Closer To Truth

Sir Roger Penrose joins Closer To Truth to discuss consciousness and new physics. Can the known laws of physics explain consciousness? Can the mind be duplicated by a computer? What is the argument against Strong A.I.? What is consciousness and how does it relate to Penrose's Search for a Missing Science of Consciousness? And what are the implications of a New Science of Consciousness for the Thre...

Sir Roger Penrose talks about the work that earned him a Nobel prize in physics, developing mathematics to analyze spacetime, his 1965 paper "Gravitational Collapse and Space-Time Singularities", Cosmic Censorship Hypothesis, Conformal Cyclic Cosmology, and his thoughts on Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity.   See more interviews with Sir Roger Penrose:  https://bit.ly/3UvbYkw   Sir Roger Pe...

Sir Roger Penrose shares his thoughts on mathematics and world reflections. He discusses his “three worlds and three deep mysteries” theory, pure mathematics, the “Impossible Penrose Triangle”, M.C. Escher, Penrose tiling, astrophysics, and consciousness.   See more interviews with Sir Roger Penrose:  https://bit.ly/3UvbYkw   Sir Roger Penrose is a mathematical physicist and philosopher. He is the...

COSMOS - Are there revolutionary discoveries yet to be made? Radical revelations and shocking secrets? Does physical reality go beyond what we know today? Far beyond? Featuring Lawrence Krauss, Michio Kaku, Rupert Sheldrake, Paul Davies, and David Chalmers.

CONSCIOUSNESS - What is happening in our brains when we perceive and appreciate the arts? What are the neural substrates of artistic sensations, feelings and emotions? How do diverse arts affect the brain?

CONSCIOUSNESS - What is the nature of art? What makes something “art”, and why should we value it? What is aesthetics and art theory? Can philosophy of art enhance appreciation and practice of the arts?

COSMOS - How does metaphysics contribute to our understanding of the world? It asks the most profound questions: What kinds of things exist? How does causality work? Sound too abstract? How about: Does God exist? Are you a soul? Featuring Michio Kaku, Bede Rundle, John Leslie, Richard Swinburne, and Hubert Dreyfus.

COSMOS - Call all-that-exists “something.” Why is there “something” rather than “nothing”? The question haunts me. Why is there anything at all? Featuring Colin McGinn, Peter van Inwagen, Philip Clayton, George Lakoff, and Dean Zimmerman.

CONCIOUSNESS - Can art inform the classic mind-body problem? While the relationship between mental activity and physical brain continues to baffle (especially consciousness), can the existence and process of art provide insight?

COSMOS - Of what is reality made? What are the most basic building blocks from which the cosmos is constructed? Particles? Mass-Energy? Forces? Fields? A new candidate is ‘Information’—‘IT from BIT’. Featuring Seth Lloyd, Sean Carroll, Raphael Bousso, Alan Guth, and Christof Koch.

CONSCIOUSNESS - What is free will? Do we have free will? The ‘Big Questions in Free Will’ project tackles these issues in a multi-year study. In Part I, scientists and philosophers research, test, and advance thinking on free will. Featuring Alfred Mele, Galen Strawson, John Searle, Peter van Inwagen, Christof Koch, Uri Maoz, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Thalia Wheatley, and Peter Tse.

COSMOS - What’s the ultimate stuff of reality? What’s absolutely fundamental and non-reducible — the fewest number of categories within which every specific thing, of every general kind, can be classified? Featuring Barry Loewer, David Albert, Luke Barnes, Raymond Tallis, and George Ellis.

COSMOS - Perhaps we cannot know the reason for the universe, if there is any. But is it even possible for the universe to have a reason? If yes, how would natural regularities and rules compare with some kind of goal or God? Featuring Alexander Vilenkin, John Polkinghorne, Michael Shermer, Stephen Wolfram, and Stuart Kauffman.

CONSCIOUSNESS - What is it about the brain that enables some scientists to claim they can explain mind? And what is it about scientific explanations that some philosophers reject? Featuring Christof Koch, Rodolfo Llinas, Raymond Kurzweil, John Searle, and David Chalmers.

COSMOS - Most scientists assume that the universe must be populated with innumerable alien intelligences and civilizations—after all, we humans can't be so special. OK, so where are they, these "innumerable alien intelligences and civilizations"? How come there's zero evidence? Featuring Jill Tarter, Douglas Vakoch, Frank Drake, Raymond Kurzweil, Francisco Ayala, Steven Dick, and David Brin.

CONSCIOUSNESS - What is free will? Do we have free will? The ‘Big Questions in Free Will’ project tackles these issues in a multi-year study. In Part I, scientists and philosophers research, test, and advance thinking on free will. Featuring Bertram Malle, Eddy Nahmias, Roy Baumeister, Patrick Haggard, Adina Roskies, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, and Alfred Mele.

CONSCIOUSNESS - How is it possible that mushy masses of brain cells, passing chemicals and shooting sparks literally are mental sensations and subjective feelings? They seem so radically different. Featuring John Searle, Ned Block, J.P. Moreland, Marvin Minsky, and Colin McGinn.

COSMOS - How can so many numbers of nature, the constants and relationships of physics, be so spot-on perfect for humans to exist? Beware: there is more than one answer lurking here. Featuring John Leslie, Steven Weinberg, David Gross, John Polkinghorne, Robin Collins, and Paul Davies.

COSMOS - Forget science. Forget God. This is the ultimate question: What if Everything had Forever been Nothing? Not just emptiness, not just blankness, but not even the existence of emptiness, not even the meaning of blankness, and no Forever. If you don't get dizzy, you really don't get it. Featuring John Leslie, Peter van Inwagen, Bede Rundle, Quentin Smith, Richard Swinburne and Steven Weinber...

MEANING - If God exists, and if God ordains history and generates miracles, how does He do it? Fiddle with each and every atom? Command all of them en masse? What possibly could be God's technique? Featuring Robert Russell, John Polkinghorne, Paul Davies, Alvin Plantinga and Ernan McMullin.

CONSCIOUSNESS - Why do we have inner awareness? Why does it ‘feel like something’ inside to see, hear, taste, think? It’s called ‘consciousness’ and it seems mysterious—but can science explain it? We talk to experts at the 20th biennial conference, “Toward a Science of Consciousness.” Featuring Stuart Hameroff, David Chalmers, Daniel Dennett, Deepak Chopra, Susan Blackmore and Rebecca Goldstein.

COSMOS - Everything in the universe has a beginning, but how can the universe as a whole have a start date? Does a universal commencement make sense? What would it possibly mean? Featuring Martin Rees, Wendy Freedman, Alan Guth, George Smoot and Alexander Vilenkin.

MEANING - The world certainly appears to be designed. Are appearances deceiving? Discover new twists to this old argument. Featuring Richard Swinburne, Bede Rundle, Steven Weinberg, William Dembski, Francisco Ayala, Michael Shermer, and Freeman Dyson.

CONSCIOUSNESS - Throughout history, dreams have fascinated and mystified. Messages from God? Images of the subconscious? Much about dreams is myth. What‘s real? Featuring Robert Stickgold, Deirdre Barrett, Christopher Isham, and Patrick McNamara.

MEANING - God and Time are two huge mysteries; relating them probes the nature of God, and perhaps even the existence of a Creator. If God is in Time and experiences its passage, then how could God have created Time? Also Leibniz's famous question: "Why didn't God create the world sooner?" Featuring Brian Leftow, John Polkinghorne, Ernan McMullin, William Craig, Varadaraja Raman, and Robert Russel...