect to AI and pessimism around it.

Ep 250: The Farthest Reaches - Audiobook

The Farthest Reaches is a book about "Explanatory Universality". Explanatory Universality is a concept introduced by physicist and philosopher David Deutsch in his book "The Beginning of Infinity".
Links, as mentioned in the audiobook can be found in the ebook available for free here: https://www.bretthall.org/the-farthest-reaches.html
This present work follows the logic of that concept as it applies to education, psychology, morality, immigration, the trans issue, "evolutionary psychology" and the significance of people to physical reality and much more. This version is significantly longer and with superior audio production compared with the original podcast of the same name. These are the chapters and timestamps:
00:00 Preface
21:51 Chapter 1 - Universality and Reach
29:38 Chapter 2 - The Reach of Explanatory Universality
38:53 Chapter 3 - Explaining Explanatory Universality
47:31 Chapter 4 - Explanatory Universality and Education
1:00:27 Chapter 5 - Explanatory Universality, Psychological Science and IQ
1:03:41 Chapter 6 - Explanatory Universality and Adopting Culture
1:10:26 Chapter 7 - Explanatory Universality and IQ Part 2
1:14:58 Chapter 8 - Explanatory Universality and the “Trans Issue”
1:22:57 Chapter 9 - Explanatory Universality and Immigration
1:48:12 Chapter 10 - Explanatory Universality and Ethnicity
2:11:39 Chapter 11 - Explanatory Universality and Multiculturalism
2:23:22 Chapter 12 - Explanatory Universality and Mental Illness
2:32:35 Chapter 13 - Explanatory Universality, Hangups and Sexuality
2:41:26 Chapter 14 - Explanatory Universality and The Woke Left and The Woke Right
2:48:29 Chapter 15 - Explanatory Universality and Optimism
2:58:20 Chapter 16 - Explanatory Universality and Artificial Intelligences
3:09:59 Chapter 17 - Universality, Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Reach
3:17:07 Chapter 18 - Explanatory Universality and Evolutionary Psychology
3:31:20 Chapter 19 - Explanatory Universality and Individuality
3:39:05 Chapter 20 - Summary and Conclusions
4:08:18 Acknowledgements and Afterward
 
The author thanks David Deutsch ( ⁨@DavidDeutschPhysicist⁩  ) Naval Ravikant ( ⁨@NavalR⁩  ) Reid Nicewonder ( ⁨@CordialCuriosity⁩ ) and Peter Boghossian ( ⁨@drpeterboghossian⁩ ) for their crucial support and engagement. And to all other supporters who have contributed to the ongoing viability of ToKCast and my other content output. Brett Hall is a technical advisor and content creator, Ambassador to Conjecture Institute ( ⁨@ConjectureInstitute⁩ ) and Board Member of the National Progress Alliance (www.nationalprogressalliance.org) and holds undergraduate qualifications from:
The University of New South Wales )in Physics and the Philosophy of Science)
The University of Western Sydney (in Science and Mathematics Teaching)
and Postgraduate Qualifications from
Swinburne University, Melbourne (in Astronomy and Astrophysics).
Macquarie University (in the Teaching of English Language)
The Australian Catholic University (in Mathematics)
and a partially completed post graduate certificate in Geology and Geophysics from Macquarie University.
He lives in Sydney, Australia.

Ep 249: The Farthest Reaches Part 4 and Conclusion

Chapters and Timestamps
00:06 Chapter 13: Explanatory Universality, Hangups and Sexuality
08:07 Chapter 14: The Woke Left and the Woke Right
15:38 Chapter 15: Universality and Optimism
25:04 Chapter 16: Universality and Artificial Intelligences
35:54 Chapter 17: Universality, Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Reach
42:44: Chapter 18: Summary and Conclusions

Ep 248: AI and Philosophy of Science

This is the extended "director's cut" of a talk delivered for "RatFest 2025" (next year to be "Conjecture Con"). This also serves as a supplement to my "Doom Debates" interview which can be found here: https://youtu.be/koubXR0YL4A?si=483M6SPOKwbQYmzb
It is simply assumed some version of "Bayesian reasoning" is how AI will "create" knowledge. This misconception permeates the https://ai-2027.com paper, as well as Bostrom and Yudkowsky's work on this, as well as that of every other AI "Doomer" and even on the other extreme the so-called "AI-Accelerationists". All of that indicates a deep misconception about how new explanations are generated which comes from a deep misconception about how science works because almost no one in the field of AI seems to think the *philosophy of* science is even relevant. I explain what has gone wrong:
00:00 Introduction
09:14 The Big Questions and the new Priesthoods
18:40 Nick Bostrom and Superintelligence
25:10 If anyone builds it, everyone dies and Yudkowsky.
33:32 Prophecy, Inevitability, Induction and Bayesianism.
41:42 Popper, Kuhn, Feyerabend and Lakatos.
49:40 AI researchers ignore The Philosophy of Science.
58:46 A new test for AGI from Sam Altman and David Deutsch?
1:03:35 Accelerationists, Doomers and “Everyone dies”.
1:10:21 Conclusions
1:15:35 Audience Questions

Ep 247: The Farthest Reaches Part 3

Chapters and Timestamps
00:07 Chapter 10 Explanatory Universality and Ethnicity
24:51 Chapter 11 Explanatory Universality and Multiculturalism
37:47 Chapter 12 Explanatory Universality and Mental Illness.

Ep 246: The Farthest Reaches Part 2

Chapters and Timestamps:
 
00:06 Chapter 5 Explanatory Universality, Psychology and IQ
03:30 Chapter 6 Explanatory Universality and Adopting Culture
11:47 Chapter 7: Explanatory Universality and IQ Part 2
17:10 Chapter 8 Explanatory Universality and the “trans” issue.
27:35 Chapter 9: Explanatory Universality and Immigration

Ep 245: The Farthest Reaches (Part 1)

Chapters 1 to 4 of a multi-chapter series about the reach of what I argue is one of the most important lessons to learn in order to solve many pressing problems: explanatory universality. This podcast provides an explanation that "explanatory universality" is an idea of such depth it may have among the greatest reach of any idea.
Chapters:
00:12 Chapter 1 - Universality and Reach
09:09 Chapter 2 - The Reach of Explanatory Universality
20:01 Chapter 3 - Explaining Explanatory Universality
30:23 Chapter 4 - Explanatory Universality and Education

Ep 244: Deep learning is not "inductive".

We are told by people working in the field, researchers and those who publish academic papers on the topic that artificial intelligence or deep learning or LLMs or Machine Learning or Recurrent Neural Networks - call them what you like - employ some form of inductive reasoning. But do they? What is inductive reasoning? What is deductive or adductive for that matter? Is "new physics" or other new science being discovered by the most recent and best chatbots or other "artificially intelligent" computer systems? My response to all that is contained herein.
 
For images see: https://youtu.be/9Dimv7mOls4
For more information: https://www.bretthall.org/blog/induction

Ep 243: In praise of ignorance - the podcast. With Liberty Fitz-Claridge

This episode is a reading of and reflection upon more writing by David Deutsch - an article you can find at https://takingchildrenseriously.com/in-praise-of-ignorance/
Joining me is philosopher and language educator Liberty Fitz-Claridge. Liberty holds Master Degrees in both Philosophy and Applied Linguistics and English Language teaching, as well as a Bachelors in The Philosophy of Science. As well as teaching, Liberty runs the Popper-Deutsch Reading Group which can be found at www.meetup.com/popper-deutsch-reading-group/
In this conversation Liberty refers to the following articles:
1. Ioup, Georgette, Elizabeth Boustagui, Manal El Tigi, and Martha Moselle. “Reexamining the Critical Period Hypothesis: A Case Study of Successful Adult SLA in a Naturalistic Environment.” Studies in Second Language Acquisition 16, no. 1 (1994): 73–98. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263100012596.
 
2. Alsulaimani, Adil. (1990). Reading problems in Arab learners of English (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). London University, UK.
 
3. Randall, Mick and Meara, Paul. (1988). “How Arabs read Roman letters.” Reading in a Foreign Language, 4 (2): 133-145.