Weird Things

The Philosophical Snake: AI, Robotics, and a Fossilized Surprise


Listen Later

The episode opens with the news that philosopher Daniel Dennett has died, and the hosts reflect on how influential his books, especially Darwin's Dangerous Idea and Consciousness Explained, were on Andrew's thinking about arguments, thought experiments, consciousness, and where the boundaries of sentience may lie. Brian adds his own examples from dogs and consciousness, reinforcing the sense that Dennett was especially good at exploring philosophical borderlands without always forcing tidy conclusions. The middle of the episode is a long riff that starts with dog-powered historical machines and novelty inventions, then moves into Meta's Llama 3 release and a humorous discussion of Mark Zuckerberg's new public image. The conversation then turns to Boston Dynamics' new Atlas robot, broader robotics manufacturing and patent issues, cheaper robot dogs and quadrupeds from Unitree, and finally a fossil snake discovery from India that may have been about 50 feet long. The episode closes with pick discussions, including Andrew recommending Consciousness Explained and Justin recommending Shogun, while the later discussion also covers Never Split the Difference as a book they found interesting. Key topics Daniel Dennett and consciousness: The hosts discuss Dennett's death, Andrew's admiration for his writing, and his use of examples involving the soul, sentience, severed limbs, and gradual brain replacement to explore consciousness and unclear boundaries. Dogs as workers and dog-powere
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Weird ThingsBy Andrew Mayne

  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5

4.5

329 ratings


More shows like Weird Things

View all
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! by NPR

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

38,950 Listeners

Stuff To Blow Your Mind by iHeartPodcasts

Stuff To Blow Your Mind

5,667 Listeners

Fat Man Beyond by SModcast Network

Fat Man Beyond

3,930 Listeners

Big Picture Science by Big Picture Science

Big Picture Science

945 Listeners

Film Sack by Scott Johnson

Film Sack

1,377 Listeners

This Week in Tech (Audio) by TWiT

This Week in Tech (Audio)

3,059 Listeners

MacBreak Weekly (Audio) by TWiT

MacBreak Weekly (Audio)

2,013 Listeners

Our Fake History by PodcastOne

Our Fake History

3,482 Listeners

Stuff They Don't Want You To Know by iHeartPodcasts

Stuff They Don't Want You To Know

10,365 Listeners

Ridiculous History by iHeartPodcasts

Ridiculous History

4,561 Listeners

Dan Carlin's Hardcore History: Addendum by Dan Carlin

Dan Carlin's Hardcore History: Addendum

8,312 Listeners

The Michael Shermer Show by Michael Shermer

The Michael Shermer Show

941 Listeners

The Political Orphanage by Andrew Heaton

The Political Orphanage

982 Listeners

How We Survive by Marketplace

How We Survive

1,377 Listeners

OpenAI Podcast by OpenAI

OpenAI Podcast

59 Listeners