Closer To Truth

What Are Breakthroughs in Mathematics?

Call mathematics the purest form of knowledge, universal messaging anyone, anywhere, can understand. For math to advance, there must be breakthroughs, which may seem like magic. What are mathematical breakthroughs? How do they happen? How do they work?
 
 
Featuring interviews with Karen Uhlenbeck, Edward Witten, Michael Hopkins, Ivan Corwin, Gregory Chaitin, and Paul Davies.
 
 
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Terrence Deacon on the Noosphere

Neuroanthropologist and co-chair of the N2 Conference Terrence Deacon discusses the noosphere, biological evolution, and the upcoming N2 conference hosted by scientific multimedia non-profit organization Human Energy to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Discovery of the Noosphere.
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Philip Goff on the Purpose of the Universe

Why are we here? What's the point of existence? Philosopher and consciousness researcher Philip Goff tackles these questions and more in this discussion of his new book, Why? The Purpose of the Universe. Goff argues that it's time to move on from both God and atheism and instead look to cosmic purpose to understand the universe.
 
Philip Goff is a philosophy professor at Durham University, UK whose research focuses on philosophy of mind and consciousness.
 
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Why is Mathematics True and Beautiful?

Does mathematics have two transcendent attributes: truth and beauty? What makes math true? What makes math beautiful? Are there different kinds of mathematical existence? How can math combine idealized perfection and explanatory simplicity?
 
Featuring interviews with Robbert Dijkgraaf, Edward Witten, Max Tegmark, Sabine Hossenfelder, and Jim Holt.
 
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Can We Survive Death?

Do I disappear at death? My body? Sure, it's gone. But my awareness? Does my consciousness end forever? What could be more frightening! Is there any hope here?
 
Featuring interviews with Charles Tart, Richard Swinburne, Robert Park, James Tabor, and Keith Ward.
 
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Can Art Probe Creativity?

Creativity generates art. How to discern the creative process in order to inform the nature of art? Conversely, how to discern art in order to inform the nature of the creative process?
 
Featuring interviews with Aaron Rosen, Antonius Roberts, Alfonse Borysewicz, Murray Watts, and Carl Plantinga.
 
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What Makes Brains Conscious?

Everything I know -- everything! -- comes from my brain. Consciousness, our private sense of inner awareness, is the one big question to which we might find answers.
 
Featuring interviews with Arnold Scheibel, John Mazziotta, Christof Koch, Joseph LeDoux, and Stephen Chorover.
 
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Dan Dennett on the Mysteries of the Mind

Philosopher and cognitive scientist Daniel Dennett discusses his new memoir, I've Been Thinking, about the dominant themes of twentieth-century philosophy and cognitive science—including language, evolution, logic, religion, free will, consciousness, and AI.
 
Dennett's book, I've Been Thinking, is available for purchase now.
 
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Will Kinney on Cosmic Inflation and the Beginning of the Universe

Cosmologist and physics professor Will Kinney discusses his latest book, An Infinity of Worlds: Cosmic Inflation and the Beginning of the Universe. Kinney considers what happened before the primordial fire of the Big Bang. What is the origin of structure in the cosmos? Can we come to terms with the possibility that our entire observable universe is one of infinitely many, forever hidden from our view?
 
Will Kinney is a professor in the department of physics at the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York. His areas of expertise are cosmology, dark matter, astronomy, black holes, and gravitational waves.
 
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The Marvels of Space-Time

Einstein showed that space and time are essentially the same thing-a single entity, space-time. But space and time seem so radically different. How could space and time be literally the same thing?
 
Featuring interviews with Max Tegmark, J. Gott, Juan Maldacena, Fotini Markopoulou, and John Leslie.
 
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