Fallible Animals

This is my interview with Nicetu Tibau Vidal, a DPhil student at Oxford University. We discuss his research, which includes demonstrating that fermions conform to Einstein's principle of locality. We also discuss his ongoing research project of formalizing constructor theory.

Video Version, Part One - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IKbA9AzPv0&t=16s

Video Version, Part Two - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJiiteXFG7g&t=2s

Joining me today is patent attorney and libertarian theorist Stephan Kinsella. Mr. Kinsella is the author of the book, Against Intellectual Property, and is the founder and director of the Center for the Study of Innovative Freedom. He is also the founder and editor of Libertarians Papers, and he’s a member of the Editorial Board of Reason Papers.  

We cover a wide range of specific topics, from property rights, argumentation ethics, whether or not praxeology is falsifiable, common arguments against the existence or morality of anarcho-capitalism, and potential connections between praxeology, free will, and constructor theory.

Stephan Kinsella's website - http://www.stephankinsella.com

Stephan Kinsella's Twitter - https://twitter.com/NSKinsella

Mises: Keep It Interesting - https://mises.org/wire/mises-keep-it-interesting

A Libertarian Theory of Contract: Title Transfer, Binding Promises, Inalienability - https://mises.org/library/libertarian-theory-contract-title-transfer-binding-promises-inalienability-0

How We Come to Own Ourselves - https://mises.org/library/how-we-come-own-ourselves

Against Intellectual Property - https://mises.org/library/against-intellectual-property-0

Twitter - https://twitter.com/ChipkinLogan

Website - www.loganchipkin.com

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/Fallibleanimals

I speak with Carlos De la Guardia, an amateur AGI researcher and musician  with a longtime interest in Popper and Deutsch. We discuss how one can apply the philosophy of critical rationalism, and some of David Deutsch’s ideas, to 'real life'. How should one act, given that problems are inevitable, and life is literally unpredictable? We also discuss how critical rationalism may help us to have more productive disagreements, effective altruism, and the universal constructor.

Carlos' Twitter - https://twitter.com/dela3499

Twitter - https://twitter.com/ChipkinLogan

Website - www.loganchipkin.com

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/Fallibleanimals

Some books mentioned: 

Zero to One, by Peter Thiel - https://www.amazon.com/Zero-One-Notes-Startups-Future/dp/0804139296

The Logic of Scientific Discovery, by Karl Popper - https://www.amazon.com/Logic-Scientific-Discovery-Routledge-Classics/dp/0415278449

The Lunar Men: Five Friends Whose Curiosity Changed the World, by Jenny Uglow - https://www.amazon.com/Lunar-Men-Friends-Curiosity-Changed/dp/0374528888

I interview physicist and science writer Sabine Hossenfelder. She is a Research Fellow at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, where she leads the Analog Systems for Gravity Duals group and researches quantum gravity. We discuss ideas from her book, Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray, such as the role of philosophical ideas of beauty, naturalness, and elegance in fundamental physics and the sociological factors that affect scientific research. We also discuss often misunderstood ideas in fundamental physics, such as the difference between a Grand Unified Theory and a Theory of Everything, and the difference between time-invariance and time reversibility. 

Dr. Hossenfelder's Twitter - @skdh

Dr. Hossenfelder's book, Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray - https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Math-Beauty-Physics-Astray-ebook/dp/B0763L6YR7

Dr. Hossenfelder's website - http://sabinehossenfelder.com

Dr. Hossendelder's blog - http://backreaction.blogspot.com

My appearance on Christofer Lovgren's podcast, Do Explain - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/5-big-three-case-against-government-logan-chipkin/id1482313214?i=1000457352171

My recent article with Areo Magazine, People and the Cosmos: Constructor Theory - https://areomagazine.com/2019/11/25/people-and-the-cosmos-constructor-theory/

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/Fallibleanimals

Twitter - https://twitter.com/ChipkinLogan

Articles - www.loganchipkin.com

We discuss the difference between laws versus principles as elucidated by constructor theory, and why it matters. Constructor theory may be thought of as a 'theory of theories' whose principles constrain other theories. Just as these subsidiary, object-level theories constrain the behavior of physical phenomena, so too constructor theory, as a meta-level theory, constrains the behavior of object-level theories both known and unknown. Constructor theoretic principles can also constrain and solve problems with theories that explain inherently unpredictable phenomena, such as those of biology, economics, and epistemology.

My patreon page - https://www.patreon.com/Fallibleanimals

Economic Creationism - https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/economic-creationism/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/ChipkinLogan

Articles - www.loganchipkin.com

Foundational Paper on Constructor Theory - https://arxiv.org/pdf/1210.7439.pdf

Constructor Theory of Life - https://arxiv.org/pdf/1407.0681.pdf

The Upright Thinkers - https://www.amazon.com/Upright-Thinkers-Journey-Living-Understanding/dp/0307908232

I interview award-winning astrobiologist and science writer Lewis Dartnell. We discuss themes from his most recent book, Origins: How The Earth Made Us, as well as ideas from his field of study, astrobiology. Dr. Dartnell holds the Professorship in Science Communication at the University of Westminster. Interview topics include: how the Earth's cycles may have driven human evolution, humanity's search for extraterrestrial life, the shadow biosphere, why some civilizations came to dominate the globe, and more.

Dr. Dartnell's homepage - http://lewisdartnell.com/en-gb/

Dr. Dartnell's Twitter - https://twitter.com/lewis_dartnell

Twitter - https://twitter.com/ChipkinLogan

Articles - www.loganchipkin.com

I interview award-winning science writer Graham Farmelo. We discuss ideas in his latest book, The Universe Speaks in Numbers, including the relationship between math and physics, whether the laws of Nature are invented or discovered, the history of the relationship between the communities of mathematicians and physicists, current progress in physics, and much more.

Shortened transcript of interview - https://areomagazine.com/2019/09/08/the-marriage-between-maths-and-reality-an-interview-with-graham-farmelo/

Dr. Farmelo's website - https://grahamfarmelo.com

Dr. Farmelo's Twitter - https://twitter.com/grahamfarmelo

Link to The Universe Speaks in Numbers - https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Speaks-Numbers-Reveals-Natures/dp/B07RN9HV8N/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1Q7EK9AKQ4A7K&keywords=the+universe+speaks+in+numbers&qid=1572784191&sprefix=the+universe+speaks+in+number%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1

Twitter - https://twitter.com/ChipkinLogan

Articles - www.loganchipkin.com

I interview Oxford physicist Chiara Marletto, who has been working on constructor theory for several years. She's published papers on its applications to various fields, including those of information, thermodynamics, life, and probability. We discuss the origins and motivations of constructor theory, problems the theory may solve, current research programs, the universal constructor, response to potential criticisms, why constructor theory can explain more of Reality than the prevailing conception, and more. 

Constructor Theory Homepage - www.constructortheory.org

Constructor Theory of Thermodynamics - http://constructortheory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Thd-ArXiv-2.pdf

Constructor Theory of Probability - http://constructortheory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/20150883.full_.pdf

Constructor Theory of Life - http://constructortheory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/ct-life.pdf

Constructor Theory of Information - http://constructortheory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/ct-info.pdf

Twitter - https://twitter.com/ChipkinLogan

Articles - www.loganchipkin.com

We continue our exploration of constructor theory, our deepest theory in physics. We learn about the conceptual tools used in the theory, such as constructors, tasks, and substrates. We explain how constructor theory solves a few philosophical problems, such as whether or not causation is real, and what knowledge is in physical terms. We explain why constructor theory expresses knowledge as a fundamental quantity in Reality. Finally, we define a universal constructor and suggest that future research may prove the possibility of its creation.

Foundational Paper on Constructor Theory (preprint) - https://arxiv.org/pdf/1210.7439.pdf

Twitter - https://twitter.com/ChipkinLogan

Articles - www.loganchipkin.com

We motivate and introduce Constructor Theory, humanity's first Theory of Everything (or so I claim). We explain what the founder of Constructor Theory, David Deutsch, calls the prevailing conception, and why it is inadequate in capturing and explaining many phenomena in nature, such as evolution by natural selection, the growth of knowledge, and various principles that we hold to be true. We briefly discuss why Constructor Theory allows for a wider range of phenomena than does the prevailing conception. 

Foundational Paper on Constructor Theory (preprint) - https://arxiv.org/pdf/1210.7439.pdf

Twitter - https://twitter.com/ChipkinLogan

Articles - www.loganchipkin.com