In this episode I continue my exploration into the nature of consciousness and awareness. I’ve learned a lot in my exploration to date. I’ve learned about Hindu and Buddhist ideas on awareness, and I’ve delved into the underlying quantum mechanical nature of reality. I’ve discussed ideas of quantum computing and biological links to the mysteries of quantum mechanics. My guest today is an expert on the cellular basis of memory and cognition. Michael Levin received dual B.S. degrees (computer scie...
Jun 11, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 105
In this episode I continue my exploration of consciousness, exploring a field of enquiry that has focused almost exclusively on consciousness and awareness for hundreds of years. Although it is not science, Buddhism has a uniquely close relation with physics and physicists being oft quoted. 'The Tao of Physics' comes to mind, as well as ‘The Dancing Wu Li Masters’ as examples. I hope you enjoy this foray into the Buddhist mind. Dr. John Dunne serves on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-...
Jun 04, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 104
Quantum Mechanics is a strange theory. Richard Feynman said “I think it is safe to say nobody understands quantum mechanics”. So why is it so popular if nobody understands it? How is this the basis for all of our physical knowledge of particles and their interactions? A recent innovative experiment fires neutrons through a double slit and proves that each neutron goes through both slits at the same time. Prof. Holger Hofmann, studied physics in his hometown of Stuttgart, Germany, then went to To...
May 28, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 103
In this episode I am lucky to be able to talk to an expert in the lifeblood of modern civilization, our electrical grid. The grid is the pulse that sustains civilization. It provides us with the energy to run our labour-saving appliances, it provides us with lights, it empowers our computers, it heats our homes, it refrigerates our food. Without it we would be tossed back to 19th century living conditions. It powers all of modern technology and allows us to communicate around the globe. The grid...
May 21, 2022•53 min•Ep. 102
In this episode I am looking forward to exploring more about alternate interpretations of Quantum Mechanics. In previous episodes exploring consciousness, I’ve encountered several people who believe that Quantum Mechanics is at the root of consciousness. My current thinking is that it replaces one mystery with another one without really providing an explanation for consciousness. We are still stuck with the options of consciousness being a pre-existing property of the universe or some aspect of ...
May 14, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 101
In this, my 100th episode, I continue to explore consciousness, but I’m stepping out of my comfort zone a little and seeing what I can learn from the religious viewpoint on consciousness. The idea of an eternal soul is central to many religions, and the Hindus especially believe in reincarnation. I want to learn what they think the soul entails, and what are the parallels between religious thought, philosophy, and the findings of neuro-biology. Dr. Sangeetha Menon is Professor and Head of the Co...
May 07, 2022•55 min•Ep. 100
This episode continues my series on consciousness—are we just biological robots? Following on from my exciting interview last week with quantum biophysicist Dr. Luca Turin, I dig further into competing quantum theories of consciousness. The famous Sir Roger Penrose and his partner Stuart Hameroff have proposed the Orchestrated OR theory. This theory posits a modification of the incomplete theory of quantum mechanics that underlies half of physics. They argue that consciousness arises from moment...
Apr 30, 2022•56 min•Ep. 99
This episode continues my series on consciousness—are we biological robots? Today I’m getting into some real science talking to a biophysicist who brings the esoteric world of quantum mechanics to bear on the topic. His groundbreaking work in the lab provides us with some real measurements that provide tantalizing hints at the previously unknown quantum processes tied to consciousness. Dr. Luca Turin was born in 1953 in Beirut, Lebanon, to Italian-Argentinian parents and was brought up in France...
Apr 23, 2022•57 min•Ep. 98
This episode continues my series on the Rational art of war on social media. Following on from my great interview a few weeks back with Dr Lee McIntyre, author of Talking to Science Deniers, he suggested I interview his colleague Dr. Andrew Norman who is actively working to inoculate the world against anti-science thinking. Dr. Andy Norman is the award-winning author of Mental Immunity: Infection Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think. His work has appeared in Scientific...
Apr 16, 2022•50 min•Ep. 97
In this episode I continue my investigation into consciousness interviewing an advocate for artificial intelligence. He advocates for a form of physicalistic idealism that is both highly speculative and incredible, by his own words. He supports the equations of physics as a complete description of reality, and posits that minds arise in quantum superpositions of neurons. A quantum superposition is a non-intuitive situation that arises in the equations of physics where a system can seemingly exis...
Apr 09, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 96
In this episode I begin my investigation into the topic of consciousness with an interview. The field of consciousness research is broad and interdisciplinary, with active researchers in philosophy, psychology, physics, neuro-biology, computer science, and even theology. My first interview is a psychologist who wrote a book claiming that bacteria are sentient. Dr. Arthur Reber is an American cognitive psychologist, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Ass...
Apr 02, 2022•58 min•Ep. 95
This episode delves into the topic of consciousness and why it is seen as a problem by some philosophers. We briefly touched on this in our series on AI, but it also touches the topic of science and religion. This is an issue that is dealt with in science fiction. Star Trek, especially TNG has several episodes that bear directly on this issue of what it means to be sentient with the character ‘Data’ striving to be more human, and being treated as an object rather than a sentient being due mainly...
Mar 26, 2022•32 min•Ep. 94
This podcast covers a very topical concern as Russia is now embarked on the conquest of the Ukraine, and there is much concern globally about the risk of nuclear power plants coming under fire. Should we be afraid of nuclear reactors in a war zone? (First Published March 19, 2022) I review the risks of nuclear war for a new generation, and I contrast it with the risks of nuclear reactors in a war zone. The conclusions may surprise you. Reactors in a war zone are not a significant health risk. La...
Mar 19, 2022•35 min•Ep. 93
In this episode I talk to a philosopher and best selling author who may be the world’s expert on bridging the gap to talk to science deniers. This is the second podcast in series on how to change minds and influence people using the Rational Art of War to spread The Rational View. Lee McIntyre is a Research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University. Formerly Executive Director of the Institute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University, McIntyre i...
Mar 12, 2022•56 min•Ep. 92
The next couple podcasts are meant to be a battle manual for the everyday person who wants to join the fight for what they believe in, but doesn’t have the resources of Google or Facebook to identify thousands of folks who might be swayed to your viewpoint. We know that on any sufficiently polarized political issue there is likely to be funded propaganda attempting to influence public opinion. Audit applications that track inactive and fake accounts show that a significant fraction of politician...
Mar 05, 2022•26 min•Ep. 91
This episode wraps up my podcast series on Evolution and Creationism. I summarize the insightful interviews I've had with many great guests including Dr. Niles Eldredge, the co-creator of Punctuated Equilibrium. Topics range from theology to biology and everything in between. For my upcoming podcasts I’m looking at a couple directions to explore with you. I want to discuss communicating science, and I also want to expand on some of my previous themes—Artificial Intelligence and Science/Religion ...
Feb 26, 2022•25 min•Ep. 90
This episode was meant to continue my series on Evolution and Creationism but it went another surprising direction. I hope you enjoy exploring the questions raised as my guest strides fearlessly into controversial moral territory. Genetic libertarian Razib Khan writes extensively on evidence surrounding human migrations and genetics. He has written for The New York Times, India Today and Quillette, and runs two weblogs, Gene Expression and Brown Pundits. His newsletter is Razib Khan's Unsupervis...
Feb 19, 2022•51 min•Ep. 89
In this episode I interview a psychologist who teaches critical thinking, using Creationism as an example for her students. She also analyzes behaviour from an evolutionary perspective. Prof. Lynne Honey received a BA in Psychology from Algoma University, and then a PhD at McMaster University, specializing in learning and behaviour from a physiological and evolutionary perspective. She tended bar, drove a taxi, and cleaned apartment buildings to pay for her expensive education habits. She has be...
Feb 12, 2022•51 min•Ep. 88
Continuing in my series on evolution and creationism. In this episode you’re in for a treat. I’ve managed to score an interview with a special guest—a celebrity in the field of evolutionary biology. Sit back and enjoy! Dr. Niles Eldredge has been a paleontologist on the curatorial staff of the American Museum of Natural History since 1969. His early work focused on the evolution of trilobites—a group of extinct arthropods that lived between 535 and 245 million years ago. Eldredge is the Curator ...
Feb 05, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 87
This episode continues my series on creationism and evolution. I’m excited to talk to a virologist to get the inside scoop on how viruses mingle with our DNA at the molecular level. This is one of the evidences for evolution and common descent that I referenced in the series opening podcast. Welkin Johnson, Ph.D. is a virologist with a particular interest in paleovirology. Dr. Johnson’s research team works on molecular level virus-host interactions, and the impact of these interactions on the ev...
Jan 29, 2022•42 min•Ep. 86
This episode continues my series on science and religion. In previous episodes I’ve interviewed the director of the Vatican Observatory, and a nuclear engineer. On this episode I delve more deeply into one of the leading firestorms in that debate. Creationism vs. Evolution. Dr. Swamidass was raised in a religious evangelical family of young earth creationists. After learning the scientific evidence behind evolution he realized he was being lied to. Now he works within the religious community to ...
Jan 22, 2022•59 min•Ep. 85
This episode is an introduction to a series on Evolution and Creationism. The Theory of Evolution is the cornerstone of modern biological science, providing a cohesive framework that explains how the diversity of life that we observe today came about. It has been borne out again and again through the discovery of previously unknown fossils with traits intermediate between extant varieties. Genetic science has exploded in recent years due to the advances from the human genome project. Scientists ...
Jan 15, 2022•24 min•Ep. 84
In this episode I interview Dr. Jessica Lovering and analyze her essay with Suzanne Baker, 'Can Nuclear go Local?'. In this work they discuss ways that nuclear advocates and nuclear industry can address some of the main concerns of environmental opponents. Dr. Jessica Lovering is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Good Energy Collective, a new organization working on progressive nuclear policy. She completed her PhD in Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. She is...
Jan 08, 2022•59 min•Ep. 83
In this episode we dig into the science and politics associated with spent nuclear fuel. The public policy debate around the energy transition is one of the most polarized and critical to the future of our society. The IPCC reports provide an ongoing review of the status of the science on this topic. IPCC pathways to net zero all include significant nuclear power, yet the public policy debate has not yet caught up. The European Union Joint Research Council has researched green energy sources and...
Dec 18, 2021•42 min•Ep. 82
Nuclear energy has now been recognized by a UN expert committee as the lowest carbon intensity of any major energy source. Anyone who has been involved in climate advocacy will have heard the common refrain ‘what about Chernobyl and Fukushima?’ We all know about the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. It caused roughly 100 deaths and thousands of cases of preventable thyroid cancer. But what about Fukushima Daiichi? In this episode I will summarize my interviews with several nuclear and radiation health...
Dec 11, 2021•29 min•Ep. 81
In this episode I'm continuing my exploration of the intersection of science and religion. These represent two seemingly incompatible paths to truth, one of which values skepticism, the other which values faith. I interview a professor of applied nuclear physics who believes that quantum mechanics is not inconsistent with the influence of the supernatural in the universe. Jan Blomgren is CEO and founder of INBEx (Institute of Nuclear Business Excellence), focused on nuclear power leadership. He ...
Dec 04, 2021•57 min•Ep. 80
In this episode I interview the head of the Vatican Observatory, Brother Guy Consolmagno, SJ, PhD to discuss the intersection of science and religion. I ask him if he sees a conflict between faith and skepticism. You might be surprised at the answer. Brother Guy Consolmagno SJ, is a Jesuit brother, Director of the Vatican Observatory and the President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation whose research studies meteorites and asteroids. He is a native of Detroit, Michigan, received SB and SM deg...
Nov 27, 2021•53 min•Ep. 79
In this episode I summarize my research on the linear-no-threshold model of radiation health effects, replaying key excerpts from my past interviews with leading experts on the topic. These include thyroid cancer expert Professor Geraldine Thomas of Imperial College London, Dr. Edwin Lyman, Director of Nuclear Power Safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, radiation dosimetry expert Dr. Blake Walters of Canada's National Research Council, and nuclear accident expert Dr. Philip Thomas, Profes...
Nov 20, 2021•34 min•Ep. 78
In this episode we’re going to learn about cancer radiotherapy, the use of radiation to treat cancer. So many people are afraid that nuclear radiation causes cancer, and yes this is possible if you receive a sudden megadose of radiation, but it is very difficult to get enough just enough radiation to increase the risk of cancer while not getting too much dose and dying from acute radiation sickness. In the real world, radiation is used to kill cancer cells and save lives. I’m going to interview ...
Nov 13, 2021•59 min•Ep. 77
Nuclear power is a polarizing issue and there is a lot of misinformation that we can debunk through familiarization. A significant fraction of the public, for example, think Nuclear power adds to carbon dioxide pollution. Many more feel that nuclear waste storage is a uniquely dangerous problem. Many more don’t understand that Ontario’s electrical grid is one of the cleanest in the world thanks to nuclear power which produces 60% of our electricity. I wanted to go to the source and understand a ...
Nov 06, 2021•59 min•Ep. 76
