105 episodes
Zengineering: A Philosophy of Science, Technology, Art & Engineering Brian and Adam
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- Technology
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4.9 • 19 Ratings
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Zengineering Podcast is for everyone who loves Science & Technology and also cares deeply about the beauty of Life's Big Questions. We (Adam & Brian) are obsessed with the spot where modern Science, Technology & Engineering meet Philosophy, Art & Spirituality. We have found this to be the place where the most interesting questions are both formulated and discussed. It's the place where mental models are born, and that's what we're really chasing. Are you? Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/zengineering-podcast/support
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100 - On ChatGPT and The A.I. Future - with Ramsay Brown
Wassup Zengineers!?
It's been a minute. How's stuff?
We'll keep it simple. ChatGPT dropped... and it's cool enough that we had to bring in a guest and do an episode about it.
That's it. We hope you enjoy it.
✌️ Kerp
More Ramsay here:
https://twitter.com/_ramsaybrown
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramsaybr/
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099 - On Star Trek TNG (Mostly Commander Data).
Wassup Zengineers!
I've had this sitting on my desktop for a couple years at this point. Had some time, so I finally processed it. Enjoy. Hope all is well 🚀
✌️Kerp
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098 - On Open Source Collaboration
Howdy, Zengineers!
Did you know everything you do all day runs on software? Yup. It’s true. Everything. Well … I mean, not EVERYTHING, but pretty much everything. Your car. Your electricity. Your phone. Your computer. Your TV. Even our dishwashers and blenders, doorbells and lights, all run on software. There’s no way around it.
Software is powerful and enables the technologies we’ve all become accustomed to. But what’s so unique about it? Well, one of the primary drivers behind software’s viral spread is that once you digitize something, you can share it with everyone at almost no additional cost. The same cannot be said about the tires on my car, or the wood used to make my front door. Since sharing software is virtually free, free-software has come to rule the world. And, that’s Open Source. Software anyone can access, anyone can build upon, and anyone can get the benefit of… often, at no cost.
The engineers and designers behind the software that runs the world realized decades ago that innovation is enabled when these software solutions are shared openly and freely. Business can grow faster. Money can be made more efficiently. Lives can be made better… all because we share with one another, and collaborate on the world’s big problems through Open Source Software.
What a joy, you might say. So smart. So wonderful. I can’t believe it. Well … believe it. Your phone may have software on it that you paid for, but your phone simply would not work and, quite frankly, would not even exist, if it weren’t for people AND BUSINESSES freely sharing critical softwares systems with each other. This revolution is starting to come to other industries, as well, as the marginal cost of other technologies continues to be driven down. What an innovative and functional time to be alive. Who uses those words to express the thrill of life? Nerds, baby. Er… I mean, Zengineers!!
We hope you enjoy this episode as much as you enjoy all the Open Source Software enabled technologies that you’re using right now.
Support the show: http://support.zengineeringpodcast.com
Visit our website for more episodes: http://zengineeringpodcast.com
Cheers,
Adam & Brian
Show Notes
Wikipedia: Open Source Software: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_software
Wired’s Guide to Open Source: https://www.wired.com/story/wired-guide-open-source-software/
Unix v. Linux: https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/unix-vs-linux/#:~:text=Linux%20refers%20to%20the%20kernel,family%20of%20derived%20operating%20systems
Top 10 Open Source Hall of Famers: https://www.cio.com/article/3404462/top-10-open-source-hall-of-famers.html
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097 - On Breaking up Big Tech & The Data Economy
Hi, Zengineers!
I’m sure you’ve heard of Amazon, right? What about Facebook? Do you use it? Google? Apple? Ma Bell? Carnegie? Vanderbilt? Woot woot!! Ok… enough listing. What’s the topic, you ask? Yeah … we’re going for it, and taking on the roll of the United States Congress and breaking up the tech companies.
Why, you might ask, are we doing this? Well, because we can, without any vote or any intervention … break up the tech companies with our words and ideas. Can you dig it? Yes, that’s correct. We’re just talking about it. We don’t actually have any power to do anything about this.
We can and we do, however, share a great conversation around what’s happened in the past, what’s happening now, how it’s the same, how it’s different, and how things could be in the future. This is a fun one that touches on history, economics, politics, myriad philosophies, and definitely a lot of crazy future tech.
Ultimately, we discover that what’s happening now is drastically different than what’s happened in the past because of the new ways technology is allowing information to be shared (which, surprise, has always been the problem, so it’s always something new).
As always, we hope you enjoy this episode, and don’t forget that our government, its leaders, and at its core, your vote, help to determine a lot of what happens in the future. It’s a wild time with a lot of wild options at our finger tips.
Support the show: http://support.zengineeringpodcast.com
Visit our website for more episodes: https://zengineeringpodcast.com
Cheers,
Adam & Brian
Show Notes
Monopolies vs. Monopsonies: https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/032415/whats-difference-between-monopoly-and-monopsony.asp#:~:text=Both%20a%20monopoly%20and%20a%20monopsony%20refer%20to%20a%20single,demand%20for%20goods%20and%20services
The Antitrust Laws: https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-antitrust-laws/antitrust-laws
Elizabeth Warren on breaking up the tech companies: https://medium.com/@teamwarren/heres-how-we-can-break-up-big-tech-9ad9e0da324c
Breaking up the Bell System on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakup_of_the_Bell_System
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096 - On Superheroes & Comic Books
Hey, Zengineers!!
We’ve got one of those easy to do and easy to listen to nerd bomb episodes this week. SUPERHEROES!! Also comic books. Yay. What fun? Yes, we agree. Stoked, so let’s get after it.
This one is all about why we care, and why we’re interested. We touch on the persistence of mythology throughout history, and how it’s morphed and evolved into modern mythologies. Part of the intrigue and power comes from the media through which comics are presented … a spectrum of words v. pictures. We wrestle with the guilt that is often associated with reading picture books, and address the true value of the graphic novel.
As always, Adam takes us all the way back to cave paintings, which are the first graphic novels. See … it started here! We hit some of the history of comics, modern stories, movies, and media, and drive it all home with the notion of heroes inspiring all media and everything we do in life. What fun!
We hope you enjoy this episode and are inspired to read some old stories, or go pick up some comics and explore them if they are new to you. Go ask for some adult graphic novels … but no, not like ADULT graphic novels, but … for adults. I mean, they make XXX graphic novels, too … which is interesting and for another episode. The point is … the medium is amazing and dynamic and we think you’ll love it if new, or continue to love it if you already do.
Support the show: http://support.zengineeringpodcast.com
Visit our website for more episodes: https://zengineeringpodcast.com
Cheers,
Adam & Brian
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095 - On Wolfram's Theory of Everything
Hey, Zengineers!!
This week we’re going deep into the void of the unknown, to unravel the deepest mysteries of our universe. How will we get there? What will we discover? No one knows, and that’s what’s so exciting about it. So, let’s get right to our conversation about A Grand Unified Theory of Physics.
We’re always thinking about this a little bit. After all we’re recliner physicists, but this week we were inspired by a new release from Stephen Wolfram, that wild and wacky entrepreneur, engineer, inventor, philosopher, and all around crazy guy, behind well ... all kinds of weird and interesting shit. Yeah, scope him out and read his new article about his own unified theory of physics (see the show notes).
This is a fun one to bounce around in, because if you’re loose with the topic, it can kind go anywhere. After all, it’s about what makes our universe our universe. We chase some of the physics, some of the philosophy, and lots of the fun as we spiral around the rules of all rules.
We hope you enjoy this episode and all the amazing things you can read and watch and listen to online as you explore this topic more on your own.
Support the show: http://support.zengineeringpodcast.com
Visit our website for more episodes: https://zengineeringpodcast.com
Cheers,
Adam & Brian
Show Notes
Stephen Wolfram’s New Post on his own unified theory of physics: https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2020/04/finally-we-may-have-a-path-to-the-fundamental-theory-of-physics-and-its-beautiful/
Wikipedia on the theory of everything: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_everything
Wolfram Alpha, the science search engine: https://www.wolframalpha.com/
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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/zengineering-podcast/support
Customer Reviews
9/10 would recommend
Genuinely interesting to listen to
Love the theme.
This show is perfect for anyone who has myriad interests associated with science. It's hard to find shows that are not esoteric, nor juvenile, and these guys have found the sweet spot.
I loved the most recent episode on health...super timely release (Thanksgiving!) and the section about sleep and time management can't be stressed (no pun intended) enough.
Congrats on a great show, guys!
Golden Conversations
I discovered zengineering after watching a mandatory corporate training which mentioned a podcast called zengineering. The funny thing is that the video wasnt even referencing this podcast, they thought they just made it up. But being the nerdy guy I am I did a quick search and found this gem.
Zengineering is really a podcast that captures those wonderful nerdy, science based, and philosophical conversations, but remains cool, comedic, and casual. If you yearn for deep conversations that arent dry or pedantic but are cool and enjoyable, this is for you.