Today I’m going to tackle a topic you may have heard about in popular society these days, if you’ve ever listened to a motivational speaker or a life coach. They call it manifestation. What is it? What does it mean? What does science have to say about it? To get to the bottom of this, I’m interviewing Kevin Scott, personal coach and leader of the Effortless Alpha mens’ program. I will provide a skeptical scientific viewpoint on the topic. When Kevin Bruce Scott speaks, his messages connect peopl...
Apr 08, 2023•42 min•Ep. 146
It seems we are fated to live in interesting times. We stand balanced on the precipice of a new revolution in society. Advanced artificial intelligence systems have crossed a threshold that many thought impossible. What are the implications? The Future of Life institute just released an open letter signed by over 1,000 thought leaders including Elon Musk, and Steve Wosniak, calling on all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4. Why ...
Apr 01, 2023•28 min•Ep. 145
This is another cool science episode. Today I'm interviewing successful science outreach personality, cosmologist, and podcaster Dr. Paul Sutter. Paul M. Sutter is a theoretical cosmologist at the Institute for Advanced Computational Science at Stony Brook University and a guest researcher at the Center for Computational Astrophysics at the Flatiron Institute in NYC. He is an award-winning science communicator, having authored two books, Your Place in the Universe and How to Die in Space, and ho...
Mar 25, 2023•49 min•Ep. 144
In this episode I am returning to explore the truth about the Chernobyl disaster. I have the great fortune to interview one of the doctors who treated the exposed workers in Moscow following the explosion. Let’s see what he thinks of the health risks of nuclear power. Robert Peter Gale was born in New York in 1945. He received his MD from the State University of New York at Buffalo and PhD in microbiology and immunology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). After that Gale was o...
Mar 18, 2023•56 min•Ep. 143
In this episode I continue my exploration of the science of nutrition and food by exploring one of the most controversial money-making phenomena to exist. Diets. Body image is a central problem to a large fraction of the population, and people are willing to spend a lot of money trying to get thin and be more attractive. In this episode I interview a leading expert on the science of dieting to cut through the flab and get to the firm core of this issue. Traci Mann is Professor of Psychology at t...
Mar 11, 2023•47 min•Ep. 142
In this episode I want to dig into the impacts of alcohol on health. Many of us have heard news stories saying that a glass of red wine every day can help you live longer. This was used to explain why people with a Mediterranean diet seem to live longer than people on a North American diet, for example. The Resveratrol in the red wine is an anti-oxidant that supposedly helps to prevent cell damage. One can search the literature to find examples of studies that show people who drink a moderate am...
Mar 04, 2023•41 min•Ep. 141
In this episode I continue my investigation into the science of nutrition and food. Today I’m interviewing a physician who has been focusing on a critical evaluation of so-called alternative medicine or SCAM. I want to investigate with him the science behind various detox diets and claims made by nutrition specialists. I expect to receive a very skeptical viewpoint based on his many blog posts suggesting that claims of detoxing are a scam. Edzard Ernst studied psychology and medicine at the Ludw...
Feb 25, 2023•31 min•Ep. 140
In this episode I’d like to explore the impacts of the precautionary principle in public policy. Many people think that the precautionary principle is the safest way forward. We shouldn’t use a tool until we’re sure that it won’t harm us. This just makes sense, doesn’t it? The application of the precautionary principle in European energy policy, for example, has lead to the shut down of Germany’s nuclear fleet, strong labelling laws for GMO products, and many other decisions of which I am not ye...
Feb 18, 2023•58 min•Ep. 139
In this episode I’m starting my series of interviews on the science of nutrition at the top with an interview with a leading authority on the politics of food and nutrition, Dr. Marion Nestle. In 2011 author Michael Pollan ranked her as the #2 most powerful foodie in America (after Michelle Obama), and American food journalist Mark Bittman ranked her #1 in his list of foodies to be thankful for. Marion Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, a...
Feb 11, 2023•55 min•Ep. 138
In this episode I’m hoping to start a new investigation into the science behind nutrition and food science. Many of us have heard the messages from our doctors that we need to cut back on our high sodium diets and we need to avoid fat and red meat to prevent heart disease. We’ve been told that sugar is bad for us. Processed foods are bad for us. Alcohol is bad for us. We need to eat more fruit and vegetables. We need to eat more fiber. Western society is now in the midst of an obesity epidemic. ...
Feb 04, 2023•17 min•Ep. 137
In this episode I return to the hard problem of consciousness with a distinguished neuroscientist, Dr. Anil Seth. In the finest traditions of science, Dr. Seth is willing to test his ground-breaking theories of mind on himself by exploring the impacts of psychedelic drugs on the conscious experience. Anil Seth is a neuroscientist, author, and public speaker who has pioneered research into the brain basis of consciousness for more than twenty years. His mission is to advance the science of consci...
Jan 28, 2023•54 min•Ep. 136
In this episode I talk about how nuclear energy is being framed in Germany, the environmental laggard currently mining lignite coal for heat. I review some of the blatant anti-nuclear rhetoric being broadcast internationally and expose the flaws in the arguments. On social media I have been heavily critical of Germany’s Energiewende. This is their national program to shut down their clean nuclear fleet and attempt to replace it with hundreds of billions of euros worth of variable wind and solar ...
Jan 21, 2023•43 min•Ep. 135
In this episode I am bringing you my 2022 Rational View year in review, followed by a cool Pecha Kucha presentation that I made last year to a group of football alumni, put on by my public school friend Andy Vasily host of the Run Your Life podcast. The presentation is called ‘Why we need a Rational View’, and it defines much of what I have learned about communicating science, and the need for a rational discussion in a polarized world. Pecha Kucha is, I believe, a Japanese term meaning chit-cha...
Jan 14, 2023•15 min•Ep. 134
Dr. Alexander Wong rejoins the Rational View to review the new and exciting advance in Artificial Intelligence, ChatGPT. ChatGPT is a variant of GPT-3 (Generative Pretrained Transformer 3) that is specifically designed to be used in chat applications. It is a large language model that has been trained on a huge amount of text data in order to generate human-like responses to various types of inputs. Some key features of ChatGPT include its ability to generate responses in a conversational style,...
Jan 07, 2023•51 min•Ep. 133
In this episode I’m continuing to provide a free public service to educate the world about cognitive bias. You’re welcome. Today we’ll be exploring how the multi-billion dollar global marketing industry is implicitly given moral licence to exploit our cognitive biases, and how to prevent falling victim to this ethically questionable practice. Marko Kovic, PhD, has a background in political science and communication science. He's a lecturer, researcher, author and activist in the areas of decisio...
Dec 17, 2022•50 min•Ep. 132
In this episode I describe several cognitive biases that we commonly fall victim to. Can you identify any of these from your own experiences? If you have been following the controversy over social media you are aware of the problems with confirmation bias that leads us to believe dodgy sources when they agree with our preconceived opinions, but to hold other opinions to a much higher standard of evidence. In this episode I’m going to explore a few lesser-known types of cognitive bias that could ...
Dec 10, 2022•27 min•Ep. 131
In this episode I’m continuing my investigation of cognitive bias by interviewing an expert who has thought about this topic a lot. Committed to expanding happiness and inclusion in all communities, Valerie Alexander is a globally-recognized speaker on the topics of happiness in the workplace, the advancement of women, and unconscious bias. Her TED Talk, “How to Outsmart Your Own Unconscious Bias” has been viewed over half a million times and is used in boardrooms and classrooms around the world...
Dec 03, 2022•59 min•Ep. 130
In this episode I have the honour to interview a Nobel Laureate who has devoted his life to understanding the way we think. His work has interesting links, not only to my new research topic of cognitive biases, but also on humanity’s continuing self examination of consciousness and the mysteries of the mind. Berkely-trained psychologist Daniel Kahneman was corecipient of the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2002 for his integration of psychological research into economic science . His pioneering wor...
Nov 26, 2022•26 min•Ep. 129
In this episode I am interviewing the lead author of a recent paper describing a new theory of how consciousness works. It is based on evolutionary principles, and it posits that we mostly go about our lives unconsciously acting and reacting with no free will in the present moment. Their theory is that the conscious mind has evolved to enable reasoning and goal-driven behaviour through manipulation of memories. In this theory, we have no direct control over our actions in the present, as our obs...
Nov 19, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 128
I’ve had several good interviews on the topics of hot and cold fusion. Omar Hurricane and Alex Zylstra from NIF in the US, Fulvio Millitelo of MAST-U in the UK, Edmund Storms LANL and Lutz Jaitner on cold fusion & LENR. What have we learned? Cold Fusion has not yet been reliably harnessed despite decades of study, but I don’t think we should shame them for this—hot fusion has been working for much longer and they haven’t commercialized yet either. Fusion is not coming to our rescue in the next d...
Nov 12, 2022•25 min•Ep. 127
In this episode I want to address what I’ve come to realize is an asymmetry in society’s approach to energy technologies, and most specifically nuclear energy, after decades of mostly unopposed anti-nuclear lobbying. Nuclear energy must struggle on an uneven playing field with other energy technologies. This asymmetry is one of the leading reasons that new nuclear reactors have struggled to be built in regions that have been dominated by anti-nuclear ideologies for the past several decades and i...
Nov 05, 2022•33 min•Ep. 126
In this episode I am interviewing someone deeply involved with advising Canadian institutions on the energy policy, especially sustainable energy transitions. As this has also been a focus of the podcast, I’m looking forward to discussing the best approaches for the country. Mark Winfield is a Professor of Environmental and Urban Change at York University. He is also Co-Chair of the Faculty's Sustainable Energy Initiative, and Coordinator of the Joint Master of Environmental Studies/Juris Doctor...
Oct 29, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 125
This episode is the digitally enhanced re-release of 'Nuclear Power-is it rational to worry?' episodes 21 and 22 from October 2020 where I interviewed D.J. LeClear, 'The Rad Guy', before he started his successful YouTube channel dealing out short educational videos on nuclear radiation, and before he grew that magnificent handlebar moustache. If you've been with me since 2020, please enjoy this blast from the past. If you are new to The Rational View, you will love this coherent and incisive dis...
Oct 22, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 124
In this episode I am interviewing a new-space entrepreneur who is using optical remote sensing to provide important data on localized greenhouse gas emissions. The NordStream fossil gas pipelines ruptured a few days before this podcast was taped. My guest’s company has the hardware in place to measure these emissions from space and determine the impacts of this apparent sabotage on the climate. Stéphane Germain is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of GHGSat whose technology provides action...
Oct 15, 2022•42 min•Ep. 123
In this episode I am continuing my exploration of the state of nuclear fusion research. I will be interviewing a leader in the MAST fusion experiment. MAST is an acronym for Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak. A Tokamak is a device that typically uses extremely strong magnetic fields to confine an energetic plasma and ram hydrogen nuclei together at high energies, essentially trying to replicate the processes occurring at the core of the sun, to create fusion energy. This process takes tremendous ene...
Oct 08, 2022•52 min•Ep. 122
Over the past couple weeks the COVID virus has gone through my household, and I’ve been too busy to put together a well researched podcast. But I wanted to share a story with you that I think some of you might be able to relate to. It is a story about where all of our time has gone. In the modern era we’ve traded customer service for convenience. This is my saga. We think that we're saving time by online shopping, but sometimes that turns out to be the opposite of the truth. Join me while I take...
Oct 01, 2022•29 min•Ep. 121
In this episode I am continuing my investigation into cold fusion, looking into potential scientific explanations of the excess heat and fusion products hinted at by Dr. Edmund Storms in my last podcast. There seems to be a dedicated research group that is working on these theories and I am eager to find out whether or not their hypothesis about condensed plasmoids can stand up to skepticism. Lutz Jaitner from Hamburg Germany is the father of three adult daughters. He holds a Master of Science d...
Sep 24, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 120
In this episode I start my investigation into the Cold Fusion controversy. In 1989 Pons & Fleischmann announced in a hastily convened press conference, the discovery of a new clean energy source that would revolutionize power grids and save humanity from climate change. They had measured the production of excess heat and neutrons in a room temperature electrolytic reaction using heavy water and a palladium cathode. It shortly became evident that their claims were not entirely correct. After many...
Sep 17, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 119
In this episode I’m reviewing the fine line between science, pathological science, and pseudo-science. In most cases the line is not fine at all. There are, of course, many pseudo-scientific practices that are clearly not based on the principles of honest scientific investigations including things like Creationism, Homeopathy, Astrology, and Flat-Earthism. Some of these pretend to be scientific, but it is pretty clear in all cases that they exist not because of evidence, but instead are based on...
Sep 10, 2022•33 min•Ep. 118
In this episode I’m starting to explore another interesting scientific topic that has recently made a big media splash—nuclear fusion. For decades the promise of nuclear fusion has been held out as the ultimate in clean energy sources—the same energy as the sun, with no transuranic radioactive waste stream. Just fusing hydrogen together to make helium and boundless energy. The problem is that it is very difficult to simulate the sun. Even in the core of the sun where temperatures are measured in...
Sep 03, 2022•47 min•Ep. 117
