ToKCast

Ep 65: Quasars

The title says it all. This episode is about quasars. I return to my original “training” in astrophysics in order to correct some misconceptions that may have crept into my video titled “The Nexus” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpTxBkmr4LE 
This episode covers three basic things:
The history of the discovery of quasars
The physics of quasars
Varieties of quasars
As with episodes of this kind, it is "image intensive" and although I hope listeners of the audio only will find value - there might be something missed without the images.
This episode is also in recognition of the long term work of author Danny Frederick's contribution to the promotion of Popperian epistemology. May Danny be remembered as a philosopher of deep insight into epistemology and a critically rational worldview.

Ep 64 Ch 18 "The Beginning" Part 3

The Penultimate “The Beginning of Infinity” episode. Herein we contrast pessimism with optimism - what the conditions are for providing succour to either philosophy and who some of the leaders are. While science writers such as John Horgan, author of “The End of Science” may provide something of an introduction to the ways in which people can conclude “the end is night”, philosophers like Nick Bostrom and Verner Vinge take things further providing academic papers on “the singularity” and “the doomsday argument” and “the simulation argument” - all of which regard people as being but a prelude to something else: a time without or beyond people. The arguments are summarised and countered. I provide my own spin on things, and invoke the work of computer scientist Jaron Lanier, who (while at times writing of a bleak *now*) exhaults people in the same way as David Deutsch via a different method and looks forward to a future where people are ascendant. What does our best science tell us about what is to come? If we are to take seriously our best theories - is there hope? And is there an opportunity to even find fun and funniness in what we are promised for the future? I have some ideas.

Ep 63: "The Fabric of Reality" episode 1

This is an exploration of the first 7 pages of "The Fabric of Reality". I spend much of the time talking about the significance of the book, how I missed so much even on my first few readings of it and how we find even in these first few pages not merely the seeds of aspects of David Deutsch's later work, but an entire forest of important ideas that motivate much in "The Beginning of Infinity" and his other philosophical work such as "The Logic of Experimental Tests": https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/271767/1-s2.0-S1355219816X00032/1-s2.0-S135521981530023X/main.pdf?X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjELP%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJIMEYCIQDFvidQX0HdiKbHk8tDPI6Xx3d%2B08WVdW4bvTrJtAYhMQIhAOt3a6GjnI1w40bclPo3W%2FmgEaTVnQbmCk0bLelHxjBMKrQDCDwQAxoMMDU5MDAzNTQ2ODY1IgxMZezhD4njxDVguhMqkQNVjXPy%2FvRGzs%2FHY9Eq0tQcEX79UhxDO7Y%2B1Q71GgGvyy3IIsw3VGCgbYaLsIV7h%2BhoB6bfELgfSNGiy33pRrgxKytokoNoIXVQRSCJdkc%2F93GAjaEDCpzMDX1NV9Jujj9iQOHeLzbiLkqMCXld1sWannla7s7Nm2MOb7GdKYkHcGnHcba5fugyQE8HUhiCtGFHzyPRyq2ZnuoL7SFFGeC5tLB7X7TFQhT2YO%2FuXrt9LLkIiFAPCGsCAYW2AMr0XuQdkuG7CxWDYmTIWLTJ734iOlYtppxYbperE3Y63xDqTS7Jq80A79It3GulbT9iStjm7JBFy4LF3ZZbhs%2F60XABJ8U3WyEV4d4sYYWIzPsoTFZoFB3OQlchQg6WNuFwQXUHj5yLYnJDRkVP%2BnggZ%2Boln%2BJw8ILAe9BUexIxS1qGO2J8xgQciX04NQG2ELZ6ciEQnC12rc7l2nIMtz56C3JfPaYJhMwk%2B6%2FJkkxYlNvT5bhxxSwq4hTVPpBWXbMZNWx%2B5FilnKR6kIbmVmPM2L8MvjDg2NKEBjrqAQG87WkTVsRgGe2AoR45PfFE%2BVUqtcUC9qY8q8vzdDIEKGwhaA3BMdfISXsH8Sl7Jxw0TxNioDazf5uueAEQB2yFowtSVc9udD9N6mhwOlRby4RBAPLwkAEgz%2FWl4aXXE3%2FaWxCuXQfWEFbN9mSHtc2kmafJWYYfijbeOdmTC9kRwrCVraCdWAGPgzcUNGW0ciNWBo6s%2B9Vci2sCyZo7OCcVfYMuWZFDjcWYK0t3kGvEvVWQuFTLyOTSLsDvZNf0JeZo5%2BggGnUuqs8DFMZ0GlcEaeP5GnNcPaMdAqitYYF67f9vfRQdGsbGbg%3D%3D&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20210507T033518Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAQ3PHCVTYQHJSKL4E%2F20210507%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=5f11cec79591e29071a4fd8800fd5d04f1af8a99e6afc05e17f2f07b201e3a92&hash=5835606749c3a73dfb50b1c1a16451933716d7dd085bc5ca765562e01bae8aa1&host=68042c943591013ac2b2430a89b270f6af2c76d8dfd086a07176afe7c76c2c61&pii=S135521981530023X&tid=spdf-d6a79e96-757a-4541-9f5d-c2e61a0df1ed&sid=cd7069598b3c214f033b0e3-bdecf1cfde71gxrqa&type=client For many who read "FoR" as it has affectionately become known prior to "The Beginning of Infinity" (BoI) - it was FoR that really shifted our mindset from a common-sense and traditional understanding of science and philosophy to a genuinely Popperian world view, updated and refined by David Deutsch. This is not a book to be read lightly if one is unaccustomed to the work of David Deutsch. It will change your mind. I do not mean in the colloquial sense of that phrase - like "It will change an idea you have". I mean it will change what your mind is to you. You will think differently. You be speak differently. You will behave differently. You will be different. In a much better way.

Ep 62: "The Science of Can and Can't" episode 1.

This is the first episode in a new series devoted to an entirely new book: “The Science of Can and Can’t” by Chiara Marletto. Get the book anywhere ebooks are available (as of May, 2021) and learn more about Chiara and her work here: https://www.chiaramarletto.com​
This book is an amazing work. It presents for the lay reader an introduction to “Constructor Theory” without losing any scientific or philosophical rigour. In this first episode, I explain the motivation for Constructor Theory as a departure from the traditional conception of physics as being about “dynamical laws”. For the first time in science, Constructor Theory attempts to provide a way of creating physical theories about counterfactuals. We go some way to exploring what a counterfactual is and at this early stage of the series outline a sketch of where the constructor theory approach may be found useful. This episode constitutes the first part of chapter 1. It covers some of the philosophy of counterfactuals and the application of constructor theory to epistemology. Discussion of the physics will be left to episode 2.

Ep 61 Ch 18 "The Beginning" Part 2

In this second part I spend a large portion of our time comparing author John Horgan's work "The End of Science" to David Deutsch's "The Beginning of Infinity". What errors does Horgan make on the way to reaching the conclusion that science is coming to an end? I also summarise cases where critics of Popper seem to turn to character assassination rather than being focussed on his ideas. We end by considering reasons why - particularly in fundamental physics - science is not at an end given open questions especially in cosmology.
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Ep 60: The Nexus (No music version).

This episode is identical to episode 59 - only it contains no music. I don't think this is as good :)
My preferred way to experience this is the video version version which is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpTxBkmr4LE .  of this video (there is another published alongside this without any music -again, I don't think it is as good, but if you prefer "no music" - there is a video version without that also here: https://youtu.be/Ky4vMllidvM​
 
In either case this episode seeks to answer the question "What is a person?" in the context of our best scientific and philosophical understanding of evolution by natural selection, the theory of computation (including quantum computation), the theory of epistemology - how knowledge is created - and finally quantum theory - in particular the Everettian multiverse understanding of it in its most modern incarnation, as explained primarily by David Deutsch in "The Beginning of Infinity" and invoking the concept of fungibility. The concept of "personhood" has been historically a very tricky idea; either mired in the murky waters of mysticism, or reduced by the near vacuousness of physicalism. This document attempts to provide a video essay on the topic given our most up to date notions of what is true in philosophy, mathematics, morality, epistemology and physics. Time stamps will be available soon. Credit for the music goes to “Ketsa” - https://ketsa.uk/​ where their music can be downloaded for free on a Creative Commons License here: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa​ and my own track breakdown is as follows: Track List and Times Save Ourselves (00:05​) Deliverance (03:02​) Astral Travel (06:22​) Blazing Stars (09:42​) Blessed Time (12:54​) Dancing by Twilight (38:30​) Wild Rivers (41:46​) Hear me out (44:42​) Gilded Moon (48:27​) Deep Math (53:58​) Built from Nothing (57:11​) Details for the creative commons license can be found at https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa​ and at the end of the video.

Ep 59: The Nexus

My preferred way to experience this is the video version version which is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpTxBkmr4LE .  There is another version also published alongside this without any music - I don't think it is as good, but if you prefer "no music" - there is a version without that here: https://youtu.be/Ky4vMllidvM​
 
Note that episode 60 of the podcast is just "Episode 59 without the music" as well. 
 
In either case this episode seeks to answer the question "What is a person?" in the context of our best scientific and philosophical understanding of evolution by natural selection, the theory of computation (including quantum computation), the theory of epistemology - how knowledge is created - and finally quantum theory - in particular the Everettian multiverse understanding of it in its most modern incarnation, as explained primarily by David Deutsch in "The Beginning of Infinity" and invoking the concept of fungibility. The concept of "personhood" has been historically a very tricky idea; either mired in the murky waters of mysticism, or reduced by the near vacuousness of physicalism. This document attempts to provide a video essay on the topic given our most up to date notions of what is true in philosophy, mathematics, morality, epistemology and physics. Time stamps will be available soon. Credit for the music goes to “Ketsa” - https://ketsa.uk/​ where their music can be downloaded for free on a Creative Commons License here: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa​ and my own track breakdown is as follows: Track List and Times Save Ourselves (00:05​) Deliverance (03:02​) Astral Travel (06:22​) Blazing Stars (09:42​) Blessed Time (12:54​) Dancing by Twilight (38:30​) Wild Rivers (41:46​) Hear me out (44:42​) Gilded Moon (48:27​) Deep Math (53:58​) Built from Nothing (57:11​) Details for the creative commons license can be found at https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa​ and at the end of the video.

Ep 58 Ch 18 "The Beginning" Part 1

The beginning of "The Beginning" which is the chapter at the very end of "The Beginning of Infinity". :) Ignore what I say early on in this episode: this is episode 58, not 57. In this episode we revisit the idea that science, or knowledge broadly is coming to an "end". Even Feynman could become uncharacteristically pessimistic in this regard. Every new discovery reveals that there is more to know. Popper himself thought that as we increased our knowledge we would learn how much more ignorant we were - but that this has deep consequences for relating to each other. This is not the beginning of the end, but it may be the end of the beginning of The Beginning of Infinity. Support me monthly here: https://www.patreon.com/BrettRHall​ or per episode here: https://www.patreon.com/tokcast​ or even a one off donation by clicking on the "Donate" button found here: http://www.bretthall.org/​

Ep 57 "Existential Risk".

This is a podcast all about "Existential Risk". Made at the request of a Patreon, I cover the usual spectrum of ways in which people guess civilisation might end, discuss how to think about this from a rational - but critical - perspective and how to remain optimistic in the face of public intellectuals bombarding us with these claims about the coming end-times.
If you would like to get early access to podcasts like this, consider becoming a Patreon either at https://www.patreon.com/tokcast (for per-episode support) or https://www.patreon.com/BrettRHall (for per-month support).

Ep 56: Ch 17 "Unsustainable" Part 4

The final part of the penultimate chapter. Here we cover "The parable of Europium" and other memorable pessimists from David's formative years. Some analysis of the present concerns about climate change and the rational problem solving - and optimistic approach as contrasted to the standard pessimistic lines.

Ep 55:Existence

What does it mean for something to exist?

Ep 54 Ch 17 "Unsustainable" Part 3

Marx, Engels and Diamond present to us a vision of people as being in some sense impotent in the grand historical scheme - subject merely to natural forces and thus able to be predicted by a kind of natural law. This reductive view of people and their place in history (and the cosmos) leads to terrible historical ideas that bleed into pessimistic political ideologies. The truth instead is not bleak. People - in the form of their creative capacity to explain the world in which they find themselves leads to them being shapers of history. They are agents of change: powerful and good. We are reaching a crescendo of "The Beginning of Infinity".

Ep 53: Understanding Universality

This is additional material about Chapter 6 of "The Beginning of Infinity" - but goes into some additional areas. I compare Greek Gods to Blockchain (in a sense). I think "The Jump to Universality" is a particularly poorly understood chapter. I hope this inspires many to go back and re-read that part of the book. Again. And again.

Ep 52 Ch 17 "Unsustainable" Part 2

Easter Island, Incans, Llamas and Australia. Resources and knowledge, creativity and stasis. We begin to bring together the chapters that have come before as we move into the crescendo of "The Beginning of Infinity". Images (on Youtube) all used under a creative commons licence. All music composed by me.

Ep 51 Ch 17 "Unsustainable" Part 1

What does the watchword of today "sustainable" really mean when taken seriously? In this episode we compare two titans of science communication: David Attenborough and Jacob Bronowski - for although they have inspired generations of scientists and those interested in science, their underlying philosophies could not have been more different. What are those philosophies and what consequences could they have if they were to drive actual policy? Also - a diversion on aspects of Australian and British history.

Ep 50 Ch 16 "The Evolution of Creativity" Part 2

The 50th episode! This is the third part (given there was a part 0, introduction) referring to chapter 16 of "The Beginning of Infinity" with substantive readings. We get into how memes evolved in non-human animals and then how these memes, and genes at some point allowed for a jump to universality. Specifically the universality of explanatory knowledge - which is a quality of a special kind of software - that which runs on our brains, or otherwise known as "a person's mind".

Ep 49: An introduction to epistemology

What it says in the title :)
A short and sweet introduction to a particular way of thinking and knowing. This is all about fallibilism and the possibilities that being wrong opens up.

Ep 48: Cosmological Economics

This episode is highly visual and better viewed on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlcQ4ZFKrKk However, the substance is still there in this purely audio-only version. This is another episode not primarily about "The Beginning of Infinity" but it is deeply inspired by it. It is a discussion exploring the "resources" debate. Are resources finite or infinite? I look at the intersection between economics and cosmology or people and the universe. So this is all about how knowledge changes physical reality, or as David Deutsch has said: how explanations transform the world.

Ep 47: Are we alone?

A ToKCast Special: Brett talks about what he's learned over the years from various academics about the question of alien life. Although I don't mention it, I draw my inspiration from an academic paper I wrote years ago as part of my Masters degree in Astronomy - it can be found here: The Rare Earth That might be a bit more sober, hard-going and not exactly entertaining. I hope this video is fun. I don't read - I simply talk. It's a somewhat different style for ToKCast.

Ep 46 "The Evolution of Creativity" Part 1

This is the second part (after a part 0, introduction) referring to chapter 16 of The Beginning of Infinity with more substantive readings. We get into imitation and compare how apes "ape" and parrots "parrot" to what humans are doing when they learn. Meme replication and lyrebirds make an appearance.