31 episodes

Conversations about philosophy, science, religion and spirituality

MeaningofLife.tv MeaningofLife.tv

    • Society & Culture
    • 4.8 • 67 Ratings

Conversations about philosophy, science, religion and spirituality

    Kant Stop Critiquin' (Aryeh Cohen-Wade & David Ottlinger)

    Kant Stop Critiquin' (Aryeh Cohen-Wade & David Ottlinger)

    A bizarre Washington Post column about critical theory and Immanuel Kant ... Why has Kant become a bogeyman? ... How contingent is the history of philosophy? ... Relativism vs. rationalism ... What Kant meant by the "Critique of Pure Reason" ... Steven Pinker and the problem with rationalists ... David explains what Kant actually believed ...

    • 1 hr
    The Dharma of Bob 8: A Cosmic View of Our Situation (Robert Wright & Josh Summers)

    The Dharma of Bob 8: A Cosmic View of Our Situation (Robert Wright & Josh Summers)

    What part of secular-guru space (if any) does Bob occupy? ... On the origin of Bob’s theses (by means of natural selection) ... The mind-boggling mystery of consciousness ... Could evolution have a larger purpose? ... The “global brain” as the flowering of natural selection’s seed ... Saving our species by transcending some species-typical tendencies ... The algorithm of evolution as “the Logos” ... How cognitive biases get in the way of global cooperation ... The positive feeling of negative emotions (but can mindfulness feel even better?) ... Bob explains his recent writings on tribalism ... Bob: You are an expression of "the [evolutionary] Logos" ... Bob’s latent-functionality theory of epiphenomenal consciousness ... Does evolution steer us toward greater alignment with moral truth? ... On the “panoramic specificity” of Bob’s dharma ...

    • 1 hr
    The Dharma of Bob 7: Cognitive Bias and Conflict (Robert Wright & Josh Summers)

    The Dharma of Bob 7: Cognitive Bias and Conflict (Robert Wright & Josh Summers)

    Remembering Michael Brooks ... The existential stakes of enlightenment ... Overcoming the affective dimension of cognitive bias ... Bringing broader awareness to the concept of cognitive bias ... Cognitive bias and the roots of war ... The folly of feedback loops ... Quelling our primitive retributive impulses ... Taking a mulligan in your meditation practice ... Focusing on the hindrances ... Can you fail at meditation? ...

    • 1 hr
    Saving Anti-Wokeness from Itself (David Ottlinger & Cathy Young)

    Saving Anti-Wokeness from Itself (David Ottlinger & Cathy Young)

    A plea to the weary to return to the Woke Wars ... Who is James Lindsay? ... Lindsay's book, Cynical Theories ... Lindsay's other critiques of wokeness ... The religion of wokeness, the religion of anti-wokeness ... Lindsay jumps on the Trump train (starts shoveling coal) ... The anti-semitism thing ... David: In a way, Lindsay is on the side of BLM ...

    • 1 hr
    Contesting Determinism (Robert Wright & Oliver Burkeman)

    Contesting Determinism (Robert Wright & Oliver Burkeman)

    Oliver's new book, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals ... Oliver outlines “compatibilism,” the idea that free will and determinism can coexist ... Bob: Everyone should be a free will agnostic ... The occasionally dramatic consequences of arguments against free will ... Would determinism require us to reform our approach to criminal justice? ... A (possible) quantum hack for free will vs. determinism ... Bob thinks compatibilism is b******t ... ... ... but Oliver tries to persuade him there's something to it ... Oliver: No position on free will and determinism is free of contradiction ...

    • 1 hr
    The Trouble with Quantum Mechanics (Robert Wright & John Horgan)

    The Trouble with Quantum Mechanics (Robert Wright & John Horgan)

    John's recent bout of fever-induced hallucinations ... Does math actually help you understand QM? ... What experiments in QM have and have not verified ... John: All interpretations of QM are bad ... What do we want from science? ... "An operating system for reality" ...

    • 1 hr

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
67 Ratings

67 Ratings

gknif2 ,

A Thinking Person’s Podcast

I’ve been a fan of “Meaning of Life TV” ever since I watched a young Robert Wright get under the skin of a cantankerous Daniel Dennett during an interview posted on Slate Magazine’s old website. You can catch that gem on YouTube nowadays or catch today’s latest “thinkers” duking it out right here on iTunes ( or your favorite podcast app ). Did you know Robert Wright essentially INVENTED the podcast? MOL-TV’s sister-site, BloggingHeadsTv ( go check it out, too), was a true innovator in online video and audio before anyone know what a “podcast” was! Here’s to many more years of content for “wannabe” intellectuals like me! Cheers.

golgikanji ,

Kaufman - Baum

The interviewer must have taken 90% of talk time. Too much, really. Maybe he adjusted it later, but I gave up halfway through. Sorry.

mishapenin ,

Evolution, non pc, international

This is where I go for analysis of America and its foreign relationships. Knowledgeable people and direct views . It has serious interviews with scholars of Buddhism and with people who say they’ve become enlightened. phenomena and who practice it. And from that to nonpc talk about the cultural broiling we’re living through

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