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Skeptic » Science Salon » Science Salon Archives

Science Salon Science Salon Archives
 Released September 11, 2018

In this deep dive into the history of science and war, and the strange but productive alliances that have been formed over the centuries—particularly those between astrophysicists and politicians, governments, military, and corporations—Neil deGrasse Tyson and Michael Shermer cover centuries of history and the many facets of science policy that have brought us to the modern world of space telescopes, GPS, and the Internet, along with guided missiles, nuclear weapons, and smart bombs delivered by drones. The conversation focuses primarily on Tyson’s new book, Accessory to War, co-authored with his long-time Natural History editor Avis Lang, which is a serious scholarly work on a monumentally influential topic. Shermer also challenges Tyson on the relationship between resource scarcity and war, and when scientists like Werner von Braun and Edward Teller go too far in developing weapons of mass destruction, when “scientists know sin.” Tyson is at his best when pushed to go deep on serious subjects like these. Don’t miss this fascinating discussion.

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist, author, and the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York City. He is the host of the Cosmos television documentary series, and of his wildly popular Startalk podcast and National Geographic television show. His books include Death by Black Hole, Origins, The Sky is Not the Limit, The Pluto Files, Space Chronicles, and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, which has been on the New York Times bestseller list for 67 weeks.

This remote Science Salon was recorded on September 5, 2018.

Tags: alliances, astrophysics, military, nuclear weapons, science, Science Salon, technology, war
 

Dr. Jonathan Haidt is Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University’s Stern School of Business. He is a social psychologist whose field is moral psychology. He is the author of The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom and The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion.

This remote Science Salon was recorded on August 27, 2018.

Tags: psychology, Science Salon
 In her new book, The Influential Mind, neuroscientist Tali Sharot takes readers on a thrilling exploration of the nature of influence, so she and Shermer start the conversation by discussing how we can influence, for example, climate deniers to accept climate science, anti-vaxxers to accept vaccines, and creationists to accept evolution. As Sharot shows in her research, merely presenting people with the facts will not change their minds. There are other forces at work, which she reveals in this conversation and in more depth in her book. It turns out, for example, that many of our instincts—from relying on facts and figures to shape opinions, to insisting others are wrong or attempting to exert control—are ineffective, because they are incompatible with how people’s minds operate. Sharot shows us how to avoid these pitfalls, and how an attempt to change beliefs and actions is successful when it is well-matched with the core elements that govern the human brain. Sharot reveals the critical role of emotion in influence, the weakness of data and the power of curiosity. Relying on the latest research in neuroscience, behavioral economics and psychology, she provides fascinating insight into the complex power of influence, good and bad. Since she grew up in Israel, she and Shermer discuss the role of religion in terrorism and politics along with health and happiness.

Tali Sharot is a Professor of cognitive Neuroscience at University College London where she directs the Affective Brain Lab. She combines research in psychology, behavioural economics and neuroscience to reveal the forces that shape our decisions and beliefs. Dr. Sharot is the author of The Influential Mind and The Optimism Bias. Her papers have been published in top scientific journals including Nature, Science and Nature Neuroscience. This work has been the subject of features in many outlets including the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, the BBC and others. She has also written essays for Time (cover story), the New York Times, the Guardian among others. She was a speaker at TED’s annual conference 2012 and a British Academy and Wellcome Trust fellow. She received her Ph.D from New York University.

This remote Science Salon was recorded in audio format only on August 17, 2018.

Tags: influence, persuasion, Science Salon


Colin McGinn — Paradoxes, Puzzles, and Philosophy


If you missed it, listen to part 1 of this dialogue with Colin McGinn: Mysterianism, Consciousness, Free Will, and God (Science Salon # 29). You may also wish to read McGinn’s illuminating thought experiment essay “What is it like to be a human?” which was written to help clarify what, exactly, Thomas Nagel meant in his famous paper “What Is It Like to be a Bat?”

This remote Science Salon was recorded on July 20, 2018.

Tags: antirealism, determinism, free will, interrogative closure, mystery, paradoxes, philosophy, pseudoquestions, puzzles, Science Salon, unknown
 

As well, Quammen and Shermer discuss how molecular studies of evolution have brought startling recognitions about the tangled tree of life—including where we humans fit upon it. Thanks to new technologies such as CRISPR, we now have the ability to alter even our genetic composition—through sideways insertions, as nature has long been doing. They consider the ethical issues involved in bringing back extinct species, the meaning of the “self” if we are actually mosaics of different species, and the trans-humanist dream of re-engineering the human genome so our species can become post-human.

David Quammen is the author of a dozen fiction and nonfiction books, including Blood Line and The Song of the Dodo. His book Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic was a finalist for seven awards and received two of them: the Science and Society Book Award, given by the National Association of Science Writers, and the Society of Biology (UK) Book Award in General Biology. A three-time National Magazine Award winner, he is a contributing writer for National Geographic and has written also for Harper’s, Outside, Esquire, The Atlantic, Powder, and Rolling Stone. He received honorary doctorates from Montana State University and Colorado College. He travels widely on assignment, usually to jungles, mountains, remote islands, and swamps.

This remote Science Salon was recorded on August 2, 2018.

Tags: biology, DNA, evolution, genetics, genome, horizontal gene transfer, Science Salon


Nina Teicholz — The Big Fat Surprise About Diet and Nutrition
 

This remote Science Salon was recorded on July 19, 2018.

Tags: cholesterol, diet, nutrition, saturated fats, Science Salon
 

Shermer and Alkon also get into the #metoo movement, evolutionary psychology, politics, depression, suicide, Jordan Peterson, and other fascinating topics.

This remote Science Salon was recorded on July 5, 2018.

Tags: brain, depression, Jordan Peterson, metoo, science, Science Salon, self help, suicide, willpower


Dr. Ralph Lewis — Finding Meaning in a Meaningless Universe
 

This remote Science Salon was recorded on July 2, 2018.

Tags: consciousness, death, meaning, morality, purpose, religion, Science Salon, secularism


Colin McGinn — Mysterianism, Consciousness, Free Will, and God


This remote Science Salon, recorded on July 9, 2018, was initiated after McGinn commented publicly, and critically, on Shermer’s latest Scientific American column on the mysteries of consciousness, free will, and God.


In an illuminating thought experiment that supplements Science Salon # 29, McGinn penned an essay (“What is it like to be a human?”) to help clarify what, exactly, Thomas Nagel meant in his famous paper “What Is It Like to be a Bat?”

In their second conversation (Science Salon # 34), Michael Shermer and Colin McGinn discuss paradoxes and puzzles of philosophy, pseudo-questions, realism v. antirealism, how to deal with unknown unknowns, immortality and the nature of the self and soul.

Tags: consciousness, free will, God, Science Salon


Dr. Michael Shermer — Ask Me Anything # 1



Tags: AMA, Science Salon