
The Jim Rutt Show EP 328 Brendan Graham Dempsey Interviews Jim Rutt on Minimum Viable Metaphysics
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Nov 4, 2025 Brendan Graham Dempsey, a writer and director at the Institute of Applied Metatheory, flips the script by interviewing Jim Rutt. They delve into intriguing topics such as the nature of metaphysics as practical assumptions and clarify concepts like deduction, induction, and abduction. Jim shares his views on consciousness as an emergent phenomenon, the asymmetry and lawfulness principles, and critiques the idea of the block universe. They also explore the implications of anthropic principles and how minimal assumptions can drive scientific inquiry.
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Metaphysics As Minimal Assumptions
- Jim Rutt defines metaphysics as the minimal assumptions needed to make learning and reasoning possible.
- He frames this pragmatically, seeking a tiny set of starting assumptions rather than grand speculative systems.
Value Of Abduction For Explanations
- Jim distinguishes deduction, induction, and abduction and favors abduction as best-explanation reasoning.
- He links abduction to David Deutsch's notion of good explanations and pragmatic theory-building.
Paradoxes Belong To Formal Systems
- Rutt argues paradoxes live in our formal systems, not in the real world, using Zeno as an example.
- He treats mathematics as formal exploration that may or may not map to physical reality.



