Hear This Idea

Hear This Idea

By Fin Moorhouse and Luca RighettiSociety & CultureScienceSocial SciencesPhilosophy
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Hear This Idea episodes

  • 39. Keith Frankish on Illusionism about Consciousness

    Keith Frankish is a philosopher of mind. He is an Honorary Reader at the University of Sheffield, UK, Visiting Research Fellow with The Open University, and adjunct Professor with the Brain and Mind Programme at the University of Crete.

    In our interview, we discuss:

    • What is the hard problem of consciousness?
    • What is the illusionist theory of consciousness?
    • What does illusionism have to do with ethics?
    • When should we care for robot dogs?
    • How should academics use twitter?
    • You can read more about the topics we cover in this episode's write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/keith.

      If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free to get in touch through our website. Consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this — it's the best free way to support the show. If you want to support the show more directly, consider leaving a tip. Thanks for listening!

      0 min
    • 38. Christoph Winter on the Legal Priorities Project

      Christoph Winter is an Assistant Professor of Law at ITAM in Mexico, a Visiting Scholar in Psychology at Harvard, and the founder of the Legal Priorities Project

      In our interview, we discuss:

      • A global survey of legal academics about protecting future generations;
      • How constitutional law might best help in this effort;
      • Endangerment law and the "risk of creating a risk";
      • And lots more!
      • You can read more about the topics we cover in this episode's write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/christoph/.

        If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free to get in touch through our website. Consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this — it's the best free way to support the show. If you want to support the show more directly, consider leaving a tip. Thanks for listening!

        1 hr 21 min
      • 37. Gillian Hadfield on Regulatory Markets, Silly Rules, and why Humans Invented Law

        Gillian Hadfield is Director of the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society. She is a Professor of Law and Professor of Strategic Management at the University of Toronto.

        In our interview, we discuss:

        • Why humans invented law, and what Gillian describes as "the demand side" for legal infrastructure;
        • Why social norms continue to be important today and how Ancient Athens managed to use a decentralised system of collective punishment;
        • The case for "regulatory markets" in governing artificial intelligence, and how governments in the 21st Century need to keep up with rapid advances in technology
        • "Silly rules" and why seemingly arbitrary norms are actually really important in creating society's normative infrastructures
        • You can read more about the topics we cover in this episode's write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/gillian.

          If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free to get in touch through our website. Consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this — it's the best free way to support the show. If you want to support the show more directly, consider leaving a tip.

          Thanks for listening!

          1 hr 50 min
        • 36. Bryan Caplan on Causes of Poverty and the Case for Open Borders

          Bryan Caplan is Professor of Economics at George Mason University and the author of Open Borders, The Myth of the Rational Voter, The Case Against Education, and Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids.

          In our interview, we discuss:

          • Causes of poverty
          • Charter cities
          • The case for open borders
          • Democracy — is it overrated? Why do voters keep choosing bad policies? Do democracies last longer, grow faster, and go to war less?
          • Stable global totalitarianism
          • Should longtermists care more about having more children? Is the cost of subsidising a new life competitive with the cost of saving a life?
          • What the philosopher Michael Huemer gets right
          • How many kids is Bryan counterfactually responsible for?
          • Life lessons from Hairspray and The Room
          • You can read more about the topics we cover this episode's write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/bryan.

            If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free to get in touch through our website. Consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this — it's the best free way to support the show. If you want to support the show more directly, consider leaving a tip.

            Thanks for listening!

            1 hr 35 min
          • 35. Ben Todd on Choosing a Career and Defining Longtermism

            Ben Todd is the CEO & founder of 80,000 Hours, and helped to start the effective altruism movement.

            80,000 Hours is a non-profit that provides free research and support to help people find careers that effectively tackle the world’s most pressing problems.

            In our interview, we discuss:

            • Why your choice of career could be the most important ethical decision you ever get to make;
            • 80K’s ‘problem, solution, personal fit’ framework for choosing a career;
            • Whether longtermism should be considered a research project or a social movement;
            • The idea of using leverage to multiply the difference you're able to make.
            • Note that if you don't need to hear an introduction to the key ideas of 80,000 Hours, you can skip to about the 34-minute mark.

              You can read more about the topics we cover this episode's write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/ben.

              Key links mentioned in the interview:

              • The 80,000 Hours website
              • A (free) weekly career planning course for positive impact
              • The 80,000 Hours 'Key Ideas' series
              • The 80,000 Hours job board
              • The 80,000 Hours Podcast with Rob Wiblin
              • If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free to get in touch through our website. Consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this — it's the best free way to support the show. If you want to support the show more directly, consider leaving a tip.

                Thanks for listening!

                0 min
              • 34. Anders Sandberg on the Fermi Paradox, Transhumanism, and so much more

                Anders Sandberg is a researcher, futurist, transhumanist and author. He holds a PhD in computational neuroscience from Stockholm University, and is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford. His research covers the ethics of human enhancement, estimating the capabilities of future technologies, and very long-range futures.

                In this episode, we talk about

                • The Fermi Paradox: if the universe is so big, where are all the aliens?
                • What is 'transhumanism'?
                • The case for ending ageing
                • The 'reversal test' for eliminating status quo bias
                • Online communities and movement growth
                • You can read much more about the topics we cover in this episode in our accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/anders. There you'll find links to all the videos and articles Anders mentions, plus further reading.

                  If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free to get in touch through our website. Consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this. And if you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip.

                  Thanks for listening!

                  2 hr 34 min
                • 33. Jeffrey Sachs on Sustainable Development

                  Professor Jeffrey Sachs is the Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and author of many bestselling books.

                  In this episode, we talk about

                  • The need to reform the international financial system;
                  • The role of mitigating global catastrophic risk in sustainable development;
                  • The importance of expert advice and political leadership.
                  • You can read much more about the topics we cover in this episode in our accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/sachs. There you'll find links to all the videos and articles Sachs mentions, plus further reading.

                    If you enjoyed this episode, you might also like some of our other interviews:

                    • Eva Vivalt on evidence-based policy;
                    • Armond Cohen on climate change;
                    • Luke Freeman on Giving What We Can.
                    • If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free to get in touch through our website. Consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this. And if you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip.

                      Thanks for listening!

                      59 min
                    • 32. Matt Ives on Solar Power and Experience Curves

                      Matt Ives is a Senior Research Associate in Complex Systems Economic Modelling at the University of Oxford. We discuss the reasons behind the astonishing decline in costs of renewable technologies, especially solar power, and the implications this has for fighting climate change. We also touch on modelling energy systems, financial discolour of climate/transition risks, and complexity economics.

                      You can read much more about the topics we cover in this episode in our accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/matt. There you'll find links to all the videos and books Matt mentions, plus further reading.

                      If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free to get in touch through our website or by using the star rating form on each episode page. Please also consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this. If you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip.

                      Thanks for listening!

                      1 hr 3 min
                    • 31. Armond Cohen on Climate Change and the Clean Air Task Force

                      Armond Cohen is the executive director of the Clean Air Task Force. CATF has been rated as the most cost-effective climate change charity, including by organisations such as Founder's Pledge, SoGive, and Giving Green.

                      You can read much more about the topics we cover in this episode in our accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/armond. There you'll find links to all the videos and books Armond mentions, plus further reading.

                      If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free to get in touch through our website or by using the star rating form on each episode page. Please also consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this. If you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip.

                      Thanks for listening!

                      1 hr 42 min
                    • 30. Isabelle Boemeke on Nuclear Power

                      Isabelle Boemeke is a model, digital fashion designer, and the world's first (and only) nuclear power influencer. She makes educational videos as Isodope.

                      You can read much more about the topics we cover in this episode in our accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/isabelle. There you'll find links to all the videos and books Isabelle mentions, plus further reading.

                      If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free to get in touch through our website or by using the star rating form on each episode page. Please also consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this. If you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip.

                      Thanks for listening!

                      0 min

                    About Hear This Idea

                    From the publisher's feed

                    Hear This Idea is a podcast showcasing new thinking in philosophy, the social sciences, and effective altruism. Each episode has an accompanying write-up at www.hearthisidea.com/episodes.

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