261. Jim Al-Khalili on the Joy of Science
The Michael Shermer Show
Michael Shermer
4.4 • 921 Ratings
🗓️ 9 April 2022
⏱️ 103 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this conversation with quantum physicist, New York Times bestselling author, and BBC host Jim Al-Khalili reveals how 8 lessons from the heart of science can help us all get the most out of our lives.
Today’s world is unpredictable and full of contradictions, and navigating its complexities while trying to make the best decisions is far from easy. In this brief guide to leading a more rational life, acclaimed physicist Jim Al-Khalili invites readers to engage with the world as scientists have been trained to do. The scientific method has served humankind well in its quest to see things as they really are, and underpinning the scientific method are core principles that can help us all navigate modern life more confidently. Discussing the nature of truth and uncertainty, the role of doubt, the pros and cons of simplification, the value of guarding against bias, the importance of evidence-based thinking, and more, Al-Khalili shows how the powerful ideas at the heart of the scientific method are deeply relevant to the complicated times we live in and the difficult choices we make.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to the Michael Sherman Shower Show. |
| 0:28.0 | Welcome to the Michael Sherman Show. I'm your host, Michael Sherman. My guest today is Jim Ahalili. You know him from many BBC documentaries on physics and astronomy, cosmology, all the great big questions regarding the physical world. |
| 0:30.6 | Jim is the distinguished professor of theoretical physics at the University of Surrey, |
| 0:36.0 | and one of Britain's best known science communicators. |
| 0:40.0 | He's written numerous books including The World According to Physics, Quantum A Guide for the Perplexed, |
| 0:48.0 | good title because it is Perplexing, and Life on the Edge, The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology. |
| 0:57.0 | Jim is a fellow of the Royal Society, and he lives in South Sea England. |
| 1:02.0 | In this conversation about his new book again it's called |
| 1:05.4 | the Joy of Science it's a nice little short introduction to science the |
| 1:11.1 | scientific method how scientists like he think about science and what it does and how it's different. |
| 1:19.0 | And this takes us into our conversation from pseudoscience. |
| 1:23.2 | Of course, these are topics I'm interested in, |
| 1:25.4 | the demarcation line between science and pseudoscience |
| 1:28.0 | who decides what that is, how does science work anyway, |
| 1:31.6 | why isn't it enough to have a single study published in a respected |
| 1:37.0 | peer review journal? Why can't that overturn the accepted theory, which is what we often see being claimed. |
| 1:44.4 | But it rarely happens because it's not that simple. |
| 1:47.6 | So we do discuss the replication crisis in science |
| 1:50.5 | and what is |
| 1:54.0 | we tackle some of the big questions like what is gravity is the universe |
| 1:58.9 | mathematical are we living in a simulation? Is there a place for God in scientific epistemology? |
| 2:08.8 | Why is there something rather than nothing? |
... |
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