We've all heard of it but have you ever wanted to find out what Quantum Mechanics actually is? Well here's a Christmas treat! As promised, Nye explains QM from the ground up; starting with the history and context of why and how it was theorised.
Apologies for any minor audio issues or repetition of points made in other podcasts.
Editing, audio & music mastering / production by Nye James.
Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)
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Armed with more than a few chilling "ghost stories" to hand, we explore the claims of the paranormal from both personal experience and rational thinking. We convey the value of scepticism, criticism and critical thinking and talk a little about how ghosts suddenly became scary as they drifted out of religious and natural contexts and into the modern horror genres of fiction. We also touch on genies or djinn, pseudoscientific theories and the similarity between religious belief and the belief in spooky ghosts…
- An article by Connor about whether skeptics are "close-minded" - The TED Talk that is mentioned - A good video on Jinn (there are other good videos on spirits in folklore here too) - Our article with some thoughts on the paranormal.
Edited by Connor.
Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)
SPOILER WARNING. To cap off Series Two, we thought we would talk about one of our favourite films - Ex Machina; a science fiction thriller released in 2014. Ex Machina concerns artificial intelligence and handles themes about technology, purpose and consciousness with a bit of religious mythology thrown in.
Part review, part analysis: we give an overview of the film's themes and run through some of the general ideas relating to AI mentioned in the movie… The Turing Test, The Chinese Room, Mary's Room (or the Knowledge Argument), Machine ethics and AI Consciousness. We also talk a little about Devs, Frankenstein, Annihilation and Westworld. Our thoughts summarised Emergence Explained
Edited by Connor.
Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)
In this more laidback episode, we create something of a time capsule, discussing our thoughts on how lockdown has shaped communities, the role that celebrities play (or have tried to play) in a time of crisis, social distancing while shopping, lockdown drinking habits, Captain Tom Moore and clapping for carers.
We also lend our thoughts to some altogether more difficult topics - gaining insight to the pros and cons of home schooling from a teacher, discussing how stoicism can help fortify the mind in a time of crisis, the role of commercialism in crisis and the potential legacy of our current plight. We're still getting used to discord so apologies for any audio errors. A great video by CGP Grey about how to live through a crisis
Edited by Connor.
Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (Harmonica, mandolin)
Stay safe, connected and appreciate the small things. Loneliness is a killer so reach out to anyone you can and never feel that feeling alone is abnormal or a burden.
Connor, Joe and one of the Two Joes (this is getting confusing) talk about how society has reacted to recent events… Recorded quite early into the lockdown, we talk about how the economy will be affected and change, that relaxing and being away from work aren't necessarily bad things, how everybody has suddenly joined the neighbourhood watch and ways the situation can be turned positive for those not affected by poverty and poor health. We also discuss the animal trade, clapping for the NHS, the misuse of wartime parallels and how society might change in the coming years. - How modern stoicism can help in a pandemic - "Somme" comments
Edited by Connor.
Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)
The Forest of Dean is an area in and around Gloucestershire brimming with local heritage and communal history. We talk about the Forest's mining culture, as well as some of its historical quirks, before hosting the world's first (and only) Forest dialect quiz!
We then explore the controversy of the decline of mining culture and its impact on communities, the dilemmas of wild boar and finally solve the age-old mystery of who killed the bears. Finally we finish up with some ghost stories, folklore and ponder whether the Beast of Dean is a load of old bollocks. We'd love to chat more about history, heritage and culture on these podcasts so let us know if you know any spooky stories or interesting places… - The story of who killed the bears can be found, as well as many other of the tales we mention can be found here. - Some dialect poetry about sheep "Varest Ship" by Keith Morgan - Here is some info on free mining and a website on freemining. - A documentary on Freemining. FOREST OF DEAN FREEMINERS. - Some stuff on Dennis Potter here. - The world's strangest place - Littledean Jail - Our thoughts on the topic Edited by Connor. Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)
Joined by yet another new voice for series 2, in this episode we ponder the reality that we may all be functioning alcoholics. With some of the usual crowd plus our mate / pub-manager / Connor's old boss, Elliot, we discuss our relationship with recreational drinking both culturally and personally.
Armed with some facts, figures and a few personal anecdotes we explore the role of the good old fashioned pub, from the allure of escapism in drinking and the psychology of abstaining from drink entirely. As you may expect there are some tangents too... including some banter about Ronnie O'Sullivan and a debate about libertarianism and the role of the state. We have a lot more to say on this topic so expect to hear more in the future! Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem (Allegedly founded a whole century before Connor said it was) Some studies into drinking trends... - Average spend is up - Younger people drinking less An American Video made in WW2 to help soldiers understand the British pub
Edited by Connor.
Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)
Do we have a responsibility to form, maintain and promote rational, evidence-based views? If so, how do we go about doing that without being really annoying?
Joined by new guest, Dan, in this episode we consider what qualifies as a conspiracy theory, why people are drawn to believe in such theories and ask just how similar are they to religion? In doing so, we touch on the history of these kinds of movements and explore some of the reasoning used to justify belief in them. We may well revisit this topic in the future. - An article written by Connor on scepticism and "open mindedness" - And our series 1 pseudoscience podcast - A look at a modern day conspiracy theory - Was Heidegger anti-Semitic? Intro to the debate - The personality test we mention in our awful tangent Edited by Connor. Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)
What's that ominous light in the sky? That's right, today is a particularly weird one as Connor digs up one of the more niche areas of modern religiosity in the form of UFO religions. Joe, Sam and Nye offer up their thoughts on questions like "Why do people join cults and believe in aliens?" and "what makes religions legitimate?". From Melanesian cargo cults to Jediism and from Scientology to the Universal Industrial Church of the New World Comforter, we discuss all kinds of bizarre religions, strange cultural movements and dangerous cults.
As it was sunny spring morning and perfect barbecue weather we left the window open... with no concern for our listeners. So we hope you like traffic, planes and seagulls. Here is an article written by Connor which explores the religious nature of UFO movements. Editing, audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica)
Connor is joined by Nye, Joe, Sam and Zach to discuss Artificial Intelligence. Throughout the course of the conversation we touch upon the history of AI and its mechanics, applications in business, self-driving cars, neural networks, the likelihood of dystopian scenarios, singularities and how AI affects the economy. We also introduce and unpack some of the heavier terms associated with the field. As you may expect from a philosophy podcast, we explore some philosophical questions too. Some of these (poorly introduced) questions include AI in fiction and popular imagination, its effect on human worth and how we think of humanity, transhumanism and human augmentation, the need for philosophy in AI related jobs, apotheosis or "playing God" and what sense it makes to talk about AI being "moral". As you may have guessed from our usual standards, the conversation ends on a tangent about sexbots until we are interrupted by Zach playing a didgeridoo.
As with most topics we discuss, we are interested in returning to the conversation at a later date to unpack some of the ideas further and, in particular, to explore the idea of consciousness and what this spells for AI's development. Here is an essay from Joe on transhumanism and "becoming like God". Our thoughts summarised Editing, audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica) |
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