Back to the Stone Age

Scott Soames is a professor of philosophy at the University of Southern California. His website: https://dornsife.usc.edu/scottsoames/Find Back to the Stone Age on:YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZrhMJ5eusE_ACw6Ec3TqCbvDVZ6HP809&si=WhVnrLLAUuYW-AnySpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3pT8MUeR8bskcsuu8gmUGKApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/back-to-the-stone-age/id1741219288Outline00:34 - What Is Meaning?05:10 - How Do Words Refer To Things?10:37 - Language And Logic19:06 - Relativity Of Truth22:26 - Truth Without Humans24:00 - Possible Worlds Semantics36:14 - Kripke's Contribution To Philosophy Of Language42:02 - Soames' Cognitive Content48:40 - Consequences Of Soames' View: Propositions54:18 - Living Philosophically59:19 - What Are The Limits Of Language?01:14:32 - Are You Scared Of Not Finding Answers?01:15:50 - Mental Changes To Embrace New Views01:19:35 - Lack Of Experimental Validation In Philosophy01:21:22 - Technology And Philosophy01:24:20 - Most Pressing Philosophical Issue01:26:11 - Which Philosopher Best Understood The Human Condition?01:32:36 - Does Pursuing Philosophy Make You A Better Person?01:34:00 - Final Questions and ConclusionEnjoy Back to the Stone Age!

John is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Western Ontario. You can find his website here: https://publish.uwo.ca/~jbell/Find Back to the Stone Age on:YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZrhMJ5eusE_ACw6Ec3TqCbvDVZ6HP809&si=WhVnrLLAUuYW-AnySpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3pT8MUeR8bskcsuu8gmUGKApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/back-to-the-stone-age/id1741219288Outline00:41 - John's introduction 08:35 - Is The Universe Mathematical in Nature?25:50 - Limitations of Language in Philosophical Enquiries31:20 - Mathematical Constructivism41:07 - Implications of Constructivism and Intuitionist Logic48:54 - Nature of Mathematical Truths01:05:45 - The Axiom of Choice01:37:20 - The Nature of The Continuum01:50:43 - Relationship between Mathematics, Physics, Philosophy02:03:14 - The Nature of Consciousness02:23:03 - 1000-years After- Nap Question02:29:00 - ConclusionEnjoy Back to the Stone Age!

Thomas is a professor of Physics at KU Leuven (https://shorturl.at/IVa8S). He's on Twitter: https://x.com/ThomasVanRiet2Find Back to the Stone Age on:YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZrhMJ5eusE_ACw6Ec3TqCbvDVZ6HP809&si=WhVnrLLAUuYW-AnySpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3pT8MUeR8bskcsuu8gmUGKApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/back-to-the-stone-age/id1741219288Outline00:24 - General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics11:50 - String Theory21:41 - Singularities in String Theory37:47 - Extra Dimensions in String Theory48:30 - The Landscape and The Swampland58:36 - Fine Tuning of the Universe 01:16:20 - The Most Beautiful Concept in Physics01:20:00 - Final Thoughts and ConclusionHope you enjoy it, this is Back to the Stone Age!

Andrea is a theoretical physicist and he works on Dark Matter and Particle Physics.He was awarded the ERC (European Research Council) Starting Grant.Andrea on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-caputo-ph-d-2475999b/?locale=en_USSeeing my interviews from one year ago is a bit cringe, but I'm working on it 😜 Hope you like it anyway!Find Back to the Stone Age on:YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZrhMJ5eusE_ACw6Ec3TqCbvDVZ6HP809&si=WhVnrLLAUuYW-AnySpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3pT8MUeR8bskcsuu8gmUGKApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/back-to-the-stone-age/id1741219288Outline01:10 - The Standard Model03:09 - Gravity and the Standard Model06:30 - String theory and accelerators13:47 - The Hierarchy problem22:54 - Supersymmetry26:12 - ΛCDM model and the Standard Model34:08 - Dark Matter candidates41:20 - Inflation and the Standard Model49:00 - Extra dimensions52:07 - The Baryon Asymmetry problem57:58 - Neutrinos' mass problem01:06:13 - The CP problem 01:16:24 - The parameters of the Standard Model01:20:33 - Is mathematics invented or discovered?01:23:07 - Final thoughts and conclusionEnjoy Back to the Stone Age!

Do you like philosophising? Then this conversation is for YOU! 🫵🏻Brad Wray (https://shorturl.at/gY9Oh) is Associate Professor at Aarhus University, and together we tackle deep philosophical questions. Find Back to the Stone Age on:YouTube: https://shorturl.at/c5a37Spotify: https://shorturl.at/11x47Apple Podcast: https://shorturl.at/pFRCCOutline00:35 - Philosophy of Science01:17 - Definition of knowledge01:52 - How do scientific discoveries shape our understanding of reality?02:26 - Metaphysics09:56 - God in Philosophy11:41 - Limitation of human knowledge13:52 - Theory of everything19:45 - How is knowledge acquired?29:24 - Role of epistemic communities for knowledge acquisition34:40 - Disruptive science and increase of scientific papers46:03 - Academic vs technological development51:38 - Artificial intelligence and technology01:00:44 - Collaborating with other researchers01:04:15 - Thomas Kuhn 01:06:02 - Paradigm in science01:13:30 - Kuhn cycle01:20:19 - Revolutionising paradigm shifts: Copernican revolution and Plate tectonics01:32:15 - Incommensurability in scientific revolutions01:40:18 - Planck's principle01:45:55 - Role of theories in understanding reality01:52:11 - Is scientific progress linear?01:52:55 - Scientific realism01:58:25 - Antirealist perspective02:05:40 - Death02:09:25 - Nuclear weapons02:16:27 - ConclusionEnjoy Back to the Stone Age!

Here is a conversation I've had with Daniel Ruberman, Professor of Mathematics. Daniel's website: https://people.brandeis.edu/~ruberman/Find Back to the Stone Age on:YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZrhMJ5eusE_ACw6Ec3TqCbvDVZ6HP809&si=WhVnrLLAUuYW-AnySpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3pT8MUeR8bskcsuu8gmUGKApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/back-to-the-stone-age/id1741219288Outline00:16 - Is math invented or discovered?05:30 - Mathematics and the physical world28:02 - Topology38:00 - Manifolds and smooth manifolds52:31 - Higher dimensions and low-dimensional topology01:04:39 - Intuition about 4th dimension01:24:01 - Gauge theories01:38:02 - Knots and manifolds01:44:33 - Applications of knot theory and topology01:50:28 - Infinity01:56:38 - Final thoughtsEnjoy Back to the Stone Age!

Some fundamental questions today with Gimmy, PhD student at GRAPPA doing research in black holes, gravitational-wave astronomy, and dark matter. Gimmy is soon going to the Institute of Advanced Study of Princeton for a postdoc!Gimmy's website: https://gimmytomas.github.io/index.html Find Back to the Stone Age on:YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZrhMJ5eusE_ACw6Ec3TqCbvDVZ6HP809&si=WhVnrLLAUuYW-AnySpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3pT8MUeR8bskcsuu8gmUGKApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/back-to-the-stone-age/id1741219288Outline00:32 - Is math invented or discovered?06:40 - Are paradoxes intrinsic to our reality?11:20 - String theory and mathematics16:53 - Theories of everything24:00 - Reconciling gravity and quantum mechanics30:00 - Understanding the origin of the Big Bang37:05 - Time46:52 - Is time fundamental or emergent?52:18 - Time and space swap inside a black hole57:44 - Mental picture for spacetime curvature01:04:19 - Weirdness of quantum mechanics: entanglement01:07:00 - Schrödinger equation, probabilities, uncertainty principle01:15:16 - Is the wave function real?01:18:39 - “God” and death01:24:25 - Biological engineering of human life01:29:00 - Making sense of numbers in cosmology01:34:20 - Fine-tuning of nature01:40:26 - Inflationary multiverse and infinity01:51:45 - Artificial intelligence01:56:32 - Consciousness02:03:22 - Free will02:07:46 - James Webb Space Telescope02:13:08 - Final thoughts and conclusionEnjoy Back to the Stone Age!

Journey to the edge of reason with Professor Hamkins! Joel is a Professor of Philosophy and Mathematics at the University of Notre Dame. His research work spans Mathematical Logic and Set Theory. You can find him here: Personal website: https://jdh.hamkins.orgTwitter: https://twitter.com/JDHamkinsGoogle Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=MHLQDYQAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=aoBack to the Stone Age is on:YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZrhMJ5eusE_ACw6Ec3TqCbvDVZ6HP809&si=EHUZow_K4nlcWw8MSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3pT8MUeR8bskcsuu8gmUGK?si=7f6f32052e9a4587Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/it/podcast/back-to-the-stone-age/id1741219288Outline00:00 - Introduction00:55 - Mathematician or philosopher?05:05 - Set Theory09:52 - Is mathematics invented or discovered?15:42 - Godel Incompleteness Theorem24:14 - Infinity: potential and actual infinity46:51 - Paradoxes on infinity55:56 - Penrose three world model: mathematical, physical, and platonic world01:00:21 - Mathematical reality01:08:34 - Transfinite numbers, cardinals and ordinals01:18:44 - The Absolute Infinity01:25:08 - Infinity and time01:30:57 - Irrational numbers, Alan Turing and computability01:40:00 - Cantor’s definition of Set01:43:40 - Cantor’s theorem01:54:00 - Continuum Hypothesis02:05:46 - Hostility of mathematician towards infinity02:11:39 - Law of excluded middle and infinity02:17:38 - Not finding answers to questions02:19:58 - Is there more than maths permeating reality?02:25:20 - AI and maths/physics02:31:51 - AI and consciousness 02:36:36 - Most beautiful idea in mathematics and conclusion

Conversations with Friends: Greta Galluzzo.Greta is a Psychology master's student and she's on Erasmus here in Amsterdam. Find Back to the Stone Age on:YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZrhMJ5eusE_ACw6Ec3TqCbvDVZ6HP809&si=WhVnrLLAUuYW-AnySpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3pT8MUeR8bskcsuu8gmUGKApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/back-to-the-stone-age/id1741219288Outline:00:32 - Consciousness06:32 - Animal consciousness and death11:22 - Intelligence and language17:18 - Empathy20:01 - Awareness22:35 - Mathematics32:40 - Predisposition to mathematics, nature or nurture35:20 - Acceptation of "limits" vs biological engineering to enhance human condition44:15 - Is consciousness good or bad47:06 - What is good and bad? Is there a universal ethics?49:55 - Are humans good or bad?52:12 - Happiness, suffering and altruism01:10:47 - Being and feeling alive and dreaming state01:23:19 - Greta's meaning of life01:27:00 - ConclusionEnjoy Back to the Stone Age!

Geetanjali is Associate Professor at St. Stephen’s College. She has a PhD in Cosmology from Delhi University. She's working on the Variable Chaplygin Gas model of dark energy.Reach out to her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geetanjali-sethi-a7b201aa/?originalSubdomain=inFind her research work on Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=EK8KFB0AAAAJBack to the Stone Age is on:- YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZrhMJ5eusE_ACw6Ec3TqCbvDVZ6HP809&si=WhVnrLLAUuYW-Any- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3pT8MUeR8bskcsuu8gmUGK- Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/back-to-the-stone-age/id1741219288Outline00:00 - Introduction00:15 - Energy02:53 - Dark matter and dark energy10:15 - Dark energy as expansion of the universe12:11 - Energy of empty space17:08 - Heisenberg uncertainty principle21:54 - Why dark energy has constant energy density26:35 - Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker cosmological model33:58 - Quintessence, modified gravity models39:08 - Variable Chaplygin Gas model39:40 - Cosmic fluid43:34 - Differences with other models48:19 - Fine-tuning in nature53:31 - Combination of dark matter and dark energy56:09 - Dependency of observations for the future of the universe58:40 - Most interesting fact about the cosmos59:24 - Making sense of enormous distances01:05:42 - Will the universe expand forever?01:11:38 - AI and science01:13:01 - Limitations of human brain 01:17:45 - Conclusion

Nick Van Remortel is a professor of physics at the University of Antwerp, find him on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-van-remortel-83a16373/Outline:00:00 - Introduction00:36 - Cosmic microwave background radiation25:10 - Size of the universe and infinity30:20 - Expansion of the universe40:45 - The standard model01:02:30 - Greater purpose of fine-tuning and randomness 01:11:39 - Gravitational waves01:18:10 - Principle of detection of gravitational waves01:29:47 - Experimental effort of detection01:32:29 - Information from gravitational waves01:39:27 - Einstein Telescope01:44:06 - Deep thoughts and conclusion