This is the first of our two part series (that may or may not be released back-to-back) where Bruce delves into the work Douglas Hofstadter, specifically the book Surfaces and Essences. We consider what is the relationship—if there is any—between critical rationalism and Hofstadter's idea that analogy is a core mechanism of human cognition. Is it fair to criticize Hofstadter's ideas as being inductivism in disguise? Could something like what Hofstadter suggests (i.e. analogy) be central to human consciousness and creation of AGI?

Follow us on Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/bnielson01⁠

--- 

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/four-strands/message
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/four-strands/support

Episode 85: Critical Rationalism and Douglas Hofstadter (Part 1)

A podcast with episodes loosely tied together by Popper-Deutsch Theory of Knowledge. David Deutsch's 4 Strands tie everything together, so we discuss everything we find interesting be it science, philosophy, computation, politics, or art. But there is a heavy emphasis on the exploration of intelligence and the search for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
 Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/four-strands/support

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Here Bruce reflects on AI researcher Kenneth Stanley’s assertion that setting specific, measurable goals may actually hinder discovery and innovation, which he writes about in his book, Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned: The Myth of the Objective. How does Stanley’s insight relate to critical rationalism, education, and life in general?


We cover topics including:

 Why are objective sometimes misleading?
 When are objectives appropriate and when are they misleading?
  How did Stanley and his team discover the problems with objectives?
  How does this relate to the problem of open-endedness?
  How did he implement a program to explore alternatives? What was the result?
  What are implications for AI/AGI, scientific research, and education?
  How does these theories relate to Darwinian evolution and Popperian epistemology?
  Are natural selection and biological evolution the same thing?
  How important is 'selection' to knowledge creation?



Follow us on Twitter: https://x.com/bnielson01

--- 

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/four-strands/message
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/four-strands/support

Episode 88: The Myth of the Objective

Is the universal explainer hypothesis falsifiable? How does the concept of universality relate to human minds? Is anything truly beyond human comprehension? And how would you frame universality as an interesting topic at a party?


This week we also feature a guest, Dan Gish, a fellow traveler Bruce has connected with on Twitter. Dan (on Twitter) had questions about if the incomprehensibility of LLMs refuted the universal explainer hypothesis. This was Bruce's attempt to give him an honest answer to Dan's questions.


Follow us on Twitter.

--- 

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/four-strands/message
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/four-strands/support

Episode 87: Is the Universal Explainer Hypothesis Falsifiable?

How do humans form 'fuzzy categories'? How does this all relate to essentialism? Is essentialism false? Or is it partially true? And how does this all relate to Critical Rationalism?

Picking up where we left off last week, Bruce gets
deeper into Douglas Hofstadter’s ideas on language and the mind and his assertion that “analogy-making lies at the heart of intelligence.”

Bruce considers how Hofstadter’s theories may be interwoven with ideas on language and cognition promoted by Steven Pinker in "How the Mind Works" along with, as usual, the epistemology of Karl Popper and David Deutsch.

We again consider if this is an inductive theory? And how should critical rationalists view theories like this?

Follow us on Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/bnielson01⁠

--- 

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/four-strands/message
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/four-strands/support

Episode 86: Fuzzy Categories, Essentialism, and Epistemology (Hofstadter Part 2)

Here we discuss a 1992 interview with David Deutsch where he makes the case that video games are inherently educational, not addictive, and that children should not be stopped from playing as much as they want. We contrast the view of humans, science, and knowledge promoted there by David Deutsch with the more pessimistic view of thinkers such as Jonathan Haidt today. Bruce and Peter reflect on their own mixed feelings on this issue both as critical rationalists and parents. 

David Deutsch on video games: 
https://takingchildrenseriously.com/video-games-a-unique-educational-environment/
Peter briefly quotes from this recent article by Jonathan Haidt:
https://www.thefp.com/p/jonathan-haidt-worried-about-the-boys-too

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bnielson01

--- 

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/four-strands/message
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/four-strands/support

Episode 85: Critical Rationalism and Douglas Hofstadter (Part 1)

Download our free app to listen on your phone