

Philosophers In Space
Aaron Rabinowitz and Callie Wright
Welcome to Philosophers In Space, where the intrepid trekker captain Callie Wright and their questionable Chief Ethics Officer Aaron Rabinowitz explore the weird, gooey world of sci-fi, searching for tantalizing hypotheticals and gear-stripping questions in a space odyssey of meaning and amusement.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Feb 6, 2019 • 44min
0G43: Bandersnatch and Quantum Immortality
Welp, for better or worse, you're in the timeline where the will of the collective has pulled the pod suddenly back to Black Mirror. Everyone spent some portion of their holiday deep in some Bandersnatch, and we're here to stack meta analysis on meta analysis till the whole thing becomes a satirical singularity, which I'm now calling a Satirelarity (that's terrible, don't ever use that). If you feel like this episode doesn't address the problems of Bandersnatch enough, keep refreshing and another episode from a connected timeline will be along. In the meantime, we're talking quantum immorality, many worlds interpretations of quantum theory, and all sorts of stuff that are way above our pay grades. Here's some articles with a few comprehensible paragraphs: Quantum Suicide and Immortality: https://web.archive.org/web/20070827000748/http://www.higgo.com/quantum/qti.htm QSI Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_suicide_and_immortality Brian's super amazing first ever choose your own sci-fi audio drama podcast: youareherepodcast.com Support us at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/0G Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/0gPhilosophy Join our Facebook discussion group (make sure to answer the questions to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/985828008244018/ Email us at: philosophersinspace@gmail.com Sibling shows: Serious Inquiries Only: https://seriouspod.com/ Opening Arguments: https://openargs.com/ Embrace the Void: https://voidpod.com/ Recent appearances: Aaron joined Eiynah and some other teachers on Polite Conversations to discuss the state of social justice on campuses. The first part dropped this week, check it out! https://soundcloud.com/politeconversations/pc-panel-17-part-1-are-campus-sjws-destroying-western-civilization

Jan 30, 2019 • 38min
0G42: Today I am Paul and AI Elder Care
::alters chassis into show notes mode:: Hello. In keeping with my programming, I've done my best to anticipate all your needs as a podcast consumer. My empathy net tells me you'll desire a link to our subject: Today I am Paul: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/shoemaker_08_15/ and to maximize your comfort here is an audio version: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/audio_08_15/ I've also located a paper for you on the issues addressing our nascent robotics culture: web.mit.edu/~sturkle/www/nascentroboticsculture.pdf I hope you find these resources satisfying. If you need anything else I will do my best to anticipate it. If you find these services satisfying, here are some useful links: Support us at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/0G Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/0gPhilosophy Join our Facebook discussion group (make sure to answer the questions to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/985828008244018/ Email us at: philosophersinspace@gmail.com Sibling shows: Serious Inquiries Only: https://seriouspod.com/ Opening Arguments: https://openargs.com/ Embrace the Void: https://voidpod.com/ Recent appearances: Aaron is going to be giving a talk to the Triangle Freethought Society in Raleigh North Carolina on Monday February 18th at 6:30pm. We'll provide more details as it gets closer but there will likely also be a Friday meetup and maybe another talk over the weekend for folks who can't make the Monday. Hope to meet as many folks as possible while I'm down there.

Jan 23, 2019 • 39min
0G41: A Christmas Carol and Moral Motivation
What's this? Is it possible? Could Brian have managed to edit the surprise episode all in one night?! It's a space Santa miracle! You there, young listener! Tell me, are everyone's favorite childhood movies still sitting in the window at the butchers? Run and purchase them all, and buy some new intro quotes for yourself! I've been such a fool. Basic and broad are good things. I love them now, especially that little singing frog. Gets me right in the feels. Fandom bless us, every one of us! Happy Festivus everybody! Muppet Christmas Carol: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Muppet_Christmas_Carol Alistar Sim's A Christmas Carol: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044008/ (avoid the colorized if you can) Support us at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/0G Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/0gPhilosophy Join our Facebook discussion group (make sure to answer the questions to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/985828008244018/ Email us at: philosophersinspace@gmail.com Sibling shows: Serious Inquiries Only: https://seriouspod.com/ Opening Arguments: https://openargs.com/ Embrace the Void: https://voidpod.com/ Recent appearances: Aaron is going to be giving a talk to the Triangle Freethought Society in Raleigh North Carolina on Monday February 18th at 6:30pm. We'll provide more details as it gets closer but there will likely also be a Friday meetup and maybe another talk over the weekend for folks who can't make the Monday. Hope to meet as many folks as possible while I'm down there.

Jan 21, 2019 • 3min
NASA1: Battlefield Earth
We watched Battlefield Earth so you don't have to! Except maybe you should, you silly rat brain man animals! In order to delight in our pain, sign up at patreon.com/0G at the $10 level or above!

Jan 16, 2019 • 37min
0G40: Total Recall and Locke's Theory of Personal Identity, Part 2
Was 0G39 a little too short for you? Did you feel ultimately unfilled after listening to it? Well, good news! Here at Podcall, we can implant a part two that will feel so real and lifelike and enriching, it will make you forget your drab existence before hearing it. And that's not all! Pay extra and we'll throw in some paranoid delusions. Already feeling them? That's how you know it's working. Wondering when you'll know that it's stopped working?! That's the great part, you'll never be able to prove it either way. Enjoy! That's right, it's Total Recall pt.2: Rise of the Mutants! We're lucky enough to have our wonderful special guest, Elizabeth Picciuto (@epicciuto on twitter) writer and associate editor of Arc Digital (ArcDigi on twitter). We continue with our discussion of the weirdness of memory based personhood, and try to squeeze in a little three boob lady analysis after dark. Elizabeth's article: https://arcdigital.media/philosophical-movies-that-are-actually-fun-to-watch-a-guide-ab865f634267 Locke's Theory of Mind: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/supplement.html#PersIden We Can Remember It For You Wholesale: https://philosophy.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/We%20Can%20Remember%20It%20for%20You%20Wholesale%20-%20Philip%20K.%20Dick.pdf Support us at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/0G Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/0gPhilosophy Join our Facebook discussion group (make sure to answer the questions to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/985828008244018/ Email us at: philosophersinspace@gmail.com Sibling shows: Serious Inquiries Only: https://seriouspod.com/ Opening Arguments: https://openargs.com/ Embrace the Void: https://voidpod.com/ Recent appearances: Exciting news coming soon, watch this space!

Jan 9, 2019 • 34min
0G39: Total Recall and Locke's Theory of Personal Identity, Part 1
Imagine if you could clean up any part of your memories, would you? Are there any days in the past few years, perhaps, that you might wish to remember differently? Would you worry that changing the memory would result in a different you? Would you worry it was wrong to trade a real memory for a fake one? Good, now hop in, cause we're going to mars! That's right, it's Total Recall time, and we've got a wonderful special guest to join us. Elizabeth Picciuto (@epicciuto on twitter) writer and associate editor of Arc Digital (ArcDigi on twitter), who's article on fun philosophy movies inspired our selection for this week, joins us to discuss all the gear stripping Cronenberg glory that is Arnold's Total Recall. We also compare it to the deeply forgettable 2012 version and to the short story that I'll link here. I recommend absorbing all three back to back and then you'll have no idea what's real anymore. Elizabeth's article: https://arcdigital.media/philosophical-movies-that-are-actually-fun-to-watch-a-guide-ab865f634267 Locke's Theory of Mind: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/supplement.html#PersIden We Can Remember It For You Wholesale: https://philosophy.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/We%20Can%20Remember%20It%20for%20You%20Wholesale%20-%20Philip%20K.%20Dick.pdf Support us at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/0G Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/0gPhilosophy Join our Facebook discussion group (make sure to answer the questions to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/985828008244018/ Email us at: philosophersinspace@gmail.com Sibling shows: Serious Inquiries Only: https://seriouspod.com/ Opening Arguments: https://openargs.com/ Embrace the Void: https://voidpod.com/ Recent appearances: Nothing soon. Feeeeeed us...

Jan 2, 2019 • 39min
0G38: Terminator 2 and Roko's Basilisk, Part 2
WARNING: THIS PODCAST CONTAINS A THOUGHT EXPERIMENT THAT MAY CAUSE FUTURE VERSIONS OF YOU TO BE TORTURED BY A ROBOT GOD. ^Technically not a joke. Okay, if you're still reading, you're a brave soul indeed. This week we're wrapping up Terminator 2 with a discussion of one of the wildest thought experiments of the modern age, Roko's Basilisk, an idea so terrifying it was banned from the Lesswrong website for five years. We'll also be discussing some not so crazy fan interpretations of the gender politics of Terminator 2 vs. Aliens. Also, coming up next is more Patron thank you Q and A time! So get your patron names changed and get your questions submitted and get excited for some other patron news, coming very soon! Roko's Basilisk: cdhttps://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Roko's_basilisk https://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Roko's_basilisk Support us at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/0G Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/0gPhilosophy Join our Facebook discussion group (make sure to answer the questions to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/985828008244018/ Email us at: philosophersinspace@gmail.com Sibling shows: Serious Inquiries Only: https://seriouspod.com/ Opening Arguments: https://openargs.com/ Embrace the Void: https://voidpod.com/ Recent appearances: Nothing soon. Feeeeeed us...

Dec 26, 2018 • 37min
0G37: Terminator 2 and the Bootstrap Paradox, Part 1
Download me if you want to live! J/K nothing can save you from the impending robopocalypse, but at least you can hear us talk about how the causal narrative makes no sense and John Connor is even better than Jesus because he appears to spring fully formed into the universe at some point. Maybe you can chat about it with the murderbot on the way to the human camps. That would actually be great, we're looking for new audiences and murderbots are a reliable demo. Time Travel Paradoxes: cds.cern.ch/record/517151/files/0109029.pdf Support us at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/0G Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/0gPhilosophy Join our Facebook discussion group (make sure to answer the questions to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/985828008244018/ Email us at: philosophersinspace@gmail.com Sibling shows: Serious Inquiries Only: https://seriouspod.com/ Opening Arguments: https://openargs.com/ Embrace the Void: https://voidpod.com/ Recent appearances: Nothing soon. Feeeeeed us...

Dec 19, 2018 • 40min
0G36: The Matrix and Skepticism, Part 2
What if I were to tell you that everything you know is wrong? What if I told you that the story you know is a system of control made up by people who want to keep you from the one real truth: The Matrix lacks a clear message on the problem of skepticism. On its own, it's kind of a confused mess of messaging. We dive into this issue, starting with a discussion of Plato's allegory of the cave and moving through Sextus Empiricus into the modern epistemic crisis we face. Can I justify forcing Thomas to watch the second movie? You'll have to tune in to find out. Plato's Allegory of the Cave: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_Cave Sextus's 5 modes: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sextus-empiricus/#FivModI164 Support us at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/0G Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/0gPhilosophy Join our Facebook discussion group (make sure to answer the questions to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/985828008244018/ Email us at: philosophersinspace@gmail.com Sibling shows: Serious Inquiries Only: https://seriouspod.com/ Opening Arguments: https://openargs.com/ Embrace the Void: https://voidpod.com/ Recent appearances: Aaron was on Inciting Incidents podcast with GW http://incitingincident.libsyn.com/163-people-yell-at-news-through-the-void and keep an ear out for Thomas on an upcoming Cog Dis episode.

Dec 12, 2018 • 37min
OG35: The Matrix and Skepticism, Part 1
Do you hear that? That's the sound of conceptual inevitability. We all know this was coming, so grab your bondage gear and chug some red pills, cause Kansas is going bye bye! We're doing The Matrix and Skepticism. There's so much skepticism packed into this classic, we're gonna spread it out and let it breathe some. For part one, we cover the Cartesian style external world skepticism and the simulation theory skepticism. Next week we'll get to Plato's allegory of the Cave and some critiques of the message of The Matrix. Descartes Meditations: selfpace.uconn.edu/class/percep/DescartesMeditations.pdf Bostrom Simulation Argument: https://www.simulation-argument.com/simulation.pdf Support us at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/0G Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/0gPhilosophy Join our Facebook discussion group (make sure to answer the questions to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/985828008244018/ Email us at: philosophersinspace@gmail.com Sibling shows: Serious Inquiries Only: https://seriouspod.com/ Opening Arguments: https://openargs.com/ Embrace the Void: https://voidpod.com/ Recent appearances: Aaron was on Utah Outcasts! https://t.co/xCDyxSpE41 Thomas should come on more show, invite him places! He doesn't do enough podcasting and I think it's getting to him some.


