Into The Abyss

Judith Butler's Gender Trouble is a key text in the history of feminism and gender studies. This episode explores the significant points of Butler's system of ideas, in particular the concept of gender performativity.

Slavoj Žižek is a uniquely entertaining and engaging philosopher with an animated oratorical style. But this can often make it difficult to follow his train of thought and pick out key ideas from it. This episode gives an overview of his most important book, The Sublime Object of Ideology, which presents many of the ideas persisting in all his work. In particular, this overview focuses on Žižek’s...

Part 3 in this series on the philosophy of structure looks at examples and general principles of structure in chemistry. Subjects covered include quantum mechanics, the Schrödinger equation, wave functions, orbitals, molecules, functional groups, and the multiple levels of structure in proteins. General principles discussed include the nature of functions, the embedding of lower-level structures i...

Jeff and Todd talk about the Jedi Way. What is the Jedi Code and what does it allow and prohibit? Is the Jedi Code a desirable way to live? How could the Jedi code be improved? What is the Force? What is the difference between the light side and the dark? What is the difference between passion and compassion? Love versus attachment and possession. How the Jedi see death and immortality versus the...

Jakob and Todd discuss the philosophy of statistics. Frequentist and Bayesian approaches. Fisher, Neyman, and Pearson and statistical methods for evaluating hypotheses. Deborah Mayo and statistical inference as severe testing. Proper and improper uses of p-values. The pitfalls of data dredging and p-hacking. Conditions under which prior probabilities make Bayesian approaches particularly useful. T...

Mike and Todd discuss the Book of Mormon. The place of the Book of Mormon as a text that holds its own among the sacred texts of the great world religions. Some classic and recent work in Book of Mormon scholarship and devotional readings. Grant Hardy and his study of the major Book of Mormon narrators - Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni - and their narrative interests and approaches. The inexhaustibility...

This is the second episode in a series on philosophy of structure and focuses on the nature of structure in music in particular. Topics covered include the physics of sound, the wave equation, overtones, Fourier transforms, physiology of the inner ear, intervals, chords, group theory, modular arithmetic, transformations, invariance, musical forms, a Borgesian musical Library of Babel (Library of V...

Jared and Todd discuss the stories and worldbuilding of J.R.R. Tolkien as found in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and others. We discuss the Tolkien cosmogony and pantheon, Eru Ilúvatar, the Music of the Ainur, the Valar and the Maiar, the importance of myth for Tolkien, and the possibility of Tolkien's world as viable myth for the modern age. We discuss the books and films a...

This is the first in a series of episodes exploring a philosophy of structure. To introduce the concept and to start thinking about structure I make use of ideas from thermodynamics, phase spaces, information theory, The Three-Body Problem, the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Mormon, Daniel Dennett, and Jorge Luis Borges. Drawing from a variety of sources the objective is to find patterns in structures...

In two competing accounts the origin of human rights has been framed as a product of Christian moral teachings or as a process of rejecting and overcoming oppressive religious superstitions. Where do human rights come from? The Christian origins are significant but a more complete account should also address additional historical factors that helped to activate and further shape our conception of...

Models are critical tools that enable us to think about, qualify, and quantify features of many processes. And as with any kind of tool, different kinds of models are better suited to different circumstances. Here we look at two kinds of models for understanding transport phenomena: causal and emergent models. In a causal process there is some kind of distinct, sequential, goal-oriented event with...

This is the last in a three-part series on the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 7 Jesus taught: "Judge not", "Ask, and it will be given to you", "Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them", "Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life", "You will know them by their fruits", "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven". As Jesus teaches...

Pete and Todd talk about dumb movies. What is it about a good dumb movie that makes it fun to watch? We talk about comedy, romantic comedy, action, and horror. What kinds of movies are borderline, dumb but also kind of smart? And on a more "serious" note, what can we learn about life and the need to take a break, relax, and have fun?

The Book of Mormon is a challenging book. To the faithful it is the word of God. To some it's a work of deception. For those who have read it as faithful believers but then come to doubt its truth and divinity, how do you go back to the Book of Mormon for a fresh perspective? At the very least the Book of Mormon is a rich source of ideas that can shape one's identity and thought. Studying it in th...

It's an exciting time in the Star Wars universe. Jeff and Todd start things off talking about all the new shows just announced. Then we talk about fan service, material in a work of fiction or in a fictional series which is intentionally added to please the audience. What are the merits of fan service? Possible pitfalls? We look at examples throughout the films and shows, where it's worked well an...

Mike, Jared, and Todd discuss prediction. What skills and practices make people "superforecasters"? How do prediction betting markets like PredictIt work? Brier scores and how to quantify the accuracy of probabilistic predictions. What are the limitations of prediction, for people and for algorithms? How might the practices of probabilistic predicting also encourage intellectual honesty and improv...

In this second part in a series on the Sermon on the Mount we go through Matthew 6. The Sermon on the Mount is especially instructive on "The Way" disciples of Jesus Christ are to follow. In Matthew 6 Jesus taught about charitable deeds and fasting with sincerity rather than hypocrisy, about simple, humble prayer, the kingdom of God, forgiveness of debts, devotion to God rather than to riches, and...

Isaiah has a reputation for being very difficult to understand. I’d like to suggest that Isaiah isn't actually intrinsically difficult to understand, as long as we read him in historical and prophetic context. Putting Isaiah in context includes understanding the events that he was responding to and prophesying about. These include the imperial activities of Assyria, the superpower of the region. A...

Pete and Todd discuss truth, with an outline of Three Truths About Truth: (1) We aren’t as good at perceiving and remembering facts as we think we are. (2) A lot of our systems are based on a much more limited or squishier version of truth than we often assume. (3) The things we assume and think of as true are often not accepted as true by our neighbors or fellow citizens.

What are the attributes by which people can know followers of Jesus Christ? For this the New Testament is our primary source and grounding for guidance. The Sermon on the Mount especially is a key text that teaches how we are to live in order to be the "light of the world". Here we look at Matthew 5, the first of the sermon's 3 chapters, where Jesus teaches the fulfillment of the Law, that we are...

Mike and Todd discuss the work of Jack Miles and the different experiences and perspectives on God found in the Bible. Approached as a biography, the Bible crafts a fascinating and dynamic story of God's developing character and God's developing relationship with humanity. God is at times creator, destroyer, liberator, lawgiver, conqueror, executioner, wife, Holy One, recluse, puzzle, and Ancient...

Jakob and Todd discuss category theory, an important field in modern mathematics that focuses on the relations (morphisms) between mathematical objects. We discuss the importance of abstraction and the development in the history of mathematics beyond solving particular problems to studying the general nature of mathematical structures as such, the kinds of problems that can and can't be solved, th...

Jeff and Todd discuss Padmé and her call for the vote of no confidence that launched Palpatine's rise to the chancellorship and to absolute power. We look at her actions from different ethical perspectives - deontological, teleological, virtue - and at her complicated role in the narrative as both hero and pawn, as well as her dominant presence and importance in the arc of the whole saga.

Jared and Todd talk about values, where values come from, how we decide which values to embrace, and how we're motivated to change. We also discuss models for how individuals and societies can have conflicting values and how they harmonize them, with varying degrees of success.

Stokes' Theorem in its general form is a remarkable theorem with many applications in calculus, starting with the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus. The pattern in each case is that the integral of a function over a region is equal to the integral of a related function over the boundary of the region. We can use information about the boundary of a region to get information about the entire region, w...