Rebecca Goldstein, a philosopher and novelist, discusses atheism, Spinoza, and the meaning of life without God. Topics include her novel, transitioning from Judaism to atheism, arguments against God's existence, and the relevance of Spinoza's philosophy. The conversation touches on morality, physics, consciousness, panpsychism, and the quest for significance in a vast universe.

Ken Olum is Research Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Tufts University, where he works on exotic physics and topics in cosmology like cosmic strings, gravitational waves, anthropic reasoning, and inflation. In this episode, Robinson and Ken talk all about cosmic strings, which are spindly, hypothesized astronomical objects of intense mass and energy that may have been created in the earliest periods of the universe. OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 00:27 Introduction 03:00  Exotic Astrophysics and NANOGrav 16:19  What Are Cosmic Strings? 37:14 String Theory and the Multiverse 42:34 Details About Cosmic Strings 48:46 How Can We Detect Cosmic Strings? 01:00:03 Travel Within the Multiverse Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between. 

Joseph LeDoux is Henry and Lucy Moses Professor of Science, University Professor, Professor of Neural Science, Professor of Psychiatry, and Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at New York University, where he works in neuroscience and related areas. Though his career is expansive, one major focus of his research has been emotions in humans and other animals. He is also the frontman of The Amygdaloids. Joseph’s most recent book is The Four Realms of Existence: A New Theory of Being Human (Harvard, 2023). In this episode, Joseph and Robinson discuss psychoanalysis, the nature of biological life, how nervous systems evolved, and the relationship between consciousness and cognition. The Four Realms: https://a.co/d/2wrFGG2 Joseph’s Website: http://joseph-ledoux.com OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 01:06 Introduction 04:29 Thoughts on Psychoanalysis 17:05 The Four Realms of Human Existence 41:29 What Is Life? 48:10 What Are Nervous Systems and How Did They Evolve? 01:10:07 Cognition Substance-Neutral? 01:15:12 What Is Consciousness?  Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between. 

Richard Haier, Professor Emeritus in the School of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine, discusses controversies surrounding human intelligence, the origin and value of IQ tests, the relationship between intelligence and brain structure, the accuracy and potential biases of IQ tests, predicting career success with IQ tests, the parieto-frontal integration theory of intelligence, debunking myths about intelligence, the controversy surrounding standardized tests, and group differences in intelligence research.

Sheldon Goldstein is Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at Rutgers University, where he researches mathematical physics, the foundations of quantum mechanics, and Bohmian Mechanics. He is also Board Member of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics, founded by fellow Robinson’s Podcast multiverse denizen, Tim Maudlin. In this episode, Robinson and Shelly discuss all things Bohmian mechanics, from the origins of pilot wave theory with de Broglie to its chief theoretical innovations and its relationship to philosophy, including some of the main objections to—and strengths of—the theory. Check out Shelly’s book on the subject, Bohmian Mechanics and Quantum Theory: An Appraisal (Springer, 1996). If you’re interested in the foundations of physics—which you absolutely should be—then please check out the JBI, which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. Any donations are immensely helpful at this early stage in the institute’s life. Shelly’s Website: https://sites.math.rutgers.edu/~oldstein/ Bohmian Mechanics and Quantum Theory: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-94-015-8715-0 The John Bell Institute: https://www.johnbellinstitute.org OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 00:55 Introduction 06:40 Kripke and Quantum Logic 18:30 De Broglie and Pilot Wave Theory 23:38 What is Bohmian Mechanics? 43:55 Sociology and the Origin of Bohmian Mechanics 52:57 John Bell and Bohmian Mechanics 57:32 Realism and Bohmian Mechanics 01:12:39 Current Work on Bohmian Mechanics 01:22:10 What are the Criticisms of Bohmian Mechanics Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between. 

Michael Graziano, a professor at Princeton University, dives into the intriguing world of consciousness. He discusses his Attention Schema Theory, revealing how our brains model attention to craft our conscious experience. The conversation explores the philosophical versus scientific approaches to understanding consciousness, and Graziano addresses the meta-problem surrounding it. They also touch on AI's relationship with consciousness and the fascinating links between creative expression in science, music, and literature, highlighting how emotions shape these disciplines.

Una Stojnić is an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy at Princeton University, where she works in the philosophy of language, formal semantics and pragmatics of natural language, and philosophical logic. In this episode, Robinson and Una discuss three of her projects. First, they talk about linguistic conventions, and how language consists of more than just the words we might find in a dictionary. Second, they talk abut slurs and pejoratives, and how philosophers have attempted to determine just what it is that makes them offensive. Finally they talk about a problem with word individuation—just how much can our spelling or pronunciation of a word vary from its canonical spelling or pronunciation and still be that same word? Una’s latest book is Context and Coherence: The Logic and Grammar of Prominence (Oxford, 2021). Una’s Website: https://www.unastojnic.com Context and Coherence: https://a.co/d/0wjOoaM OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 00:51 Introduction 03:04 An Interest in Language 07:31 A Problem with Word Individuation 11:52 Context Sensitivity and Linguistic Convention 30:07 Word Individuation and Speaker Intentions  45:30 Slurs and Pejoratives 01:01:55 An Articulation Account of Slurs Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between. 

David Wallace is Mellon Professor in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh. Before that, he obtained PhDs in both physics and philosophy at Oxford. David works mainly in the philosophy of physics, and is best known for his development and defense of the Everett—or Many-Worlds—interpretation of quantum mechanics. In this episode, Robinson and David talk all about Many-Worlds, including its history, how it relates to the broader question of realism in the philosophy of science, its strong points, and some potential problems, such as how to account for probability in the multiverse. David’s book on the subject is The Emergent Multiverse (Oxford, 2014). The Emergent Multiverse: https://a.co/d/3GOSC3a OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 00:18 Introduction 03:38 From Physics to Philosophy 12:54 Realism and the Measurement Problem in Quantum Mechanics 25:14 Hugh Everett and the Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics 48:56 Bryce DeWitt 51:33 How Does the Many Worlds Theory of Quantum Mechanics Work? 01:02:22 Are There Problems with the Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics?  01:10:58 How Many Worlds Are There in the Multiverse? 01:21:54 How Can We Make Sense of Probability in the Multiverse? 01:43:44 Is The Multiverse Too Absurd to Believe In? Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between. 

Robert Stickgold is Professor of Pyschiatry at Harvard Medical School, where he researches sleep and dreams from a cognitive neuroscience perspective. In this episode, Bob and Robinson discuss the role of sleep in memory processing and emotional regulation, how sleep deprivation affects performance, and the evolutionary purpose and function of dreams. OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 00:17 Introduction 03:06 Why Study Sleep? 12:04 How Does the Brain Process Different Types of Memories? 20:45 How Does Sleep Affect Memory Processing? 33:10 How Does Sleep Deprivation Affect Memory Processing? 50:58 What Is The Connection Between Sleep and Emotions 01:09:03 How Do PTSD, Autism, and Schizophrenia Affect Sleep 01:32:00 An Interest in Dreams 01:34:05 Was Freud Wrong About Dreams? 02:03:29 On Hypnogogic Dreams Robinson’s Website: ⁠http://robinsonerhardt.com⁠ Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between. 

Anubav Vasudevan is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Chicago, where he works in formal epistemology and the history of logic, though he has published in a number of other areas. This is Anubav’s second appearance on the show. In episode #81, he and Robinson discussed mathematics, physics, and the history of logic. In this episode, they talk about the wonderfully bizarre metaphysics of the renowned pragmatist and logician Charles Sanders Peirce.  OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 00:18 Introduction 04:54 The History of Logic 19:39 Who Was Charles Sanders Peirce? 37:04 The Problem of the Single Trial 48:35 Finding Our Coherent Philosophical Selves 54:32 Charles Peirce’s Bizarre Metaphysics Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.