The Meaning Of Human Existence, And The Search For Alien Life - Avi Loeb

Avi Loeb is Chair of Harvard's Astronomy Department.

Show notes
Selected links

•Follow Avi: Website
•The Myth Of Sisyphus, by Albert Camus
•The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas Kuhn
•'The End of Spacetime', public lecture by Nima Arkani-Hamed
•Rendezvouz With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
•'Glowing Auras and "Black Money": The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program', NYT article (16/12/17)
•'2 Navy Airmen and an Object That "Accelerated Like Nothing I've Ever Seen", NYT article (16/12/17)

Topics discussed

•Avi's childhood growing up on a farm in Israel, and journey into academia. 5:16
•Avi's romance with philosophy, Satre, and Camus. 10:11
•When in their careers should scientists court risk? 15:24
•Albert Camus and The Myth Of Sisyphus. 21:10
•How does alien intelligence change the meaning of human existence? 24:50
•If there was no other intelligent life in the universe, would that make a god more likely? 34:51
•How far off is technology for 3D printing of...humans? 40:49
•What are the a priori odds of other intelligent life in the universe -- and how do we calculate them? 42:49
•Why is it so quiet out there? 47:25
•Space archaeology. 52:33
•Is space-time a doomed concept? 1:04:14
•How do we verify what happens beyond the event horizon of a black hole? 1:12:08
•The multiverse: bullshit or not? 1:17:25
•What could spacefaring aliens teach us about physics? 1:30:00
•'Oumuamua -- a possible interstellar spacecraft lurking in our solar system. 1:31:45
•The Pentagon UFO releases. 1:43:47
•Hostile aliens. 1:46:00
•The advantages of generalism. 1:54:43
•The meaning of life (42). 2:01:21

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