Fallible Animals
26 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 months ago - ★★★★★ - 8 ratingsWe talk about our deepest theories across science, philosophy, economics, and morality. We also explore the history of ideas.
If you're enjoying my content, please consider supporting the podcast and my writing projects with a donation at https://www.patreon.com/Fallibleanimals. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/logan-chipkin/support
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Episodes
Did the Catholic Church Plant the Seeds of Science?
December 07, 2023 01:27 - 11 minutes - 19.4 MBAudio version of my Substack essay: Did the Catholic Church Plant the Seeds for Science? Essay: https://logan893.substack.com/p/did-t... Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChipkinLogan Substack: https://substack.com/@logan893 Airchat: http://getairchat.com/s/ofI8mZXH Novel: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CD52TMHT/ Website: www.loganchipkin.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/logan-chipkin/support
Money: Where Economics and Memetics Meet
November 26, 2023 04:26 - 8 minutes - 14.9 MBAudio version of my essay, Money: Where Economics and Memetics Meet. Original Substack post: https://logan893.substack.com/p/money-where-economics-and-memetics Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChipkinLogan Substack: https://substack.com/@logan893 Airchat: http://getairchat.com/s/ofI8mZXH Novel: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CD52TMHT/ Website: www.loganchipkin.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/logan-chipkin/support
Constructor Theory: Basics, Theory, & Experiment
October 20, 2023 12:08 - 22 minutes - 22.2 MBAudio version of my Substack post, Constructor Theory: Basics, Theory, & Experiment Substack post: https://logan893.substack.com/p/constructor-theory-basics-theory Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChipkinLogan Substack: https://substack.com/@logan893 Airchat: http://getairchat.com/s/ofI8mZXH Novel: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CD52TMHT/ Website: www.loganchipkin.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/logan-chipkin/support
The Anarchist at the Wedding
October 15, 2023 14:45 - 7 minutes - 7.34 MBAudio version of my Substack post, The Anarchist at the Wedding: https://logan893.substack.com/p/the-anarchist-at-the-wedding Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChipkinLogan Substack: https://substack.com/@logan893 Airchat: http://getairchat.com/s/ofI8mZXH Novel: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CD52TMHT/ Website: www.loganchipkin.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/logan-chipkin/support
Thermodynamics: Born of War
October 07, 2023 15:38 - 10 minutes - 18.9 MBAudio version of my Substack essay, Thermodynamics: Born of War. Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChipkinLogan Substack: https://substack.com/@logan893 Airchat: http://getairchat.com/s/ofI8mZXH Novel: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CD52TMHT/ Website: www.loganchipkin.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/logan-chipkin/support
Economics: A Universal Acid
September 29, 2023 13:07 - 5 minutes - 9.41 MBAudio version of my recent Substack essay, Economics: A Universal Acid. Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChipkinLogan Substack: https://substack.com/@logan893 Airchat: http://getairchat.com/s/ofI8mZXH Novel: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CD52TMHT/ Website: www.loganchipkin.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/logan-chipkin/support
The Universal Constructor with David Deutsch
March 07, 2023 11:27 - 25 minutes - 14.6 MBI speak with physicist David Deutsch about the universal constructor, a machine that can be programmed to cause any physically possible transformation. Note-this interview was recorded in early 2022. In the time since this interview was recorded, David has stated that disobedience is by far the primary reason that humans and human societies aren't universal constructors. David Deutsch's website - https://www.daviddeutsch.org.uk/. Constructor theory website - https://www.constructorthe...
Constructor Theory of Information with David Deutsch
January 19, 2021 00:04 - 36 minutes - 20.4 MBThis is my interview with David Deutsch, Visiting Professor of physics at the Centre for Quantum Computation, the Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford University and an Honorary Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. We discuss the constructor theory of information, some of its conjectured principles, the unification of classical and quantum information, and more. Constructor Theory of Information paper - https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1405/1405.5563.pdf --- Support this podcast: https://podc...
Quantum Field Theory & Qubit Field Theory with Sam Kuypers
October 08, 2020 20:52 - 29 minutes - 15.8 MBThis is my interview with Sam Kuypers, a DPhil student at Oxford University. We discuss the problems with quantum field theory, how qubit field theory seems to solve some of these problems, and how constructor theory might aid the development of qubit field theory. Qubit Field Theory - https://arxiv.org/pdf/quant-ph/0401024.pdf Constructor Theory of Information - https://arxiv.org/pdf/1405.5563.pdf --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/logan-chipkin/support
Probing Hybrid Systems with Vlatko Vedral
September 25, 2020 13:59 - 43 minutes - 23.8 MBThis is my interview with Vlatko Vedral, a professor of quantum information science at Oxford University. We discuss the difference between dynamical laws and principles in physics, the role that the principles of constructor theory play in discovering new dynamical laws, the constructor theory of information, his research (in collaboration with Chiara Marletto) into probing hybrid systems in which quantum mechanical objects interact with gravity, and more. Relevant publications: 1. Gravi...
Fermions, Principle of Locality, and Formalizing Constructor Theory with Nicetu Tibau Vidal
September 15, 2020 15:37 - 40 minutes - 23.6 MBThis 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 --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/sh...
Episode 12: Property Rights, Argumentation Ethics, and Praxeology with Stephan Kinsella
December 18, 2019 04:59 - 2 hours - 70.4 MBJoining 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 argument...
Property Rights, Argumentation Ethics, and Praxeology with Stephan Kinsella
December 18, 2019 04:59 - 2 hours - 70.4 MBJoining 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 argument...
Fallible Animals Episode 11: A Life Worth Creating with Carlos De la Guardia
December 09, 2019 15:18 - 56 minutes - 26.3 MBI 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 ...
Episode 10: Interview with Physicist Sabine Hossenfelder
November 29, 2019 21:43 - 46 minutes - 106 MBI interview physicist and science writer Sabine Hossenfelder. Dr. Hossenfelder is a theoretical physicist who researches quantum gravity. She is a Research Fellow at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, where she leads the Analog Systems for Gravity Duals group. 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 scie...
Fallible Animals Episode 10: Interview with Physicist Sabine Hossenfelder
November 29, 2019 21:43 - 46 minutes - 106 MBI 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 misund...
Fallible Animals Episode 9: Laws vs. Principles
November 16, 2019 16:49 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MBWe 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 so...
Fallible Animals Episode 8: Interview with Astrobiologist Lewis Dartnell
November 11, 2019 11:10 - 35 minutes - 16.3 MBI 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 th...
Fallible Animals Episode 7: Interview with Science Writer Graham Farmelo
November 03, 2019 12:31 - 47 minutes - 22.8 MBI 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-wit...
Fallible Animals Episode 6 - Interview with Physicist Chiara Marletto
October 27, 2019 22:00 - 1 hour - 22.4 MBI 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 con...
Fallible Animals Episode 6: Interview with Physicist Chiara Marletto
October 27, 2019 22:00 - 1 hour - 22.4 MBI 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 con...
Fallible Animals Episode 5: What is a Constructor?
October 21, 2019 18:18 - 16 minutes - 14.9 MBWe 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 ...
Fallible Animals Episode 4: Intro to Constructor Theory
October 15, 2019 16:13 - 16 minutes - 14.9 MBWe 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...
Fallible Animals Episode 3: Progress as Error-Correction
October 08, 2019 18:15 - 22 minutes - 111 MBIn this episode of Fallible Animals, we discuss how it is that sciences progresses, despite the fact that all science is conjectural. It turns out that progress entails reducing errors in our worldview. We define knowledge and review its growth over the course of history. Finally, we take as a case study our ever-improving understanding of our own Solar System, from Copernicus to Kepler to Newton. Transcript of Karl Popper's lecture/essay entitled 'Objective Knowledge' - https://pdfs.sem...
Fallible Animals Episode 2: Intro to Critical Rationalism
September 28, 2019 03:35 - 16 minutes - 15.4 MBWe begin our discussion of the philosophy of knowledge called Critical Rationalism. We briefly review the intellectual climate in which it was created, and we discuss some of the core concepts, such as the conjectural nature of scientific theories, Popper's criterion of demarcation, and the role of criticism in science. Twitter - https://twitter.com/ChipkinLogan Links to my articles - www.loganchipkin.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/logan-chipkin/su...
Fallible Animals Episode 1: Introduction
September 24, 2019 12:09 - 3 minutes - 3.26 MBIntroduction episode to the Fallible Animals podcast. I very briefly describe the philosophy of critical rationalism, and I hint at the worldview that will be the foundation of the show. More on both in future episodes, as we continue to explore ideas in science, philosophy, economics, and morality, and their history. Twitter - https://twitter.com/ChipkinLogan Links to my articles - www.loganchipkin.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/logan-chipkin/support