The Blind Spot Podcast

Explore the captivating world of thermodynamics, where heat and motion intertwine. Discover how 19th-century scientific breakthroughs shaped our understanding of energy and entropy. Delve into the concept of microscopic reversibility versus macroscopic irreversibility using everyday examples. Learn how living systems defy equilibrium, creating order from chaos. Finally, find out how atmospheric chemistry could reveal signs of life on distant planets, linking the principles of thermodynamics to the search for extraterrestrial existence.

Delve into the fascinating Gaia Hypothesis, exploring how Earth behaves as a self-regulating system influenced by life. Uncover the history behind this concept and the pivotal roles of scientists like Lovelock and Margulis. Discover the Daisy World model, illustrating how daisies can stabilize planetary temperatures. The discussion touches on criticisms from biologists, the idea of planetary agency, and the emergence of meaningful information in complex systems. Join an enlightening journey through Earth's connections between life, climate, and regulation.

In this insightful conversation, John Dunne, a distinguished scholar of Buddhist philosophy from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, dives deep into the intersection of Buddhism and science. He discusses the empiricist strand in Buddhism, challenging traditional views of authority. John elaborates on causal relationships, arguing that our categories are human constructions. He highlights how contemplative practices can lead to non-conceptual insights and explores the mind's capacity for self-awareness, all while questioning our dualistic perceptions of reality.

Evan Thompson, a philosopher and cognitive scientist, dives deep into the connections between life and intelligence. He argues that intelligence is about biological sense-making and introduces the concept of autopoiesis. The discussion reveals how bacteria sense their environment far better than today's AI, which merely predicts outcomes without understanding. Thompson critiques traditional views of perception, presenting a more embodied approach to cognition that raises important ethical and planetary questions about intelligence.

Dive into the mind-bending world of quantum mechanics where strange phenomena defy logic! Explore the historical evolution of theories introduced by brilliant minds like Planck and Einstein. Unravel the challenges students face in grasping these abstract concepts. Discover how quantum physics intersects with philosophy and influences popular culture. The discussion also critiques misinterpretations in new age movements, revealing the necessity for a deeper understanding of this fascinating science.

ENG:Why science can’t figure out consciousness? In this conversation we explore this question by exposing some of the flaws of thinking about consciousness as something that can be modeled in some sort of mechanistic sense- science gets stuck when we try to think about thinking from the outside in — When we can’t escape the fact that we can abstract mind from within mind.PT: Por que a ciência não consegue explicar a consciência?Nesta conversa, exploramos essa questão revelando algumas falhas na forma de pensar a consciência como algo que pode ser modelado de maneira puramente mecanicista. A ciência tende a empacar quando tentamos pensar o pensamento de fora para dentro — já que não conseguimos escapar do fato de que só podemos abstrair a mente a partir da própria mente.

EN:What is the world made of? In this episode we dive deep into the history of what philosophers call “ontology”, the study of being or. more colloquially, of what is there in reality. Starting in Ancient Greece with the pre-socratics, we explore how the very transitional nature of what we know exists tells us about how science works, and it’s deep dependence on what we can know of the world.PT:Do que é feito o mundo? Neste episódio, mergulhamos fundo na história do que os filósofos chamam de "ontologia", o estudo do ser ou, mais coloquialmente, do que existe na realidade. Começando na Grécia Antiga com os pré-socráticos, exploramos como a própria natureza transitória do que sabemos que existe nos diz como a ciência funciona e sua profunda dependência do que podemos saber sobre o mundo.

EN:In this episode, Adam and Evan go deep into the nature of life — what we know and what we don’t know about it. It turns out we know much more about what life does than about what life is. And the usual models, based on mechanistic and reductionistic thinking, fail badly when they try to explain life as a machine. The episode also explores Evan’s fascinating life and career, which began at his father’s think tank commune known as Lindisfarne — a revolutionary approach to knowledge and research, far ahead of its time.PT:Neste episódio, Adam e Evan mergulham fundo na natureza da vida — no que sabemos e no que ainda não sabemos sobre ela. Descobrimos que sabemos muito mais sobre o que a vida faz do que sobre o que a vida é. E os modelos tradicionais, baseados em um pensamento mecanicista e reducionista, falham gravemente ao tentar explicar a vida como uma máquina. O episódio também explora a fascinante trajetória de vida e carreira de Evan, que começou na comuna de pensamento criada por seu pai, conhecida como Lindisfarne — uma abordagem revolucionária ao conhecimento e à pesquisa, muito à frente do seu tempo.

EN: In this episode, Adam and Marcelo dive deep into the details of the physics and the philosophical assumptions behind Superstring Theories, including supersymmetry and extra spatial dimensions. Why are they beautiful but also why are they very problematic in so many different ways.PT: Neste episódio, Adam e Marcelo mergulham fundo nos detalhes da física e nas suposições filosóficas por trás das Teorias das Supercordas, incluindo a supersimetria e as dimensões espaciais extras. Por que essas teorias são consideradas belas, mas também por que são extremamente problemáticas de tantas formas diferentes?

EN: The Problems with Cosmology and Unified Theories: In this episode we dive deeper into the success and the challenges of the big bang model but also go into String Theory and supersymmetry and their shortcomings and challenges. These challenges reveal a lot about the sociological undercurrents in the world of high energy physics and cosmology and are an excellent illustration of the blind spot, of the exaggerations and fantastic ideas that emerge when science diverges from data and becomes grounded on unexamined metaphysical concepts and assumptions. Fasten your seat belts and let’s dive into the deep nature of reality, or what we believed it could be and apparently is not.PT:Os Problemas com a Cosmologia e as Teorias Unificadas:Neste episódio, mergulhamos mais fundo no sucesso e nos desafios do modelo do Big Bang, mas também exploramos a Teoria das Cordas e a supersimetria, juntamente com suas limitações e dificuldades. Esses desafios revelam muito sobre as correntes sociológicas no mundo da física de altas energias e da cosmologia, sendo uma excelente ilustração dos pontos cegos, exageros e ideias fantásticas que surgem quando a ciência se afasta dos dados e passa a se basear em conceitos e suposições metafísicas não examinadas. Aperte os cintos e vamos mergulhar na natureza profunda da realidade — ou no que acreditávamos que ela fosse e, ao que tudo indica, não é.