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Conjecture Institute

conjectureinstitute

A podcast all about https://www.conjectureinstitute.org/ with approximately bi-monthly interviews with the Fellows

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  • 21 episodes
  • Avg 24 min
  • English

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  • #35
    Friday · 26 min

    Both Ends of the Quantum Gravity Spectrum

    Between her work on the BMV experiment to probe gravity's quantum side in the laboratory and her current investigation into quantum theory’s role in cosmology, Conjecture Institute Fellow Antonia Weber's young career as a physicist has already taken her across nearly the entire energy spectrum of quantum gravity. Read: https://conjectureinstitute.org/articles/fellow-spotlight/antonia-weber

  • #34
    August 10 · 24 min

    The Three Pillars of an Artificial Mind

    The road to artificial intelligence (AGI) is not paved in increasingly efficient algorithms, more computing power, or radical improvements to the best large language models. Armed with our best theory of how knowledge is created, Conjecture Institute Fellow Carlos De la Guardia has honed in on universality, problem-solving, and explanatory knowledge as three key pillars to building an AGI. Read here: https://conjectureinstitute.org/articles/fellow-spotlight/carlos-de-la-guardia

  • #33
    July 26 · 30 min

    All Is (Q-)Number

    In a world full of headlines touting ‘the latest theory of everything’, the most valuable unturned stone might be the theories we have had for a century. We just need the courage to do as Sam Kuypers does and take them seriously. Read the Spotlight Article about Conjecture Institute Fellow Sam Kuypers: https://conjectureinstitute.org/articles/fellow-spotlight/sam-kuypers

  • #32
    July 10 · 14 min

    Hollywood's Optimistic Heir

    Conjecture Institute Fellow Dimitri Vallein is building an alternative to Hollywood with optimistic science fiction stories, immersive technology, and a philosophy of progress. Read the article here: https://conjectureinstitute.org/articles/fellow-spotlight/dimitri-vallein

  • #31
    July 2 · 13 min

    Civilization, Module One: Hallmarks and Enemies

    Denying the truth of Western superiority means never investigating why the West makes so much more progress than the rest of humanity. It means failing to discover the institutions, principles, and values that underlie the progress that the West has made. It means taking for granted the necessary ingredients for how a society can transform from a worse one to a better one. It means putting those very ingredients at risk in the West, and it means placing them farther out of reach for the non-West than they need to be. Read: https://conjectureinstitute.org/courses/civilization/Civilization%20Module%201%20Revised.pdf Visit Conjecture Institute: https://conjectureinstitute.org Follow Conjecture Institute on X: https://x.com/ConjectureInst

  • #30
    June 21 · 35 min

    The Revolution That Should Have Been—And Still Could Be

    Conjecture Institute Fellow Paul Raymond-Robichaud proved that the universe can be local and real after all—vindicating Einstein’s dream and unsettling a century of quantum orthodoxy. Our Spotlight Article series highlights our Fellows’ history, contributions, interests, and ideas. More to come. Read or listen to the web version of our article about Paul and his work here.

  • #29
    May 29 · 1 hr 33 min

    Conjecture Institute Fellow Jaber Hassoun

    Jaber is a Fellow of Conjecture Institute. A computer science graduate and educational Youtuber focused on science and philosophy communication, Jaber's videos and interviews are dedicated to promoting Enlightenment values, progress, optimism in Deutsch's sense, the open/dynamic society and a Critical Rationalist attitude. His is one of the only Arabic-speaking channels that offers deep dives into the Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch and Popperian epistemology in general.

  • #28
    May 26 · 12 min

    Economics, Module 0: The Constraints of Personhood

    In explaining the regularities of an economy, of the conditions under which wealth can and cannot grow, we may begin with the fact that man acts purposefully—that is, he employs some scarce means to achieve some desired ends. This is typically called the action axiom, but I prefer to call it the action conjecture. As with many apparently simple principles in science and philosophy, the action conjecture and its logical consequences will take us very far in our journey to explain how wealth is created, how resources are allocated, and how individuals coordinate their idiosyncratic means and ends between each other and with their future selves. Written version: https://conjectureinstitute.org/courses/economics/Economics%20Module%200.pdf Discover more course modules: https://conjectureinstitute.org/university/courses

  • #27
    May 11 · 7 min

    History of Ideas, Module 1: Ancient Greeks: Thales of Miletus

    With his advent of a tradition of criticism, materialism, and the notion of universal principles, Thales gave every subsequent philosopher and scientist indispensable tools of reason that have lasted for thousands of years. Read the entire module: https://conjectureinstitute.org/courses/business/history_of_ideas_module_1.pdf

  • #26
    May 7 · 30 min

    Gravity Without Absolutes, by Julian Barbour

    Physicist Julian Barbour discusses the ideas in his essay, Gravity Without Absolutes. Julian's essay is one of several written for our upcoming compendium, Bold Conjectures, Volume II: Essays Across Physics.

  • #25
    May 2 · 11 min

    Constructor Theory, Module 3: Four Laws of Thermodynamics

    In this module, we will explore the content and shortcomings of four laws of thermodynamics. Read the module: https://conjectureinstitute.org/courses/constructor-theory/Constructor%20Theory%20Module%203.pdf Visit Conjecture Institute: https://conjectureinstitute.org/

  • #21
    April 5 · 13 min

    Constructor Theory, Module 2: Irreversibility

    As we saw in Module One, all dynamical laws of motion are time-reversal symmetric: if the trajectory of a system from state A to state B is allowed by particular laws of motion, then the trajectory of that system from state B to state A is also allowed by those same laws. Yet this fundamental reversibility sits in stark tension with the one-way processes we observe all around us. Since 1870, a number of attempted solutions to this conflict have been offered that can’t quite solve the problem. But, as is often the case in science, understanding the reasons why they fail shed light on what attributes the actual solution must have. Read: https://conjectureinstitute.org/courses/constructor-theory/Constructor%20Theory%20Module%202.pdf Visit Conjecture Institute: https://www.conjectureinstitute.org/ Donate to Conjecture Institute: https://www.every.org/conjecture-institute-inc#/donate/card Follow Conjecture Institute on X: https://x.com/ConjectureInst

  • #20
    March 29 · 12 min

    Constructor Theory, Module 1: The Prevailing Conception and the Big Bang

    While Newtonian mechanics, quantum mechanics, and general relativity consist of radically different conceptual frameworks and mathematical infrastructure, they are all expressible in what David Deutsch and Chiara Marletto call the prevailing or traditional conception. If you know the current positions and velocities of the planets, Newton’s laws let you calculate where they will be next year, or where they were last year. If you know the wave function of an electron and the rule governing how it changes, quantum mechanics lets you compute its entire future and its entire past. If you know the positions and velocities of two black holes at the current moment, Einstein’s equations in general relativity fix their entire evolution in spacetime — forward or backward. Read: https://conjectureinstitute.org/courses/constructor-theory/Constructor%20Theory%20Module%201.pdf Visit Conjecture Institute: https://www.conjectureinstitute.org/ Donate to Conjecture Institute: https://www.every.org/conjecture-institute-inc#/donate/card Follow Conjecture Institute on X: https://x.com/ConjectureInst

  • #19
    March 22 · 10 min

    Constructor Theory, Module 0: Bad Arguments Against New Science

    The scope of a scientific theory is not a matter of subjective preference, and that judging a theory by its scope is a mistake. Judging a scientific theory by its structure—for example, whether or not it consists of algebraic equations and dynamical laws of motion—is also a mistake. Absent a good explanation for why a given theory’s scope is too great, or why a given theory’s structure renders it inviable, it is irrational to dismiss a theory just because its scope or structure does not meet your preferences. Read: https://www.conjectureinstitute.org/courses/constructor-theory/Logan%20Constructor%20Theory%20Module%200%20-%20Google%20Docs.pdf Visit Conjecture Institute: https://www.conjectureinstitute.org/ Donate to Conjecture Institute: https://www.every.org/conjecture-institute-inc#/donate/card Follow Conjecture Institute on X: https://x.com/ConjectureInst

  • #18
    March 15 · 9 min

    People, Reason, & Reality Part I: Reason, Module 4: Criticism Along Philosophy's Three Branches

    Philosophy is often divided into three branches: metaphysics or ontology (what is existence, why do reality’s constituent parts behave the way they do, what constrains and explains Nature’s regularities), epistemology (how knowledge grows, how people come to know what we think we know), and morality (what one should and should not do, how to choose some values over others). Read: https://www.conjectureinstitute.org/courses/people-reason-reality/Logan%20-%20Reason%20Module%204%20-%20Google%20Docs.pdf Visit Conjecture Institute: https://www.conjectureinstitute.org/ Donate to Conjecture Institute: https://www.every.org/conjecture-institute-inc#/donate/card Follow Conjecture Institute on X: https://x.com/ConjectureInst

  • #17
    March 5 · 7 min

    People, Reason, & Reality Part I: Reason, Module 3: Explanations: Good, Bad, & Constrained

    A good explanation is not only hard to vary, but it must also cohere with the rest of our explanations and actually explain what we are trying to explain. These three constraints imply that the search for good explanations will always be nontrivial. In fact, the deeper our explanations of the world, the more constrained the space of good explanations becomes Read: https://www.conjectureinstitute.org/courses/people-reason-reality/Logan%20-%20Reason%20Module%203%20-%20Google%20Docs.pdf Visit Conjecture Institute: https://www.conjectureinstitute.org/ Donate to Conjecture Institute: https://www.every.org/conjecture-institute-inc#/donate/card Follow Conjecture Institute on X: https://x.com/ConjectureInst

  • #16
    February 23 · 6 min

    People, Reason, & Reality Part I: Reason, Module 2: The Real Role of Evidence

    Evidence-based anything is an illusion. There is no evidence-based science, evidence-based policy, evidence-based argument (see this very paragraph). In reality, a mind first guesses—conjectures—an idea. This could be a scientific idea, a moral idea, an economic idea, a political idea, an idea about beauty—anything. One then criticizes it: is it internally consistent? Does it cohere with our other ideas about how the world works? Is it arbitrary? Is it consistent with our observations? Read: https://www.conjectureinstitute.org/courses/people-reason-reality/Logan%20%E2%80%93%20Reason%20Module%202%20-%20Google%20Docs.pdf Visit Conjecture Institute: https://www.conjectureinstitute.org/ Donate to Conjecture Institute: https://www.every.org/conjecture-institute-inc#/donate/card Follow Conjecture Institute on X: https://x.com/ConjectureInst

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