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Hosted by Bruce Nielson and Peter Johansen · 🇺🇸 US · EN · 144 episodes
Established thought leaders with verified media credentials.
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 we explore everything.Support us on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/brucenielson/membership
Bruce Nielson and Peter Johansen hosts The Theory of Anything, a society show with 144 episodes published.
Bruce returns to AGI through the lens of a critical rationalist debate about whether or not AGI is theoretically possible. Can human intelligence be replicated? Is this a physics question or a biology question? Is our un
Is so-called "self-deception" a real thing? How can one at once be aware that something is true and yet also be unaware of it? Is it even a coherent concept? Doesn't deception require at least two entities—the deceived a
This week we are joined for the 4th time by physicist Sam Kuypers. From his Conjecture Institute profile: “Quantum physicist, interested in foundational questions. In his research, published in reputable scientific journ
Ad hoc saves and immunizing stratagems are phrases Karl Popper used to describe moves humans make when we try to protect our theories from refutation. We all do this every day in one way or another. But immunizing strata
This week we talk about doomers, specifically AI doomers. Why has it become such a popular notion, especially amongst those who consider themselves the most rational kinds of people, that this kind of apocalypse, amongst
Bruce has made a controversial claim on this show: today's "CritRats" (Critical Rationalists on X) have drifted from what Popper intended. And surprisingly, some of the drift traces back to David Deutsch's reinterpretati
This week we were honored to interview Ray Scott Percival, a significant but also woefully under-appreciated figure in critical rationalism. Percival has been active in critical rationalist forums, conferences, and acade
This week we had the pleasure of interviewing Michael Golding, M.D, who is a psychiatric physician. He is also heavily influenced by the philosophical ideas of David Deutsch and Karl Popper. At one point he calls himself
Bruce examines how effectively critical rationalism can ground the non-aggression principle (NAP)—the libertarian idea that, in some formulation, it is morally wrong to initiate violence. But does it really make sense to
In this video podcast, Bruce makes his boldest statement yet about probability. He dives into David Deutsch’s lecture “Physics Without Probability” —as well as our Episode 100 interview with Deutsch—to unpack the core ar
This week Bruce takes a deep dive into the epistemological ideas in Jonathan Rauch’s book The Constitution of Knowledge . Rauch is a fan of Karl Popper and a former guest on this show. He makes the case that the creation
This week, Bruce looks at how much critical rationalists do—and do not—subject their proposed best theories to critical testing. Bruce wrestles with how we apply the tools of critical rationalism—fallibilism, argument/de
In our shortest episode ever, Bruce continues his exploration of the concept of concepts by looking at "knowledge" as a concept rather than a theory. And of course along the the way he pushes back again several critical
Bruce looks at what makes sense—and doesn’t—about popular theories on knowledge promoted by CritRats (critical rationalists on X). He looks at how much these theories align, and don’t align, with what David Deutsch has a
A curious Twitter exchange with David Deutsch prompts Bruce to explore what Deutsch and other critical rationalists mean when they assert that randomness doesn’t truly exist. Support us on Patreon
In this episode, Bruce explores his extended conversation with philosopher and inductivist Kieren, focusing on Kieren’s claim that Popper’s Critical Rationalism ultimately depends on induction. Bruce then makes a strikin
Here Bruce starts with Popper’s assertion that theories are 100x more valuable than concepts and compares it to Douglas Hofstadter’s ideas on creativity and consciousness. But if concepts matter so little, where do conje
What is a concept? What is a theory? And was Karl Popper right when he said theories are “100 times more valuable” than concepts? But where do conjectures come from? We go over Popper's own writing about concepts and his
This week we welcome back Micah Redding of the Christian Transhumanist podcast. We had a joyful conversation touching on religion, science fiction, and teleology. We look at the ways science fiction and fantasy triggers
aka "The Popper vs Campbell Beatdown!" At long last! The showdown you've all been waiting for! These two giants of epistemology meet in the ring and fight it out for dominance! Bruce continues his exploration of evolutio
Jonathan Rauch
author of The Constitution of Knowledge · Brookings Institution
1 appearance on this show
Michael Levin
corporate governance expert and host of The Shareholder Primacy Podcast · The Activist Investor
1 appearance on this show
David Deutsch
visiting professor of physics at the Centre for Quantum Computation, Oxford University · University of Oxford
1 appearance on this show
Dr. Stephen Hicks
Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University and Peterson Academy · Rockford University
1 appearance on this show
Chiara Marletto
postdoctoral researcher in theoretical physics at Oxford University · University of Oxford
1 appearance on this show
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The Theory of Anything is hosted by Bruce Nielson and Peter Johansen. The show is categorised under society (culture) and has published 144 episodes.
The Theory of Anything has published 144 episodes.
The Theory of Anything regularly covers society, culture, philosophy. It sits in the society category, with a culture focus.
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