Best Bruce Nielson Podcasts (2024)

1
Episode 96: Kenneth Stanley on the Pursuit of What’s Interesting 1:28:33

23h ago1:28:33

1:28:33

Here we interview AI researcher Kenneth Stanley, who makes the case that in complex systems, pursing specific objectives can actually be counterproductive. Instead, whether in machine learning, business, science, education, or art, we should pursue what is interesting. It is in this search for novelty—fueled by curiosity—where innovation and open-e…

1
#75 - The Problem of Induction, Relitigated (w/ Tamler Sommers) 1:41:13

7d ago1:41:13

1:41:13

When Very Bad Wizards meets Very Culty Popperians. We finally decided to have a real life professional philosopher on the pod to call us out on our nonsense, and are honored to have on Tamler Sommers, from the esteemed Very Bad Wizards podcast, to argue with us about the Problem of Induction. Did Popper solve it, or does his proposed solution, like…

1
Episode 95: On Morality, Moralizing, and Elephant Jockeys (Round Table) 2:48:50

21d ago2:48:50

2:48:50

This time we invited some of the coolest and smartest people we know to have a freewheeling discussion on morality loosely centered on Jonathan Haidt's “rider and the elephant” metaphor. We take a deep dive into this idea that moral reasoning is a slave to our passions. Guests: • Lulie Tanett (https://open.spotify.com/show/6OPFnEt6uTOTGeSpnZ1YDp?si…

1
#74 - Disagreeing about Belief, Probability, and Truth (w/ David Deutsch) 1:32:02

29d ago1:32:02

1:32:02

What do you do when one of your intellectual idols comes on the podcast? Bombard them disagreements of course. We were thrilled to have David Deutsch on the podcast to discuss whether the concept of belief is a useful lens on human cognition, when probability and statistics should be deployed, and whether he disagrees with Karl Popper on abstractio…

1
Episode 94: Stephen Hicks on Critical Rationalism vs Objectivism 1:01:44

1M ago1:01:44

1:01:44

This episode we interview Professor of Philosophy Stephen Hicks. In his excellent books Explaining Postmodernism and Nietzsche and the Nazis it becomes clear that the history of bad and good ideas—which he sees through the lens of Enlightenment and counter-Enlightenment philosophers—is more than an academic issue but something with monumental impor…

1
Episode 93: Philosophical Theories vs Bad Explanations 2:07:05

2M ago2:07:05

2:07:05

Can philosophical theories be refuted? What is a bad explanation? Can all theories be made more empirical? In search of an answer to these questions, Bruce takes a deep dive into what he believes is the correct way to apply “Popper’s ratchet” to metaphysical or philosophical theories. Along the way, Bruce puts forward a generalization of testabilit…

1
#73 - The Unfairness of Proportional Representation 1:25:12

2M ago1:25:12

1:25:12

Want to make everyone under 30 extremely angry? Tell them you don't like proportional representation. Tell them proportional representation sucks, just like recycling. In this episode, we continue to improve your popularity at parties by diving into Sir Karl's theory of democracy, and his arguments for why the first-past-the-post electoral system i…

1
Episode 92: Popper on Philosophical Theories 1:55:50

2M ago1:55:50

1:55:50

Continuing from episode 91, we continue our deep dive into Popper's Conjectures and Refutations Chapter 8 where Popper explains how to use his epistemology on philosophical theories that (by definition) can't be 'refuted'. Despite agreeing with most of Popper's specific arguments, we offer some considerable criticisms to Popper's approach to critic…

1
#72 (C&R, Chap. 19: Part II) - On the (alleged) Right of a Nation to Self-Determination 51:18

2M ago51:18

51:18

Part two on Chapter 19 of Conjectures and Refutations! Last time we got a little hung up arguing about human behavior and motivations. Putting that disagreement aside, like mature adults, we move on to the rest of the chapter and Popper's remaining theses. In particular, we focus on Popper's criticism of the idea of a nation's right to self-determi…

1
Episode 91: The Critical Rationalist Case For Induction!? 1:45:46

3M ago1:45:46

1:45:46

Forgive the clickbait title. The episode should probably actually be called "The (Lack of) Problem of Induction" because we primarily cover Popper's refutation of induction in C&R Chapter 8. This episode starts our deep dive into answering the question "What is the difference between a good philosophical explanation and a bad explanation?" To answe…

1
#71 (C&R, Chap 19: Part I) - The History of Our Time: An Optimist's View 1:12:50

3M ago1:12:50

1:12:50

Back to the Conjectures and Refutations series, after a long hiatus! Given all that's happening in the world and the associated rampant pessimism, we thought it would be appropriate to tackle Chapter 19 - A History of Our Time: An Optimist's View. We get through a solid fifth of the chapter, at which point Ben and Vaden start arguing about whether …

1
Episode 90: Bayesianism for Critical Rationalists!? 2:55:47

3M ago2:55:47

2:55:47

Today our guest Ivan Phillips methodically explains what Bayesianism is and is not. Along the way we discuss the validity of critiques made by critical rationalists of the worldview that is derived from Thomas Bayes’s 1763 theorem. Ivan is a Bayesian that is very familiar with Karl Popper's writings and even admires Popper's epistemology. Ivan make…

1
#70 - ... and Bayes Bites Back (w/ Richard Meadows) 1:30:34

4M ago1:30:34

1:30:34

Sick of hearing us shouting about Bayesianism? Well today you're in luck, because this time, someone shouts at us about Bayesianism! Richard Meadows, finance journalist, author, and Ben's secretive podcast paramour, takes us to task. Are we being unfair to the Bayesians? Is Bayesian rationality optimal in theory, and the rest of us are just coping …

1
Episode 89: Tradition as a Source of Knowledge: Popper vs. Chesterton 1:26:19

4M ago1:26:19

1:26:19

This week we discuss the book Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton (1908), perhaps the most famous defense of the Christian tradition. We contrast this with Karl Popper’s talk, “Towards a Rational Theory of Tradition” (1948), from his collection of essays, Conjectures and Refutations. We consider: What is the role of tradition in science and knowledge? Is …

1
Episode 88: The Myth of the Objective 1:25:37

4M ago1:25:37

1:25:37

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 topi…

1
#69 - Contra Scott Alexander on Probability 1:45:09

4M ago1:45:09

1:45:09

After four episodes spent fawning over Scott Alexander's "Non-libertarian FAQ", we turn around and attack the good man instead. In this episode we respond to Scott's piece "In Continued Defense of Non-Frequentist Probabilities", and respond to each of his five arguments defending Bayesian probability. Like moths to a flame, we apparently cannot let…

1
Episode 87: Is the Universal Explainer Hypothesis Falsifiable? 2:06:33

5M ago2:06:33

2:06:33

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…

1
#68 - Libertarianism IV: Political Issues (w/ Bruce Nielson) 1:50:16

5M ago1:50:16

1:50:16

The final part in a series which has polarized the nation. We tackle -- alongside Bruce Nielson as always -- the remaining part of Scott's FAQ: Political Issues. Can the government get anything right? Has Scott strawmanned the libertarian argument in this section? Is libertarianism an economic theory, a political theory, a metaphysical theory, or a…

1
Episode 86: Fuzzy Categories, Essentialism, and Epistemology (Hofstadter Part 2) 1:42:39

5M ago1:42:39

1:42:39

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 getsdeeper into Douglas Hofstadter’s ideas on language and the mind and his assertion that “analogy-making lies at the he…

1
Episode 85: Critical Rationalism and Douglas Hofstadter (Part 1) 1:49:52

6M ago1:49:52

1:49:52

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 f…

1
#67 - Libertarianism III: Social Issues (w/ Bruce Nielson) 1:45:32

6M ago1:45:32

1:45:32

Have you ever wanted to be more rich? Have you considered just working a bit harder? Welcome to part III of our libertarian series, where we discuss Part B: Social Issues of Scott Alexander's Anti-Libertarian FAQ, which critiques the libertarian view that if you're rich, you deserve it, and if you're poor, well, you deserve that too. As always, the…

1
Episode 84: Are Video Games Harmful to Children? 1:27:46

6M ago1:27:46

1:27:46

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 J…

1
#66 - Sex Research, Addiction, and Financial Domination (w/ Aella) 1:06:36

7M ago1:06:36

1:06:36

What do you get when you mix nerds and sex research? A deep dive into the world of fetish statistics, men's calibration about women's sexual preferences, and the crazy underground world of financial domination. Stay tuned as Aella walks the boys through the world of gangbangs, camming, OnlyFans, escorting, findom, and even live-tests Vaden's wild h…

1
Episode 83: Popper's Second Axis (aka Bruce's Epistemology?) 2:01:24

7M ago2:01:24

2:01:24

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 hu…

1
Episode 82: Popper's Ratchet 1:53:02

7M ago1:53:02

1:53:02

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 t…

1
#65 - Libertarianism II: Economic Issues (w/ Bruce Nielson) 1:33:02

7M ago1:33:02

1:33:02

Back at it again, as we coerce you into listening to Part 2 of our four part series on Libertarianism, with Mr. Bruce Nielson (@bnielson01). In this episode we cover the Economic Issues section of Scott Alexander's (non-aggressive and principled) non-libertarian FAQ, and discuss his four major economic critiques of the libertarian view that free an…

1
Episode 81: Easy to Varyness vs Ad Hocness 2:14:02

8M ago2:14:02

2:14:02

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…

1
#64 - Libertarianism I: Intro and Moral Issues (w/ Bruce Nielson) 1:52:38

8M ago1:52:38

1:52:38

Liberty! Freedom! Coercion! Taxes are theft! The State is The Enemy! Bitcoin! Crypto! Down with the central banks! Let's all return to the Gold Standard! Have you encountered such phrases in the wild? Confused, perhaps, as to why an afternoon beer with a friend become an extended diatribe against John Maynard Kaynes? Us too, which is why we're divi…

1
Episode 80: Knowledge vs. Simul-Knowledge 1:44:34

8M ago1:44:34

1:44:34

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 syste…

1
Episode 79: Perspiration vs Inspiration 1:31:33

8M ago1:31:33

1:31:33

Is human creativity algorithmic? What is the difference between an Inspiration and a perspiration algorithm? Can mechanical processes ever create knowledge? What is the relationship between creativity and explanation? If we had the 'inspiration' algorithm today, would it use perspiration? Here Bruce continues his exploration of these issues and mor…

1
Episode 78: Are Animal Memes Knowledge In the Genes? 1:11:53

9M ago1:11:53

1:11:53

Do animals create knowledge? Deutsch claims they don't because all their knowledge is in their genes. Yet he admits that animals do have memes! But aren't memes, by definition, knowledge outside the genome? How does Deutsch attempt to deal with these problems with his theory of knowledge? And how well do his arguments hold up? --- Support this podc…

1
#63 - Recycling is the Dumps 1:06:49

9M ago1:06:49

1:06:49

Close your eyes, and think of a bright and pristine, clean and immaculately run recycling center, green'r than a giant's thumb. Now think of a dirty, ugly, rotting landfill, stinking in the mid-day sun. Of these two scenarios, which, do you reckon, is worse for the environment? In this episode, Ben and Vaden attempt to reduce and refute a few reuse…

1
Episode 77: Counter Examples To Deutsch's Theory of Knowledge? 1:35:51

9M ago1:35:51

1:35:51

Bruce continues to consider what our best theories tell us about knowledge. Is there something special (or even physically different) about the knowledge created by nature through biological evolution and human minds (i.e. the 'two sources hypothesis')? How should we think about knowledge created in human minds that could take us to the moon and be…

1
Episode 76: The Constructor Theory of Knowledge 1:18:00

9M ago1:18:00

1:18:00

In the previous episode, Bruce pointed out an apparent contradiction between Deutsch's criteria for knowledge as 'adapted information that causes itself to remain so' and his example of the 'walking robot algorithm' which is a case of adapted information causing itself to remain so but that Deutsch doesn't consider to be knowledge. This time we con…

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#62 (Bonus) - The Principle of Optimism (Vaden on the Theory of Anything Podcast) 2:45:37

9M ago2:45:37

2:45:37

Vaden has selfishly gone on vacation with his family, leaving beloved listeners to fend for themselves in the wide world of epistemological confusion. To repair some of the damage, we're releasing an episode of The Theory of Anything Podcast from last June in which Vaden contributed to a roundtable discussion on the principle of optimism. Featuring…

1
Episode 75: Deutsch's Theory of Knowledge: The Walking Robot 1:09:47

9M ago1:09:47

1:09:47

What is the “two sources hypothesis,” or the idea that there exist only two sources of knowledge in the known universe: Darwinian natural selection and human minds? Does a “genetic programming algorithm” used to make a robot walk create knowledge? Thus begins our deep dive into Deutsch's Theory of Knowledge and particularly his "Two Source Hypothes…

1
#61 - Debating Free Will: Frankenstein's Monster and a Filmstrip of the Universe (with Lucas Smalldon) 1:42:49

10M ago1:42:49

1:42:49

While you're reading this you're having a thought. Something like "wow, I love the Increments podcast", or "those hosts are some handsome" or "I really wish people would stop talking about free will." Do you have a choice in the matter? Are you free to choose what you're thinking in any given moment, or is it determined by your genetics, environmen…

1
Episode 74: The Problem of Open-Endedness 1:28:41

10M ago1:28:41

1:28:41

What is the “problem of open-endedness”? Bruce explores how what might sound like an esoteric machine-learning issue may actually be interwoven with our deepest theories on evolution, human consciousness, and knowledge creation. Also included: Bruce's guide to how NOT to argue with a Creationist. References: Kenneth Stanley's article: "Open-endedne…

1
#60 - Creativity and Computational Universality (with Bruce Nielson) 1:58:42

10M ago1:58:42

1:58:42

Today we [finally] have on someone who actually knows what they're actually talking about: Mr. Bruce Nielson of the excellent Theory of Anything Podcast. We bring him on to straighten us out on the topics of creativity, machine intelligence, Turing machines, and computational universality - We build upon our previous conversation way back in Ask Us…

1
Episode 73: Argue Me Everything 2:11:29

10M ago2:11:29

2:11:29

Here we move three arguments from social media to the podcast. 1. Given Deutsch’s universal explainer hypothesis, does it make sense to say that men commit more crimes due to testosterone? Are humans only 'approximately' Universal Explainers?2. Can anything in reality be simulated? What exactly does it mean to be simulated? 3. Is “heat death” a bum…

1
#59 (C&R, Chap 8) - On the Status of Science and Metaphysics (Plus reflections on the Brett Hall blog exchange) 1:26:24

11M ago1:26:24

1:26:24

Back to the C&R series baby! Feels goooooood. Need some bar-room explanations for why induction is impossible? We gotchu. Need some historical background on where your boy Isaac got his ideas? We gotchu. Need to know how to refute the irrefutable? Gotchu there too homie, because today we're diving into Conjectures and Refutations, Chapter 8: On the…

1
Episode 72: Moral Progress and Tolerance for Intolerance 1:51:19

11M ago1:51:19

1:51:19

Here we use Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s essay “The Most Intolerant Wins: The Dictatorship of the Small Minority” as a springboard to discuss majority rule, moral progress, knowledge growth, wokism, Karl Popper’s paradox of tolerance, and “big agriculture.” --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/four-strands/support…

1
Episode 71: Can Values be Objective? 1:56:20

11M ago1:56:20

1:56:20

With guest Ivan Phillips, we discuss and debate subjective vs objective morality. Does the concept of objective morality ever make sense given “Hume’s guillotine”? Can humans ever really live as though morality is subjective? Along the way, we take detours into Bayesian epistemology vs critical rationalism. --- Support this podcast: https://podcast…

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#58 - Ask Us Anything V: How to Read and What to Read 1:40:32

11M ago1:40:32

1:40:32

Alright people, we made it. Six months, a few breaks, some uncontrollable laughter, some philosophy, many unhinged takes, a little bit of diarrhea and we're here, the last Ask Us Anything. After this we're never answering another God D*** question. Ever. We discuss Do you wish you could change your own interests? Methods of information ingestion Ta…

1
Episode 70: Sparks of Artificial General Intelligence? 2:14:47

12M ago2:14:47

2:14:47

How does ChatGPT really work? Is there a relationship between a program like ChatGPT and artificial general intelligence (AGI)? This time we review the famous paper "Sparks of Artificial General Intelligence: Early Experiments with GPT-4" from Microsoft Research as well as Melanie Mitchell's criticisms of it. Other papers mentioned: The Unreasonabl…

1
#57 (Bonus) - A calm and soothing discussion of The Patriarchy 1:01:29

12M ago1:01:29

1:01:29

We we're looking for a nice light topic for our patron only episode, so Vaden naturally chosen to chat about the patriarchy. I guess he didn't get into enough trouble in his personal life talking about it so he wanted to make his support and admiration for the patriarchy public. This is a sneak preview into the land of patreon bonus episodes, so be…

1
Episode 69: Social Science and Critical Rationalism 1:33:55

1y ago1:33:55

1:33:55

This week we have criminologist Brian Boutwell on again for part 2 of our discussion on critical rationalism and social science. Does all science share the same structure? How do you apply Popper's epistemology to social sciences? Are there laws of human nature? If humans are universal explainers, what does it mean to study our behavior? See episod…

1
#56 - Ask Us Anything IV: Certainty, Emergence, and Popperian Imperatives 1:21:32

1y ago1:21:32

1:21:32

Perhaps you thought, in your infinite ignorance, that the release of the previous episode marked the end of the age of the AMA! But nay my friends, the age of the AMA has just begun! We'll answer your questions until the cows come home; until Godot arrives; until all the world's babies are potty-trained. Or, at least, until we stop laughing. We dis…

1
Episode 68: Caldwell's "Clarifying Popper" 51:59

1y ago51:59

51:59

Bruce Caldwell (a scholar interested in Popper and Hayek) wrote a long paper in the Journal of Economic Literature (March 1991) called 'Clarifying Popper'. In this episode, Bruce Nielson summarizes and discusses Caldwell’s paper on how Popper’s ideas could be applied to economics. How well did Bruce Caldwell do in his goal of clarifying Popper's ep…

1
Episode 67: Disagreements with Deutsch 2:56:49

1y ago2:56:49

2:56:49

Though our guest Mark Biros is clearly immersed in critical rationalism and the worldview of Popper and Deutsch, he also has some fairly strong criticisms of some of the ideas popular in what could be called the CritRat community. Here we try to work out our differing ideas on environmentalism, epistemology, quantum mechanics, social media, optimis…

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