ToKCast

This is cutting edge physics and epistemology from Chiara Marletto, following David Deutsch and working from and upon to advance the discoveries of Karl Popper. Here I make some quite lengthy introductory remarks laying out the standard academic takes when it comes to epistemology in order to set the scene for the most modern interpretation in our quest to refine our understandings of what knowled...

Here I provide some background information on dark energy and then David answers a question about possible explanations for dark energy given what we already know about the big bang.

This is a video in response to this video by Yaron Brook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFqbC... I'm a fan of both Yaron and Sam. I turn to Yaron for all things economics and individual rights and have great respect for him: indeed so much respect I bothered to spend hours making and editing this video. In the video I refer to: 1. Michael Neilsen's article on the Church-Turing-Deutsch principle:...

This video and associated podcast are about Steven Pinker's new book "Rationality". I read a small number of brief excerpts from the book itself, alongside commenting, criticising and reviewing the content of the first two chapters. There are a number of images and videos in the Youtube version which may help with particular concepts as we go along. I compare Pinker's vision of rationality with wh...

I recommend this episode be viewed in its video format here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfuQI_LgDBE  or here https://odysee.com/@BrettHall:c/wealth-and-the-conflict-of-ideas:1  as it's got lots of nice images and videos...some of which I constructed myself. That said, the actual "message" can be appreciated fully with audio only.    Although I do not explicitly mention it, this entire episode...

In this answer David provides some unique insight into the mystery that remains the nature of the mind. We are constrained by some of what we already know (like computational universality, among other things) and so given this, what can we say about the mind?

In this “question for David” number 8 we speak about direct observation - “empiricism” and how that was progress over what came before even if it is false. More than anything else this question serves as a “teaser” for the content of question 9: some of David’s views on the nature of mind. Ways to support my work can be found at www.bretthall.org via Patreon or the "Donate" button. Visit https://n...

In this podcast we cover a universal scheme for problem solving and then focus in on the special case of problem solving in science and compare this to outdated and refuted attempts to explain how knowledge was supposed to be "justified". Popper wrote that "all life is problem solving" - so I discuss that briefly and throughout we consider that if problems are indeed soluble (as they are) how it i...

This is the audio only version of the video found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxeXbTv1dug  and is one of my occasional episodes backed by some music.   Inspired largely by the work of David Deutsch with underlying themes of Popperian critical rationalism: this is my exploration of fallibilism. The three music tracks were composed by Ketsa https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/ and are,...

As the title suggests: this is about Quantum Information. It is “Quantum Information Theory” to be more precise. Now physics is sometimes regarded as strange by people who know little about it. And even for people who know a little more about it - well they might regard quantum physics as strange. And even those who know a little about quantum physics - they can regard quantum information theory a...

There is an article associated with this podcast episode here: https://www.bretthall.org/critically-creative-1.html   I mention this article from the University of Sydney, Australia: https://www.sydney.edu.au/students/critical-thinking.html   While recording this podcast, I had in mind teachers: they are my primary “target audience” so to speak. But this will, I hope be useful for anyone with a “s...

This is the first part of a discussion about chapter 3 of "The Fabric of Reality". It is about...problem solving with a significant focus on science and how scientific theories are generated. It contains criticism of the prevailing "justificationist" and "inductivist" notions. I see it as a good companion to (perhaps an introduction to) my episode "The Aim of Science" which I would consider a litt...

This is an "irregular" ToKCast which is all about a short essay by Popper titled "The Aim of Science". I read parts of the essay and comment on it and compare it to some more recent developments in the philosophy of science. Readings for this - like the paper itself - can be found here: http://www.bretthall.org/the-aim-of-s... The thing about the essay that is amazing is how certain paragraphs are...

The original link for this (without the introduction I provide here) can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEcHS... “Do Explain” is a podcast interview series created by Christofer Lövgren (Chris as I call him because I can’t pronounce his surname). Find “Do Explain” anywhere podcasts can be found - for example Apple here: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j ... or “Tune In” here http...

This is essentially a sequel to episode 1 of this series about the "reality of abstractions". This question considers the special case of the laws of physics. In what sense do the laws of physics exist? Can we deny their existence as some philosophers do?

In this episode I actually do some readings from the chapter (unlike in last episode). Here we really delve into the new science of the constructor theory of information. We learn about what the physical requirements are for information to exist in our universe and therefore why it is that information is a physical property. The very possibility that matter can allow for negation (or flip) operati...

This is me asking David about interesting and inherently uninteresting things. What effect might "undecidable" propositions have in the physical world? David gives an answer I have been looking for.

In this the fourth episode about Chiara Marletto's excellent work "The Science of Can and Can't" I discuss the science of information. Chapter 3 of the book is called "Information" but in this episode I do not actually read from the book. This is a broader overview of issues in epistemology, folk philosophy, physics and mathematics that have some connection to the topic of "information". I thought...

In this episode, I read David’s explanation of the multiverse and make some remarks on it. This, more than anything in my actual physics lessons, helped me *understand* quantum theory. This, in a sense, is the “abridged” version of my multiverse series found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6C_K18A4f8&list=PLsE51P_yPQCQqJDb65AIVLads8PKxYuPm which I recommend for anyone who wants more details...

In this question we discuss Stephen Hawking's claim that people are "chemical scum" on a typical planet orbiting a typical star in a typical galaxy and so on. How suitable is our planet for life, actually? How suitable is it for people in particular?

This interview can, in its original form be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6MEgZ4f7Bw   “Do Explain” is a podcast interview series created by Christofer Lövgren (Chris as I call him because I can’t pronounce his surname). Find “Do Explain” anywhere podcasts can be found - for example Apple here: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjr6PqYvdDxAhVbb...

In this, the third part discussing the first chapter of "The Fabric of Reality" we speak more about reductionism. In particular we look at the limitations of the traditional conception of physics and how attempts to make breakthroughs in fundamental physics tend not to rely on a completely new "mode of explanation". We speak about unifications and all of this is very much a prelude - clues here fo...

The video I am responding to is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_6vY... which is on the @Mercatus Center channel with Tyler Cowen. The original is well worth watching in its entirety. My response does not do it justice and is just intended as a supplement for those who have watched the whole thing and might have some questions at the end about various parts. I’m not pretending to speak for...

With a special introduction for audio only listeners, here in this "rather different" episode, I've tried tapping in to my inner Douglas Murray to summon the right level of outrage. This is about as angry as I get. I’m essentially reading through and responding to this “Scientific American” article (which has nothing scientific nor American about it) https://www.scientificamerican.com/ar... with s...

This episode covers chapter 2 titled "Beyond Laws of Motion?". In this chapter we explain some of the successes of the "dynanical laws + supplementary conditions" vision of physics and some of the limitations. Those limitations include the fact that the supplementary conditions - notably the initial conditions - cannot be explained under that scheme. Nor can time itself. The idea of things being p...