Bill’s introductory question: Would there be a quick curriculum in basic philosophical principles, including the philosophy of science, that could discourage people from assuming that science and religion are at incompatibly opposite ends of the spectrum of “how to think about things”? We discuss the difficulty of canning a “curriculum” or “program” to address anything, let alone a problem as nuanced as this is, before plunging ahead and taking our chances. Paul argues that there are actually si...
May 28, 2018•36 min•Ep. 11
Resuming the cliffhanger: the breakdown of classical physics Shift from the classical to the quantum paradigm Light is in individual packets of energy whose size is keyed to the frequency of the light. This is the solution to the blackbody problem: the mathematics of emission of quanta of light energy produces the well-behaved curve with a peak at a given color that we see for hot objects, whether the Sun, iron in a forge, or a light bulb filament It is also the solution to the photoelectric eff...
May 21, 2018•31 min•Ep. 10
Bill prods Paul into discussing how the mindset of the saying, "Science progresses, funeral by funeral" and its attitude of constantly discarding the past in favor of the new has taken over the academy. It isn't the right mindset for, say, literature, or even for undergraduate teaching, but because of the prestige (and funding) accorded to science research in the modern university, other disciplines have begun to imitate it. Top researchers often do not make the best teachers, either...
May 17, 2018•7 min•Ep. 4
Science’s origins in “natural philosophy” Tension between Aristo-Thomist metaphysics, post-Cartesian idealism and Kantian/Humian criticism and etc., and science Philosophy of science: what is it? My own introduction: Popper and falsification key, Kuhn and the sociology of science revolutions / paradigm shifts Tendency to exaggerate contrasts and play down common elements between them Quantum foundations, classic experiments leading to quantum physics, wave-particle, uncertainty principle – falsi...
May 14, 2018•30 min•Ep. 8
We follow up on last episode's promise to talk a little more about evolution. Evolution literally comes from the Latin "to turn outward" and had a huge meaning cloud. One classic image it might evoke is that of a flower bud opening and the petals turning outward to reveal the whole flower. This is not an alien concept to religion, and certainly not to Christianity. The moment you take the Christian scriptures as a set of texts written by real people scattered across over a millennium of history,...
May 07, 2018•35 min•Ep. 7
Bill asks about whether evolution and the randomness it seems to imply are problematic for faith. Paul discusses the difference between evolution in biology (with a succession of species) and physics (where new laws layer on top of old laws without destroying them). We talk about the mindsets of physicists and biologists, and tangle more with that problematic phrase "shades of gray." Bill confronts Paul with Einstein's comment that "God does not play dice," and Paul responds with commentary most...
May 01, 2018•43 min•Ep. 6
Paul elaborates on how the hylomorphic principle, if anything, fits quantum physics better than it fit the world the medievals knew. Bill asks whether the worldview of people of faith is too rigid, while that of the secular masses is too loose. Paul wonders what "shades of gray" really means, and points out that even though the materialist worldview has become harder and more dogmatic, 20th century physics really exploded its scientific foundation. This epsiode brought to you by Arthur Compton's...
Apr 23, 2018•40 min•Ep. 5
Bill and Paul talk about whether the old convention of hylomorphism at least initially seems to describe the world of quantum physics, the medieval dispute over plurality of forms, and the degree to which science and philosophy became delinked in the late second millennium.
Apr 16, 2018•37 min•Ep. 4
What is metaphysics, and is it any more relevant to modern life than Casper the Friendly Ghost? Paul discusses how the ancient metaphysical framework of matter and form (hylomorphism) involves some tricky terms for us moderns but can still make sense of some examples of scientific issues from mineralogy and zoology. Next week we see if it can cope with undergrad quantum physics...
Apr 09, 2018•29 min•Ep. 3
Why pick either science or religion when you can have both? We open the discussion and touch on how fields as disparate as cosmology, neuroscience, and psychology interweave with faith in fascinating ways.
Apr 02, 2018•24 min•Season 1Ep. 1
We recorded this discussion as we were making Episode 1 and decided it needed to be a separate bonus episode.
Apr 02, 2018•10 min•Ep. 2
Paul (Giesting!) describes his intellectual and spiritual journey and why he's part of That's So Second Millennium.
Mar 27, 2018•8 min•Ep. 2
Is it really true that science and religion are polar opposites? Must one be true and the other false? What must the universe be like if BOTH are true at the same time? Join Bill and Paul, a Catholic journalist and scientist, as we explore intellectual ground millennia old and cutting edge, from the realms of physics, philosophy, neuroscience, psychology, geology, and more from the perspective of people who take their faith AND their science seriously.
Mar 27, 2018•51 sec
