<p>How long does it take for one-half of everything we know about a subject to be proven wrong? Depends on the subject. 45 years, for example, if that subject is cirrhosis or hepatitis. Samuel Arbesman, applied mathematician and author of "The Half-Life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an expiration Date", joins Julia and Massimo to talk about the hidden patterns underlying how fast our understanding of science is changing.</p>

How long does it take for one-half of everything we know about a subject to be proven wrong? Depends on the subject. 45 years, for example, if that subject is cirrhosis or hepatitis. Samuel Arbesman, applied mathematician and author of "The Half-Life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an expiration Date", joins Julia and Massimo to talk about the hidden patterns underlying how fast our understanding of science is changing.

Rationally Speaking #83 - Samuel Arbesman On The Half-Life of Facts

Rationally Speaking is the bi-weekly podcast of New York City Skeptics. Join host Julia Galef and guests as they explore the borderlands between reason and nonsense, likely from unlikely, and science from pseudoscience. Any topic is fair game as long as we can bring reason to bear upon it, with both a skeptical eye and a good dose of humor!
We agree with the Marquis de Condorcet, who said that in an open society we ought to devote ourselves to "the tracking down of prejudices in the hiding places where priests, the schools, the government, and all long-established institutions had gathered and protected them."Rationally Speaking was co-created with Massimo Pigliucci, is produced by Benny Pollak, and is recorded in the heart of New York City's Greenwich Village.

Society & Culture

Science

Philosophy

Rationally Speaking is the bi-weekly podcast of New York City Skeptics. Join host Julia Galef and guests as they explore the borderlands between reason and nonsense, likely from unlikely, and science from pseudoscience. Any topic is fair game as long as we can bring reason to bear upon it, with both a skeptical eye and a good dose of humor! We agree with the Marquis de Condorcet, who said that in an open society we ought to devote ourselves to "the tracking down of prejudices in the hiding places where priests, the schools, the government, and all long-established institutions had gathered and protected them."Rationally Speaking was co-created with Massimo Pigliucci, is produced by Benny Pollak, and is recorded in the heart of New York City's Greenwich Village.

Share Rationally Speaking #83 - Samuel Arbesman On The Half-Life of Facts

Sign up to save your podcasts

Rationally Speaking #83 - Samuel Arbesman On The Half-Life of Facts

Rationally Speaking #83 - Samuel Arbesman On The Half-Life of Facts

More shows like Rationally Speaking Podcast

Left, Right & Center

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

EconTalk

Radiolab

The Audio Long Read

Making Sense with Sam Harris

Conversations with Tyler

Hidden Brain

The Joe Walker Podcast

If You're Listening

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas

Dwarkesh Podcast

Decoding the Gurus

The Ezra Klein Show

Plain English with Derek Thompson