Scott Soames is a professor of philosophy at the University of Southern California.

His website: https://dornsife.usc.edu/scottsoames/

Find Back to the Stone Age on:

• YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZrhMJ5eusE_ACw6Ec3TqCbvDVZ6HP809&si=WhVnrLLAUuYW-Any
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• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/back-to-the-stone-age/id1741219288

Outline

00:34 - What Is Meaning?

05:10 - How Do Words Refer To Things?

10:37 - Language And Logic

19:06 - Relativity Of Truth

22:26 - Truth Without Humans

24:00 - Possible Worlds Semantics

36:14 - Kripke's Contribution To Philosophy Of Language

42:02 - Soames' Cognitive Content

48:40 - Consequences Of Soames' View: Propositions

54:18 - Living Philosophically

59:19 - What Are The Limits Of Language?

01:14:32 - Are You Scared Of Not Finding Answers?

01:15:50 - Mental Changes To Embrace New Views

01:19:35 - Lack Of Experimental Validation In Philosophy

01:21:22 - Technology And Philosophy

01:24:20 - Most Pressing Philosophical Issue

01:26:11 - Which Philosopher Best Understood The Human Condition?

01:32:36 - Does Pursuing Philosophy Make You A Better Person?

01:34:00 - Final Questions and Conclusion

Enjoy Back to the Stone Age!

John is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Western Ontario. You can find his website here: https://publish.uwo.ca/~jbell/

Find Back to the Stone Age on:

• YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZrhMJ5eusE_ACw6Ec3TqCbvDVZ6HP809&si=WhVnrLLAUuYW-Any
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3pT8MUeR8bskcsuu8gmUGK
• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/back-to-the-stone-age/id1741219288

Outline

00:41 - John's introduction

08:35 - Is The Universe Mathematical in Nature?

25:50 - Limitations of Language in Philosophical Enquiries

31:20 - Mathematical Constructivism

41:07 - Implications of Constructivism and Intuitionist Logic

48:54 - Nature of Mathematical Truths

01:05:45 - The Axiom of Choice

01:37:20 - The Nature of The Continuum

01:50:43 - Relationship between Mathematics, Physics, Philosophy

02:03:14 - The Nature of Consciousness

02:23:03 - 1000-years After- Nap Question

02:29:00 - Conclusion

Enjoy Back to the Stone Age!

Thomas is a professor of Physics at KU Leuven (https://shorturl.at/IVa8S).

He's on Twitter: https://x.com/ThomasVanRiet2

Find Back to the Stone Age on:

• YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZrhMJ5eusE_ACw6Ec3TqCbvDVZ6HP809&si=WhVnrLLAUuYW-Any
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3pT8MUeR8bskcsuu8gmUGK
• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/back-to-the-stone-age/id1741219288

Outline

00:24 - General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics

11:50 - String Theory

21:41 - Singularities in String Theory

37:47 - Extra Dimensions in String Theory

48:30 - The Landscape and The Swampland

58:36 - Fine Tuning of the Universe

01:16:20 - The Most Beautiful Concept in Physics

01:20:00 - Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Hope you enjoy it, this is Back to the Stone Age!

Andrea is a theoretical physicist and he works on Dark Matter and Particle Physics.

He was awarded the ERC (European Research Council) Starting Grant.

Andrea on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-caputo-ph-d-2475999b/?locale=en_US

Seeing my interviews from one year ago is a bit cringe, but I'm working on it 😜 Hope you like it anyway!

Find Back to the Stone Age on:

• YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZrhMJ5eusE_ACw6Ec3TqCbvDVZ6HP809&si=WhVnrLLAUuYW-Any
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3pT8MUeR8bskcsuu8gmUGK
• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/back-to-the-stone-age/id1741219288

Outline

01:10 - The Standard Model

03:09 - Gravity and the Standard Model

06:30 - String theory and accelerators

13:47 - The Hierarchy problem

22:54 - Supersymmetry

26:12 - ΛCDM model and the Standard Model

34:08 - Dark Matter candidates

41:20 - Inflation and the Standard Model

49:00 - Extra dimensions

52:07 - The Baryon Asymmetry problem

57:58 - Neutrinos' mass problem

01:06:13 - The CP problem

01:16:24 - The parameters of the Standard Model

01:20:33 - Is mathematics invented or discovered?

01:23:07 - Final thoughts and conclusion

Enjoy Back to the Stone Age!

Do you like philosophising? Then this conversation is for YOU! 🫵🏻

Brad Wray (https://shorturl.at/gY9Oh) is Associate Professor at Aarhus University, and together we tackle deep philosophical questions.

Find Back to the Stone Age on:

• YouTube: https://shorturl.at/c5a37
• Spotify: https://shorturl.at/11x47
• Apple Podcast: https://shorturl.at/pFRCC

Outline

00:35 - Philosophy of Science

01:17 - Definition of knowledge

01:52 - How do scientific discoveries shape our understanding of reality?

02:26 - Metaphysics

09:56 - God in Philosophy

11:41 - Limitation of human knowledge

13:52 - Theory of everything

19:45 - How is knowledge acquired?

29:24 - Role of epistemic communities for knowledge acquisition

34:40 - Disruptive science and increase of scientific papers

46:03 - Academic vs technological development

51:38 - Artificial intelligence and technology

01:00:44 - Collaborating with other researchers

01:04:15 - Thomas Kuhn

01:06:02 - Paradigm in science

01:13:30 - Kuhn cycle

01:20:19 - Revolutionising paradigm shifts: Copernican revolution and Plate tectonics

01:32:15 - Incommensurability in scientific revolutions

01:40:18 - Planck's principle

01:45:55 - Role of theories in understanding reality

01:52:11 - Is scientific progress linear?

01:52:55 - Scientific realism

01:58:25 - Antirealist perspective

02:05:40 - Death

02:09:25 - Nuclear weapons

02:16:27 - Conclusion

Enjoy Back to the Stone Age!

Here is a conversation I've had with Daniel Ruberman, Professor of Mathematics.

Daniel's website: https://people.brandeis.edu/~ruberman/

Find Back to the Stone Age on:

• YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZrhMJ5eusE_ACw6Ec3TqCbvDVZ6HP809&si=WhVnrLLAUuYW-Any
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3pT8MUeR8bskcsuu8gmUGK
• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/back-to-the-stone-age/id1741219288

Outline

00:16 - Is math invented or discovered?

05:30 - Mathematics and the physical world

28:02 - Topology

38:00 - Manifolds and smooth manifolds

52:31 - Higher dimensions and low-dimensional topology

01:04:39 - Intuition about 4th dimension

01:24:01 - Gauge theories

01:38:02 - Knots and manifolds

01:44:33 - Applications of knot theory and topology

01:50:28 - Infinity

01:56:38 - Final thoughts

Enjoy Back to the Stone Age!

Some fundamental questions today with Gimmy, PhD student at GRAPPA doing research in black holes, gravitational-wave astronomy, and dark matter.

Gimmy is soon going to the Institute of Advanced Study of Princeton for a postdoc!

Gimmy's website: https://gimmytomas.github.io/index.html

Find Back to the Stone Age on:

• YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZrhMJ5eusE_ACw6Ec3TqCbvDVZ6HP809&si=WhVnrLLAUuYW-Any
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3pT8MUeR8bskcsuu8gmUGK
• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/back-to-the-stone-age/id1741219288

Outline

00:32 - Is math invented or discovered?

06:40 - Are paradoxes intrinsic to our reality?

11:20 - String theory and mathematics

16:53 - Theories of everything

24:00 - Reconciling gravity and quantum mechanics

30:00 - Understanding the origin of the Big Bang

37:05 - Time

46:52 - Is time fundamental or emergent?

52:18 - Time and space swap inside a black hole

57:44 - Mental picture for spacetime curvature

01:04:19 - Weirdness of quantum mechanics: entanglement

01:07:00 - Schrödinger equation, probabilities, uncertainty principle

01:15:16 - Is the wave function real?

01:18:39 - “God” and death

01:24:25 - Biological engineering of human life

01:29:00 - Making sense of numbers in cosmology

01:34:20 - Fine-tuning of nature

01:40:26 - Inflationary multiverse and infinity

01:51:45 - Artificial intelligence

01:56:32 - Consciousness

02:03:22 - Free will

02:07:46 - James Webb Space Telescope

02:13:08 - Final thoughts and conclusion

Enjoy Back to the Stone Age!

Journey to the edge of reason with Professor Hamkins!

Joel is a Professor of Philosophy and Mathematics at the University of Notre Dame. His research work spans Mathematical Logic and Set Theory.

You can find him here:

• Personal website: https://jdh.hamkins.org
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/JDHamkins
• Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=MHLQDYQAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

Back to the Stone Age is on:

• YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZrhMJ5eusE_ACw6Ec3TqCbvDVZ6HP809&si=EHUZow_K4nlcWw8M
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3pT8MUeR8bskcsuu8gmUGK?si=7f6f32052e9a4587
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/it/podcast/back-to-the-stone-age/id1741219288

Outline

00:00 - Introduction

00:55 - Mathematician or philosopher?

05:05 - Set Theory

09:52 - Is mathematics invented or discovered?

15:42 - Godel Incompleteness Theorem

24:14 - Infinity: potential and actual infinity

46:51 - Paradoxes on infinity

55:56 - Penrose three world model: mathematical, physical, and platonic world

01:00:21 - Mathematical reality

01:08:34 - Transfinite numbers, cardinals and ordinals

01:18:44 - The Absolute Infinity

01:25:08 - Infinity and time

01:30:57 - Irrational numbers, Alan Turing and computability

01:40:00 - Cantor’s definition of Set

01:43:40 - Cantor’s theorem

01:54:00 - Continuum Hypothesis

02:05:46 - Hostility of mathematician towards infinity

02:11:39 - Law of excluded middle and infinity

02:17:38 - Not finding answers to questions

02:19:58 - Is there more than maths permeating reality?

02:25:20 - AI and maths/physics

02:31:51 - AI and consciousness

02:36:36 - Most beautiful idea in mathematics and conclusion

Conversations with Friends: Greta Galluzzo.

Greta is a Psychology master's student and she's on Erasmus here in Amsterdam.

Find Back to the Stone Age on:

• YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZrhMJ5eusE_ACw6Ec3TqCbvDVZ6HP809&si=WhVnrLLAUuYW-Any
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3pT8MUeR8bskcsuu8gmUGK
• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/back-to-the-stone-age/id1741219288

Outline:

00:32 - Consciousness

06:32 - Animal consciousness and death

11:22 - Intelligence and language

17:18 - Empathy

20:01 - Awareness

22:35 - Mathematics

32:40 - Predisposition to mathematics, nature or nurture

35:20 - Acceptation of "limits" vs biological engineering to enhance human condition

44:15 - Is consciousness good or bad

47:06 - What is good and bad? Is there a universal ethics?

49:55 - Are humans good or bad?

52:12 - Happiness, suffering and altruism

01:10:47 - Being and feeling alive and dreaming state

01:23:19 - Greta's meaning of life

01:27:00 - Conclusion

Enjoy Back to the Stone Age!

Geetanjali is Associate Professor at St. Stephen’s College. She has a PhD in Cosmology from Delhi University. She's working on the Variable Chaplygin Gas model of dark energy.

Reach out to her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geetanjali-sethi-a7b201aa/?originalSubdomain=in

Find her research work on Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=EK8KFB0AAAAJ

Back to the Stone Age is on:

- YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZrhMJ5eusE_ACw6Ec3TqCbvDVZ6HP809&si=WhVnrLLAUuYW-Any

- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3pT8MUeR8bskcsuu8gmUGK

- Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/back-to-the-stone-age/id1741219288

Outline

00:00 - Introduction

00:15 - Energy

02:53 - Dark matter and dark energy

10:15 - Dark energy as expansion of the universe

12:11 - Energy of empty space

17:08 - Heisenberg uncertainty principle

21:54 - Why dark energy has constant energy density

26:35 - Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker cosmological model

33:58 - Quintessence, modified gravity models

39:08 - Variable Chaplygin Gas model

39:40 - Cosmic fluid

43:34 - Differences with other models

48:19 - Fine-tuning in nature

53:31 - Combination of dark matter and dark energy

56:09 - Dependency of observations for the future of the universe

58:40 - Most interesting fact about the cosmos

59:24 - Making sense of enormous distances

01:05:42 - Will the universe expand forever?

01:11:38 - AI and science

01:13:01 - Limitations of human brain

01:17:45 - Conclusion