In this episode Curt Jaimungal talks with Noam Chomsky about the nature of consciousness, the reality of mathematics, and the mind‑body connection. They debate whether numbers are real, explore dualism, and question the limits of certainty.
- 00:00:00 - Introduction
- 00:03:41 - Putnam and Mathematical Realism
- 00:09:06 - Are numbers "real"?
- 00:10:01 - Text vs. Meaning / Content vs. Meaning
- 00:13:28 - Are all words "contrast words"? (only making sense in terms of their negation)
- 00:16:01 - How can the word "meaningless" ever be "meaningful"?
- 00:17:38 - Reference vs. Referent
- 00:28:32 - Daniel Dennett's "Quining Qualia"
- 00:30:44 - Consciousness explained?
- 00:34:27 - Mind Body dualism ("body" is no more fundamental than "mind")
- 00:44:32 - Is Chomsky an idealist?
- 00:46:29 - We can't answer anything with certainty
- 00:50:53 - Articulating what's ambiguous (what the heck is going on!?)
- 00:58:24 - Studying consciousness from the 1st person vs 3rd person perspective
- 00:59:34 - How do we generate "definitions"
- 01:04:59 - Curt's question to the audience (for linguists)
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- Dennett's Quining Qualia: https://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/dennett/papers/quinqual.htm
- Michael Levin TOE podcast: https://youtu.be/Z0TNfysTazc
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