THUNK

Many things are supposed to be good or bad luck, but are we gaining or losing something by playing along? Video: http://youtu.be/e_hqP_ARjIM Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/07/30/38.-Superstition-and-Mindfulness.html

Enrico Fermi thought we should have heard from aliens by now…did they all suffer some disastrous fate? If so, how might we avoid it? Video: http://youtu.be/pcV4nrzs1SU Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/07/23/37.-Fermi's-Paradox-and-Avoiding-Apocalypse.html

Video games generally aren’t great at representing morality as complexly as other media, but there’s surprising depth to the medium itself. Video: http://youtu.be/xmRkuBCPrfk Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/07/16/36.-Morality-and-Choice-in-Video-Games.html

The debate about health care is a complex & important one. Maybe we shouldn’t complicate it with nont-sequiturs & rhetoric. Video: http://youtu.be/filvEYpLawY Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/07/09/35.-Health-Care-Rhetoric.html

Big data is finding weird correlations in everything, but how would you like it running something like government? Video: http://youtu.be/MweJfor3Q6I Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/07/02/34.-Should-Big-Data-Run-the-Country.html

It’s a common sentiment that philosophy is for academics & people who don’t know how to party…maybe, maybe not. Video: http://youtu.be/znlmOlu9mTk Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/06/25/33.-Does-Philosophy-Matter.html

A dream of utopia might not sound so bad, but the chaos and disorder in the world might actually be a good thing. Video: http://youtu.be/kNEMGylk5GA Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/06/18/32.-Assassin's-Creed-and-Serendipity.html

Pascal was a brilliant guy who developed a proof of probability for the Christian faith…with a few problems. Learn why you shouldn’t jump to take Pascal’s Wager. Video: http://youtu.be/H_ATC2y5PRI Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/06/11/31.-Pascal's-Wager.html

There’s a branch of mathematics that is intimately related to the interplay of diplomacy and warfare. Learn what game theory is and how it sways nations! Video: http://youtu.be/1nFMqlL73po Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/06/04/30.-War-and-Game-Theory.html

The metric system is pretty cool, but Imperial units aren’t the devil! Video: http://youtu.be/LaSdNOiwcSM Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/05/28/29.-In-Defense-of-Imperial-Units.html

“Design” isn’t just something that developers and architects do, it’s part of everything you make and everything you own. Learn how to make it work for you! Video: http://youtu.be/hWucVcFdaiE Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/05/21/28.-You-are-a-Designer.html

Kurt Gödel proved that math has an incurable flaw that will plague it, and us, forever. Learn what it is, and why it has to do with everything from your computer to your brain! Video: http://youtu.be/CLda7zSmLa8 Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/05/14/27.-G%C3%B6del-and-the-Black-Hole-of-Mathematics.html

Two recently-published political science papers make one thing clear: money in politics is killing democracy. Find out how wealth has become more important than votes for representatives, and why it shouldn’t be. Video: http://youtu.be/W9OgWwnJwOk Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/05/07/26.-How-Dollars-Become-Votes.html

It’s been half a year of amazing discussion & interesting topics. Here’s some of your comments, my favorites! Video: http://youtu.be/C_7DQXIJS7g Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/04/30/25.-Mailbag!.html

What the Bleep Do We Know? Quite a bit, actually. Including how observation alters particle interactions. Spoiler: electrons don’t actually get stage fright! Video: http://youtu.be/cXDkGUCVxl4 Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/04/23/24.-What-the-Bleep-We-Do-Know-(about-Quantum-Physics).html

April is the start of concert season, as well as sexual assault awareness month. Find out how sex and physical intimacy should be like a good rock concert. Video: http://youtu.be/hzgsGGDQx3w Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/04/16/23.-Concerts-and-Consent.html

The question of free will has been long-debated in philosophy, but do we have an adequate answer? Is it even a real question? Video: http://youtu.be/xdfiRfvH10k Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/04/09/22.-Do-You-Have-Free-Will.html

It’s very easy to extrapolate large systems of thought from a few facts…and often dangerously wrong, especially for people who live in democracies. Find out why you should be wary of the Dunning-Kruger effect and its implications for how you think about complicated issues. Video: http://youtu.be/IxFZPwdhxIg Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/04/02/21.-Simplicity,-Complexity,-and-Democracy.html

Plot twist: the robots didn’t put us into the Matrix…we did. Find out why Cypher might have been right, and how video games might be our future. Video: http://youtu.be/kAqZNbyJJ48 Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/03/26/20.-The-Matrix-and-Artificial-Reality.html

The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics just announced how the universe started. (It’s really blowing up.) Let me try to explain it to you. Video: http://youtu.be/Vd2mPID1q7k Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/03/19/19.-Cosmic-Inflation-Theory.html

Feynman’s first principle is: “you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.” Thankfully, there’s some philosophy that can help us do precisely that. This week, I show how the human brain is primed to fool itself, how some interesting guys from ancient Greece combated that tendency, and why it matters. Video: http://youtu.be/Y78EScMnTsk Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/...

Ender Wiggin might be a compelling protagonist, but he’s also problematic. This week, I investigate how Ender’s Game can make you dumb. Video: http://youtu.be/oheEl_WW774 Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/03/05/17.-Ender's-Game.html

It’s very easy to dismiss systemic cultural bias, because it’s almost invisible if you’re not aware of it. This week, however, I argue that it exists, that it’s pervasive, and that you can and should work to combat it. Video: http://youtu.be/7ypRxx50Z9Q Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/02/26/16.-Culture-and-Bias.html

3, 2, 1, go. This week, I look at two groups who compete at insane levels of performance: Olympians and video game speedrunners. Video: http://youtu.be/vzCtEUFmPXU Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/02/19/15.-Speedrunning.html

Okay, Glass, record and edit this week’s THUNK! . …nuts. This week, I show off my cool new toy from Google and discuss the potential future relationship between humans and machines. Video: http://youtu.be/wu5Mbk9FSbw Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2014/02/12/14.-Google-Glass-and-Augmented-Reality.html