Sean Illing talks with philosopher David Chalmers about virtual worlds and the nature of reality, and other topics that stem from Chalmers's new book Reality+. In this far-reaching discussion, Sean and Prof. Chalmers get into the makeup of human consciousness, the question of whether we're living in a computer simulation, and — of course — The Matrix. Are di ... Show More
Apr 17
American democracy's structural flaw
Back in 2015, before President Donald Trump, before January 6, before all the craziness of the last decade, Matt Yglesias made a blunt prediction: American democracy is doomed. Guest host Zack Beauchamp talks with Matt about what that argument got right, what it missed, and why t ... Show More
38m 41s
Dec 2021
Cosmic Queries – Living in a Simulation with Nick Bostrom
<p>Are we in a simulation? On this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice take a deep dive into simulation theory, consciousness, and free will with Oxford theorist Nick Bostrom. Is this The Matrix? </p><p>NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can watch or listen to this ent ... Show More
53m 48s
Jun 2023
#322 — Predicting Reality
<p dir="ltr">Sam Harris speaks with Andy Clark about the predictive brain, embodied cognition, and the extended mind. They discuss the structure of perception, novelty, precision, pain, psychedelics, emotion, ways to hack our predictions, hypnosis, meditation, artificial intellig ... Show More
54m 4s
May 2023
#318 — Physics & Philosophy
<p>Sam Harris speaks with Tim Maudlin about the foundations of physics and metaphysics. They talk about the nature of scientific reductionism, emergence, functionalism, the nature of time, presentism vs eternalism, causation, the nature of possibility, the laws of nature, David L ... Show More
54m 15s
Sep 2022
#295 — Philosophy and the Good Life
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sam Harris speaks to Kieran Setiya about the relevance of philosophy to living a good life. They discuss the existence of objective moral truths, being happy vs living well, our response to grief, the difference between "telic" and "atelic" acti ... Show More
44m 17s