The Primacy of Ideas, with David Deutsch

Christofer and physicist David Deutsch speak about why neither genetic nor 'environmental' determinism explain human choices in this episode of Do Explain. They discuss the horrors of prehistoric existence, gender norms, twin studies, the brain/mind distinction, universality of computation, cognitive bias, and other related topics.

David Deutsch is a Visiting Professor of Physics at the Centre for Quantum Computation at Oxford University and the author of two books: 'The Fabric of Reality' and 'The Beginning of Infinity'. He works on fundamental issues in physics, particularly the quantum theory of computation and information, and constructor theory.

Timestamps: 

(2:43) - The grim lives of prehistoric humans

(9:30) - Genetic determinism and human choice 

(12:30) - Explaining human choice and human nature

(20:46) - Gender roles and correlation vs. explanation 

(28:58) - Twin studies and the blank slate

(36:24) - Philosophy of mind and information processing

(44:43) - Brains, minds, hardware and software

(48:28) - Why the brain and mind are different kinds of universal

(52:03) - What is the purpose of neuroscience?

(55:41) - Unconscious vs. conscious mind

(1:03:39) - Why cognitive biases might make you biased

(1:10:10) - On meeting Karl Popper and Bryce DeWitt

Website: www.daviddeutsch.org.uk
Twitter: @DavidDeutschOxf

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