Robert Wright's Nonzero

Why Alex shifted from international relations to quantum physics ... Alex: "We are walking wave functions" ... Do the origins of consciousness and free will lie in the wave collapse? ... Quantum decision theory and human irrationality ... The advantage of viewing humanity as quantum rather than classical ... How a nation-state is like a quantum state ... Alex: Language is best understood quantumly ... The possibility of collective consciousness ... This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nonzero.org/subscribe

Ron's new book, McMindfulness: How Mindfulness Became the New Capitalist Spirituality ... A brief history of mindfulness in America ... Ron's critique of the corporate teaching of mindfulness ... A tool vs. a path ... Ron: The mindfulness industry individualizes social problems ... A call for civic mindfulness ... Can capitalism and spirituality be reconciled? ... This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nonzero.org/subscribe

Common misconceptions about meditation retreats ... Hitting the bliss button ... Scheduled vs. unscheduled retreats ... How austere does it have to be to be effective? ... Process vs. outcomes ... Bob's mini-epiphany about his dripping sink ... Is meditation "for" something? ... Pitfalls after leaving a retreat ... Tips for first-timers ... This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nonzero.org/subscribe

Serene’s new book, Call It Grace: Finding Meaning in a Fractured World ... Serene’s theological upbringing and early encounters with Calvin’s writings ... What a romantic tragedy early in life taught Serene about God’s grace ... A revelatory brush with death in rural India ... Timothy McVeigh and the challenge of forgiveness ... How Serene’s father met an epic challenge to his faith and his charity ... This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nonzero.org/subscribe

Lee’s new book The Scientific Attitude: Defending Science from Denial, Fraud, and Pseudoscience  ... Why scientific theories are never “proved” ... Karl Popper’s principle of falsification explained  ... Why the philosophy of science hasn’t been useful to scientists ... Why philosophers of science need a new way to talk about evidence ... Can philosophy of science help refute science deniers?  ... Flat Earthers, science denial, and the scientific attitude  ... Cognitive bias, ideology, and the social sciences  ... Lee: There is no consensus about the epistemological status of science ... The hubris of “naive realism”  ... This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nonzero.org/subscribe

A brief primer on the free will vs. determinism debate ... Are moral responsibility and determinism compatible? ... Is punishment a tragic necessity or a moral good? ... Gideon tries to convince Bob that compatibilism is coherent ... Gideon's distinctive take on compatibilism ... A thought experiment about the moral culpability of an ancient slaveholder ... Free will and the mind-body problem ... Buddhist ideas about punishment ... This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nonzero.org/subscribe

David's new book, This View of Life ... In what sense, if any, could evolution be conscious? ... The need to complete the Darwinian revolution ... An evolutionary psychology discussion makes Bob tape his mouth shut ... How successful groups avert the tragedy of the commons ... Convergent cultural evolution ... David: Evolution shows that neither laissez faire nor centralized planning works ... A preview of the coming Bob vs. David showdown over group selection ... This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nonzero.org/subscribe