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PODCAST

The Theory of Anything

Bruce Nielson and Peter Johansen

A podcast that explores the unseen and surprising connections between nearly everything, with special emphasis on intelligence and the search for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) through the lens of Karl Popper"s Theory of Knowledge. David Deutsch argued that Quantum Mechanics, Darwinian Evolution, Karl Popper"s Theory of Knowledge, and Computational Theory (aka "The Four Strands") represent an early "theory of everything" be it science, philosophy, computation, religion, politics, or art. So

society & culture philosophy

All Episodes

01:25:37

Episode 88: The Myth of the Objective

The Theory of Anything ·

2024/06/25

Here Bruce reflects on AI researcher Kenneth Stanley’s assertion that setting specific, measurable goals may actually hinder discovery and innovation, which he writes about in his book, Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned: The Myth of the Objective. How does Stanley’s insight relate to critical rationalism, education, and life in general?We cover topics including: Why are objective sometimes misleading? When are objectives appropriate and when are they misleading? How did Stanley and his team

en

02:06:33

Episode 87: Is the Universal Explainer Hypothesis...

The Theory of Anything ·

2024/06/11

Is the universal explainer hypothesis falsifiable? How does the concept of universality relate to human minds? Is anything truly beyond human comprehension? And how would you frame universality as an interesting topic at a party?This week we also feature a guest, Dan Gish, a fellow traveler Bruce has connected with on Twitter. Dan (on Twitter) had questions about if the incomprehensibility of LLMs refuted the universal explainer hypothesis. This was Bruce's attempt to give him an honest answer

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01:42:39

Episode 86: Fuzzy Categories, Essentialism, and...

The Theory of Anything ·

2024/05/28

How do humans form 'fuzzy categories'? How does this all relate to essentialism? Is essentialism false? Or is it partially true? And how does this all relate to Critical Rationalism?Picking up where we left off last week, Bruce gets deeper into Douglas Hofstadter’s ideas on language and the mind and his assertion that “analogy-making lies at the heart of intelligence.” Bruce considers how Hofstadter’s theories may be interwoven with ideas on language and cognition promoted by Steven

en

01:49:52

Episode 85: Critical Rationalism and Douglas...

The Theory of Anything ·

2024/05/14

This is the first of our two part series (that may or may not be released back-to-back) where Bruce delves into the work Douglas Hofstadter, specifically the book Surfaces and Essences. We consider what is the relationship—if there is any—between critical rationalism and Hofstadter's idea that analogy is a core mechanism of human cognition. Is it fair to criticize Hofstadter's ideas as being inductivism in disguise? Could something like what Hofstadter suggests (i.e. analogy) be central to

en

01:27:46

Episode 84: Are Video Games Harmful to Children?

The Theory of Anything ·

2024/04/30

Here we discuss a 1992 interview with David Deutsch where he makes the case that video games are inherently educational, not addictive, and that children should not be stopped from playing as much as they want. We contrast the view of humans, science, and knowledge promoted there by David Deutsch with the more pessimistic view of thinkers such as Jonathan Haidt today. Bruce and Peter reflect on their own mixed feelings on this issue both as critical rationalists and parents. David Deutsch on video

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02:01:24

Episode 83: Popper's Second Axis (aka Bruce's...

The Theory of Anything ·

2024/04/15

Bruce summarizes his (unique?) understanding of Karl Popper’s epistemology that (possibly?) straddles the line between orthodox and unorthodox and is Influenced both by Deutsch, more old school Popperians, and his own unique interpretation of critical rationalism. Bruce claims that the key difference between regular "folk epistemology" (i.e. how humans reason without a correct understanding of epistemology) and "Popper's epistemology" (aka "Critical Rationalism"

en

01:53:02

Episode 82: Popper's Ratchet

The Theory of Anything ·

2024/04/02

In an episode that may (or may not) be his magnum opus, Bruce introduces his term for Karl Popper’s idea that you are only allowed to solve problems with your (scientific) theory by making it more empirical, not less empirical. Bruce makes the case that this is one of Karl Popper’s least appreciated ideas, as all of us are tempted by ad hoc saves that move our ideas in the direction of vagueness. Bruce also considers where conjectures come from and if Popper thought there existed a scientific

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02:14:02

Episode 81: Easy to Varyness vs Ad Hocness

The Theory of Anything ·

2024/03/19

Bruce sympathetically critiques David Deutsch’s concept of “easy to varyness” as a way to judge our explanations. Are our best theories about reality truly hard to vary? Bruce makes the case that Popper’s concept of “ad hocness” may be a strangely interwoven concept. Along the way we get deeper into whether Popperian epistemology is best seen as an attitude or a methodology. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/four-strands/message Support this podcast:

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01:44:34

Episode 80: Knowledge vs. Simul-Knowledge

The Theory of Anything ·

2024/03/04

Bruce wraps up his epic 6 part series on knowledge and the 'two sources hypothesis' (i.e. Deutsch's theory that all 'knowledge' comes from only two sources: Biological evolution and human minds). What happens if we take all the non-two sources examples of 'adapted information that cause itself to remain so' (e.g. the walking robot, the immune system, trade secrets, animal learning, animal memes, etc.) and give them their own theory distinct from the theory of

en

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