MeaningofLife.tv

MeaningofLife.tv

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MeaningofLife.tv episodes

  • The Meaning of Dogs (Robert Wright & Andrew Sullivan)
    Remembering Andrew’s recently deceased dog Eddy ... Can we explain the bond between dogs and people? ... The many disgusting things that dogs love ... Andrew angers the cat lovers in the audience ... Are there actually "cat people" and "dog people"? ... Dogs' use of affection as a tool ... What can we learn from dogs about how to be present? ... Andrew: "I do think that after death I will be with my dogs" ... Andrew wants the economy to open up—a little ...
    1 hr
  • Manifesto for a Moral Revolution (Robert Wright & Jacqueline Novogratz)
    Jacqueline's new book, Manifesto for a Moral Revolution: Practices to Build a Better World ... Female saints as childhood role models ... How Jacqueline helped start Rwanda's first microfinance bank ... Jacqueline's "patient capital" investment nonprofit, Acumen ... The four steps toward building moral imagination ... Toilet entrepreneurship in Nairobi ... Changing the market for coffee and chocolate farmers ... Can identity connect as well as it divides? ... Jacqueline: A moral revolution must come from inside us ...
    1 hr
  • Prolegomena for a Pluralist Metaphysics (Daniel Kaufman & Crispin Sartwell)
    Dan's in-progress book, Prolegomena for a Pluralist Metaphysics ... Avoiding the "crazy positions" ... A stereoscopic view of the "scientific" and "manifest" images ... Dan: A world with people in it is only explainable in fragmentary terms ... Crispin sees the leading edge of the new dualism ... On the ontological status of coming-of-age stories ... Previewing future fights ...
    1 hr
  • The Science and Philosophy of "Devs" (Robert Wright & John Horgan)
    John fails the coronavirus antibody test; Bob consoles him ... Science fiction, free will, and robot sex ... The Devs interpretation of quantum mechanics ... The Wright-Horgan interpretation of Devs, part 1 (spoilers) ... The Wright-Horgan interpretation of Devs, part 2 (lots of spoilers) ... John: we need the concept of free will more than we need God ... Is the many worlds interpretation consoling or terrifying? ...
    1 hr
  • Gender Critical (Daniel Kaufman & Jesse Singal)
    The continuing battle over gender in philosophy ... Harm avoidance vs. competing interests ... Jesse: There's disagreement within the trans community over what it means to be trans ... Dan: "This is madness to everyone other than the people inside the tent" ... The social dynamics of philosophy ... Ordinary language and "they" ... Will the trans movement moderate? ... Dan: Philosophy is in trouble and the pandemic is making it worse ...
    1 hr
  • Why I Am Not a Buddhist (Robert Wright & Evan Thompson)
    Evan's new book, Why I Am Not a Buddhist ... Evan's critique of "Buddhist modernism" and "Buddhist exceptionalism" ... Which of Buddhism’s major claims are naturalistic? ... Is Buddhism fundamentally different than other religions? ... Bob defends Buddhist insights into human psychology ... Evan's case against "neural Buddhism" ... Does a clearer view of reality make you more equanimous? ... All about nirvana ... Debating evolutionary psychology ... Evan: This book is friendly criticism ...
    1 hr
  • Epidemiological Modeling, Policy, and Covid-19 (Daniel Kaufman, Eric Winsberg, and John Symons)
    How to model an epidemic ... The costs and benefits of cost-benefit analysis ... Turning coronavirus models into coronavirus policy ... Eric: Your intuitions about the virus’s spread are "useless" ... The use and abuse of epidemiological models ... Pandemic models and failures of political leadership ... Our scandalous lack of infection-rate data ... Why suppressing the virus “is a marathon, not a sprint” ...
    1 hr
  • The Case Against Thomas Kuhn (John Horgan & Errol Morris)
    Can we ever really know the world? ... Debating the ideas of Thomas Kuhn, famous philosopher of science ... Will we ever see the end of war? ... Errol's book about Kuhn, The Ashtray: (Or the Man Who Denied Reality) ... Errol: Science without truth cannot live ... John sticks up for Kuhn ... Errol's vexed personal relationship with Kuhn ... Stephen Hawking's sense of humor ... Errol: "We're a dumbass species" ... The glass is half empty and filled with poison ...
    1 hr
  • Consciousness, Panpsychism, and Illusionism (Daniel Kaufman & Massimo Pigliucci)
    Will the pandemic forever change college education? ... Laying out the "hard problem" of consciousness ... Why panpsychism is not a solution to the problem ... The battle between radicals and conservatives in physics ... Physicalism vs. idealism ... Massimo explains "scientific metaphysics" ... Why illusionism is not a solution to the problem ... Misrepresentations vs. useful representations ...
    1 hr
  • The New Science of Self-Actualization (Robert Wright & Scott Barry Kaufman)
    Scott's new book, Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization ... Debunking myths about Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs ... The origins of humanistic psychology ... Optimism for the thinking person ... Psychological security in an era of new threats and superficial social connections ... Psychological growth: exploration, love, and purpose ... Defining "peak experiences" ... Scott says Bob is a "transcender." Bob is skeptical. ... Is this a kind of secular spirituality? ... Evaluating peak experiences achieved through psychedelics ...
    1 hr

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Conversations about philosophy, science, religion and spirituality