The Science in The Fiction

Marty and Holly sit down with Cory Doctorow, an author known not only for his near-future social and political science fiction, but also for his real-world journalism and activism.  We talk about society, politics and economics, discussing 3 of Doctorow’s most recent books.  'Red Team Blues' is his most recently published book, an anti-finance cryptocurrency and cybersecurity thriller; we discuss the difference between defense and attack dynamics in cybersecurity, and their parallels in modern politics.  'The Lost Cause' is due to be published in two weeks, on Nov 14th, a solarpunk novel about a world threatened by anarcho-capitalist billionaire wreckers and their white nationalist shock-troops; we talk about what to do with the losers of a just revolution, and learn about the monetary policy that could provide a universal jobs guarantee in a Green New Deal.  Finally, 'Chokepoint Capitalism' (which he wrote with Rebecca Giblin) is a non-fiction book about creative labor markets, monopolies, and the sorry state of modern capitalism; we discuss the failed strategy of more copyright ownership for writers and musicians, the success of the Hollywood writer's strike, and reasons for hope in the future.  This episode is a single special package deal, where we got both the science and the science fiction from one of the Sci-Fi’s most intelligent, radical and humane thinkers, whose journalism, activism and science fiction aims to promote social, political and economic justice.  You can find Cory's blog, podcast and books on his webpage:https://craphound.com/Send us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Following up on our discussion of intelligent plants with Sue Burke in our last episode, we have invited Paco Calvo, a cognitive scientist and philosopher of biology, who speaks to us about his book 'Planta Sapiens'.  Paco is a cognitive scientist and philosopher of biology, who is known for his research in the field of plant cognition and intelligence. His interdisciplinary work combines insights from biology, philosophy, and cognitive science to explore the world of plant behavior, decision-making, and problem-solving.  Paco's book outlines both the philosophical and scientific case for expanding our view of intelligent behaviour and consciousness to include plants. This has been an ongoing trajectory throughout the history of science, allowing more and more non-human elements into our recognition of sentience, intelligence and consciousness.  Where once we had a completely anthropocentric view of consciousness – you were only allowed in the club if you had a neocortex like us - now our perception of other creatures' sentience has expanded to include other mammals, cephalopods like squid and octopi, parrots and corvids and maybe even goldfish! So continuing along this trend, it may be time to consider the possibility that plants have their own form of sentience.  We discuss the necessity of philosophical training in order to conceive the kinds of questions one might ask to study plants in this regard, and ask: can plants learn?  Do they exhibit intelligent behaviour?  Can we develop generalized tests for consciousness, dropping our neo-cortical prejudices about the special state of human sentience in order to recognize cognition in an organism that is genuinely alien to us? Tune in and find out!Send us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Sue Burke, author of 'Semiosis' and 'Interference', discusses intelligent plants and their interaction with human colonists on a planet named Pax. They explore plant behavior, symbiosis, sensory capabilities, mental health, and the controversial idea of plant intelligence. They also touch on Burke's books about a coronavirus pandemic and the evolution of viruses, as well as her upcoming installment of the Semiosis trilogy.

Marty and Holly finish up their discussion of 'Neverness' by David Zindell from the last two episodes, and then have a conversation about the books we'll be talking about over the course of the next few episodes.  Our next topic will be 'intelligent plants', so we discuss Sue Burke's 'Semiosis' and 'Interference' duology, ahead of our upcoming interviews with her and Paco Calvo.  Then we move on to consider a range of Cory Doctorow's fiction, discussing his latest book 'Red Team Blues' (2023) and his upcoming novel 'The Lost Cause', (November 2023), in addition to a favorite of ours, called 'Walkaway' (2017).  Coupling these to a scientific topic, we talk about economics in his non-fiction book with Rebecca Giblin, 'Chokepoint Capitalism', which ties together many of the themes in Cory Doctorow's work.David Zindell | Author - https://www.davidzindell.com/Sue Burke - https://sueburke.site/Cory Doctorow's craphound.com | Cory Doctorow's Literary Works - https://craphound.com/Send us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Marty has a conversation about David Zindell's 'Neverness' with Mark Mac Lean, professor of Mathematics at the University of British Columbia.  We talk about the poetic and philosophical use of mathematics as the engine of faster-than-light travel in the Neverness universe, and contemplate the relationship of mathematics to truth, beauty, perfection, and physical reality.  Along the way we discuss the foundations of mathematics, Godel's incompleteness theorems, the Reimann hypothesis and the continuity theorem, both the real one and its fictional twin in the novel.  We also reflect on what a gift it is that David Zindell is able to convey the feeling of doing mathematics, and the almost mystical experience of connecting to this seemingly higher realm of reality.Mark Mac Lean:https://personal.math.ubc.ca/~maclean/maclean.htmlDavid Zindell:https://www.davidzindell.com/Send us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Author David Zindell discusses his book 'Neverness' and its big ideas, including manipulation of mathematical reality by Master Pilots. The podcast explores philosophy, non-duality, consciousness, environmentalism, and the role of mathematics in the book. The speakers also delve into the meaning of life and death, cultural differences, and express concerns about violence and totalitarianism in the US.

This is the second half of the conversation begun in our last episode, between science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer and zoologist Arik Kershenbaum.  We start with a quick re-cap on Boltzmann Brains and then spend quite a bit of time considering the problem of having a sample size of one, when it comes to the existence of life in the universe, as well as the existence of intelligent, technological alien life we hope to find on another planet some day.  We also contemplate fungible atoms (!), confirmation bias, appropriate skepticism and learn what might constitute both an intelligent and an interesting message to aliens.  Finally, Arik assures us that we need not worry about the dark forest, there is nothing to fear from our alien neighbours: they are not coming here to eat us.  Robert J. Sawyer:  Author Robert J. Sawyer: Hugo, Nebula, and Campbell Memorial Award-winning Science Fiction Writer (sfwriter.com) Robert J. Sawyer - Wikipedia Robert J. Sawyer (Author of Illegal Alien) (goodreads.com) The Oppenheimer Alternative by Robert J. Sawyer | Goodreads Science Fiction Writer Robert J. Sawyer: THE OPPENHEIMER ALTERNATIVE Index (sfwriter.com)  Arik Kershenbaum:Arik KershenbaumDr Arik Kershenbaum | Department of Zoology (cam.ac.uk)What Your Dog Can Teach You About Aliens | Arik Kershenbaum | TEDxCambridgeUniversity - YouTubeThe Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy - WikipediaThe Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal about Aliens – and Ourselves by Arik Kershenbaum | Goodreads Send us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

In this episode we present our first conversation between a science fiction author and a scientist, both of whom we’ve spoken to before.  We have with us Robert J. Sawyer, star of our very first interview in our second episode where we discussed his book The Oppenheimer Alternative, and Arik Kershenbaum who we spoke to in our last episode about his book A Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy.   We discuss the possibility of evolving intelligent dinosaurs in Robert's 'Quintaglio Cycle', and consider the unexpected, non-mammalian forms of intelligence we've discovered in parrots and ravens.  We consider the impossibility of evolving telepathy as a form of communication, by means of baby parasites controlling the smoking habits of their mother hosts.  We also talk about other kinds of evolutionary impossibilities such as the single oceanic organism in Stan Lem's 'Solaris' and the interstellar being made of dust and gas in Fred Hoyle's 'The Black Cloud'.  Finally we debate the value of Okham's razor in philosophical notions of parsimony, when it comes to deciding whether the universe is incredibly unlikely but real, or just the fantasy of a Boltzmann Brain dreaming up the rich diversity of phenomena we observe.  To be continued in Episode 8!Robert J. Sawyer:Author Robert J. Sawyer: Hugo, Nebula, and Campbell Memorial Award-winning Science Fiction Writer (sfwriter.com)Robert J. Sawyer - WikipediaRobert J. Sawyer (Author of Illegal Alien) (goodreads.com)The Oppenheimer Alternative by Robert J. Sawyer | GoodreadsScience Fiction Writer Robert J. Sawyer: THE OPPENHEIMER ALTERNATIVE Index (sfwriter.com)Arik Kershenbaum:Arik KershenbaumDr Arik Kershenbaum | Department of Zoology (cam.ac.uk)What Your Dog Can Teach You About Aliens | Arik Kershenbaum | TEDxCambridgeUniversity - YouTubeThe Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy - WikipediaThe Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal about Aliens – and Ourselves by Arik Kershenbaum | GoodreadsSend us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Following up on our interview with Julie Czerneda and continuing with the theme of exo-biology, in this episode Marty sits down with zoologist Arik Kershenbaum from Cambridge University, author of The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal About Aliens – and Ourselves.  We talk about the science of evolution, and what it may have to tell us about exo-biology, by first establishing that the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything is actually Evolution (not 42!).  We discuss why animals make so much noise, the difference between communication and language, the universal laws of biology and the mathematics of how evolution works.  We also think about about convergent solutions to problems that all living organisms must face, asexual evolution, horizontal gene transfer, immortality, consciousness and the transporter problem.  We discuss how intelligence arises from the essential ingredients of movement, communication, sociality and language.  Finally, we consider the difference between general intelligence and technological intelligence, and what that might mean for our expectations of what extra-terrestrials might be like if they are to be capable of communicating and possibly even travelling between planets and stars. Tell us what you think of the show: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comArik Kershenbaum:Arik KershenbaumDr Arik Kershenbaum | Department of Zoology (cam.ac.uk)What Your Dog Can Teach You About Aliens | Arik Kershenbaum | TEDxCambridgeUniversity - YouTubeThe Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy:The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy by Arik Kershenbaum: 9781984881984 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: BooksThe Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy - WikipediaThe Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal About Aliens--and Ourselves: Kershenbaum, Arik: 9781984881984: Books - Amazon.caThe Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal about Aliens – and Ourselves by Arik Kershenbaum | GoodreadsSend us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Marty sits down with Canadian science fiction writer and biologist Julie Czerneda to discuss her book 'To Each This World'.  Our conversation is taken in the context of exo-biology, where considerations of universal biological laws may inform our understanding of alien life, if ever we are lucky enough to find it.  We talk about whether we are likely to be surprised or bored by how strange or familiar alien life might be.  We discuss different kinds of intelligence, the survival costs and benefits that it might bring, the exquisite adaptation of the mantis shrimp and the surprising self-awareness of fish with small brains.  We also discuss the evolution and biological consequences of nearly immortal beings, as found in Julie’s Web Shifters series, and consider why our ecosystem has not already been taken over by shape-shifters. Julie also reveals some very special bonus material for her latest book, explaining the origin and capabilities of her portal-building, burrowing aliens in ‘To Each This World’.  Throughout the interview Julie recommends a few excellent books about biology: An Immense World by Ed Yong, Parasite Rex by Carl Zimmer and Imagined Life by James Trefil and Michael Summer - see links below.Julie Czerneda: Julie E. Czerneda – Science Fiction & Fantasy AuthorAll Book Series by Julie E. Czerneda (goodreads.com)Julie Czerneda - WikipediaTo Each This World: To Each This World – Julie E. CzernedaTo Each This World by Julie E. Czerneda | GoodreadsTo Each This World by Julie E. Czerneda: 9780756415426 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: BooksScience books recommended by Julie in this interview:An Immense World by Ed Yong | Penguin Random House CanadaParasite Rex: Inside The Bizarre World Of Nature’s Most Dangerous Creatures | Carl ZimmerImagined Life by James Trefil and Michael Summers | Penguin Random House CanadaSend us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/