logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2023
55m 30s

Holiday Message: Reflections on Immortal...

SEAN CARROLL | WONDERY
About this episode

The final Mindscape podcast of each year is devoted to a short, reflective Holiday Message. This year the theme is Immortality: whether it's an attractive idea, and whether the laws of physics and cosmology would allow for it in principle. (Spoiler: they do not.) Mindscape will return as usual on January 1, 2024. Happy holidays everyone!

Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2023/12/18/holiday-message-2023-reflections-on-immortality/

Support Mindscape on Patreon.

Here are some of the stories and papers mentioned in the episode:


See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Up next
Today
326 | Natalie Batalha on What We Know and Will Learn About Exoplanets
In a relatively short period of time, exoplanets (planets around stars other than our Sun) have gone from an intriguing conjecture to an active field of scientific study, with over 5,000 confirmed discoveries. The task now is to move beyond merely accumulating new examples, and e ... Show More
1h 12m
Aug 18
325 | Alvy Ray Smith on Pixar, Pixels, and the Great Digital Convergence
The world is becoming pixelated. As computers and other digital devices become ubiquitous, human knowledge and communication and information is gradually being converted into, and manipulated as, strings of bits. What does that really mean, and what are the ramifications going fo ... Show More
1h 26m
Aug 11
324 | Elizabeth Mynatt on Universities and the Importance of Basic Research
It is not manifestly obvious that universities should be where most scholarly research is performed. One could imagine systems that separated out the tasks of "teaching students" and "generating new knowledge." But it turns out that combining them yields spectacular synergies, bo ... Show More
1h 13m
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2022
Ep 101 Immortality: This Podcast Won't Kill You
For what was originally going to be our 100th regular season episode, we wanted to turn the vaguely threatening title of our podcast on its head by exploring a topic that’s not about something that can kill you but rather the hows and whys of staying alive, forever. That’s right, ... Show More
1h 14m
Jul 2022
How to live forever
This week, we return to one of our favourite episodes to ask the question: what does it mean to defy death? Rock climber Leo Houlding tells us about his terrifying family holidays, scaling vertical cliff-faces with his two young kids. We also explore radical life extension with s ... Show More
27m 54s
Jul 2022
FT Weekend: How to live forever
This week, we return to one of our favourite episodes, to ask the question: what does it mean to defy death? Rock climber Leo Houlding tells us about his terrifying family holidays, scaling vertical cliff-faces with his two young kids. We also explore radical life extension with ... Show More
28m 56s
Nov 2021
FT Weekend: How to live forever
FT Weekend is a weekly Saturday show that brings the best of our weekend journalism into audio form, with everything from culture and food and the arts, to nuanced questions and big ideas. In this episode, we ask the question: what does it mean to defy death? Rock climber Leo Hou ... Show More
28m 18s
Jan 2021
Philosophy for our Times Presents: 'Beyond Us'
Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimesPhilosophy for Our Times is pleased to announce the upcoming launch of Beyond Us, an all-new podcast series by the IAI, exploring four concepts that define the modern world: knowledge, competition, ... Show More
56s
Jul 2023
Immortality by 2030, Del Boca Vista + Old Clam Chowder
Ray Kurzweil, the globally renowned scientist, and former Google engineer made many predictions in the 90’s, (the widespread use of laptops, wearable tech, digitized media, computer phones, facial recognition, remote learning and more…) so when he recently restated his prediction ... Show More
38m 17s
Jun 2024
Listen Now: Wow in the World's Summer of Wow!
Wow in the World is the #1 science podcast for kids and their grown-ups. Hosts Mindy Thomas and Guy Raz share stories about the latest news in science, technology, and innovation. Stories that give kids hope, agency and make us all say "WOW"!New episodes come out every Monday. Li ... Show More
6m 15s
Sep 2019
Book Discussion: "The Magic of Thinking Big"
In this episode, we try a brand new format! We go through Ali's Kindle highlights, from 4 years ago, from the book "The Magic of Thinking Big". We end up talking about mental restraints, making good conversation, setting goals, and a smattering of other topics. See Privacy Policy ... Show More
48m 28s
Mar 2020
Finding meaning in the vastness of the universe, by Michelle Thaller
In this classic episode, while working on an experiment to measure the age of the universe, astronomer Michelle Thaller is reminded once again about both the impersonal immensity around us, and the deeply personal significance of each one of us.If this episode resonates with you, ... Show More
28m 15s