Unmaking Sense

Episode 10.18: The central role of randomness in quantum mechanics, and how it destroys determinism.

What is randomness? Gregory Chaitin’s misconception. Lev Shestov and the Medusa-like power we confer on the past when we allow it to control us. But randomness is no friend of freedom, just a final refutation of determinism.

Episode 10.17: What happens to all the possible quantum paths? The Everett multi-world hypothesis.

Suppose we see a classical trajectory such as Russo’s decisive goal for the England women’s team against Colombia; what happens to all the other possible quantum paths that could have been realised, such as when the goal is not scored? Everett’s multi-world hypothesis: they all arise; just not for us. Parallels with the Anthropic Principle.

Episode 10.16: We use some speculations on the Higgs Field as examples of iterative understanding.

This episode experiments with a way to think of the non-zero energy of the Higgs Field as an example, however mistaken, of how to start to grapple with alien concepts and ideas.

Episode 10.15: Even in mathematics there may be emergent, evolved habits that lead to misconceptions

Because everything emerges and evolves, there is always a need to reconsider, revise, reconceptualise, and this is true even with things as familiar as mathematics and natural language.

Episode 10.14: we extend the notion of physics as a language by considering the Hamiltonian.

By translating freely between physical concepts and symbols and models and everyday reality we discover new ways to think about the world with far-reaching implications for science and mathematics. Schrödinger’s Equation as a natural formulation of a new kind of reality.

Episode 10.13: Learning to speak the language of physics using the Lagrangian as example.

People fluent in the language of physics speak it the way everyone else speaks a native language. They don’t necessarily do calculations, and often can’t; they just use the notation as a convenient shorthand to communicate about physical models of reality.

Episode 10.12: If we accept and use whole systems of ideas, how do we proceed when we can’t go on?

Those who can “just do things” may seem blessed, but if they have never had to learn to learn, how do they know what to do “when they can’t go on”?

Episode 10.11: How slow learners build understanding by painstakingly fitting the pieces together.

Other learners proceed more slowly: they love examples; they ask questions; they worry about things they don’t understand; they are always asking themselves whether they understand something well enough to explain it to someone who doesn’t; in other words, whether they could teach it.

Episode 10.10: The emergent theme of series 10 becomes clearer. Two types of learner: fast and slow.

We explore the first of two general ways in which people learn. Here, those who grasp ideas as a whole without having to wade through preliminary preparatory example and so, having never had to learn to learn, should not be allowed to teach. They deeply believe that it is not worth explaining anything to someone who needs it explaining. Universities are full of them.

Episode 10.09: Unmaking Sense: the challenges involved in changing how we think of human existence.

We recapitulate the story so far in Series 10 and to some extent the whole if this podcast: just as in physics and biology, in religion and philosophy we have had to come to terms with the need to change our minds, so we need to change our understanding of human thriving and our understanding of understanding.