Are Flukes Actually the Norm?

Inquiring Minds

Science, Society & Culture, Neuroscience, Female Host, Interview, Social Sciences, Critical Thinking

4.4 • 848 Ratings

🗓️ 15 April 2024

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Indre examines the realm of randomness and its undeniable sway over our lives and the fabric of society, as she welcomes global politics luminary, Brian Klaas, to the podcast today. An Associate Professor in Global Politics at University College London, affiliate researcher at the University of Oxford, contributing writer for The Atlantic, creator of the award-winning Power Corrupts Podcast, and prolific author, Brian shares details from his most recent publication, FLUKE: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters. In doing so, he unravels the conventional tapestry of predictability, highlighting the omnipresence of chance in dictating the courses of personal lives, scientific endeavors, and political landscapes. Today’s episode not only shatters the illusion of control fostered by historical data but also prompts a profound reevaluation of the role randomness plays in the intricacies of artificial intelligence, the methodologies of scientific research, and the foundations of political science. Links: Inquiring Minds Homepage: https://inquiring.show/ Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information Get to know more about Brian and his work: https://brianpklaas.com/

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You and Betty and the Nancy's and Bill's and Joes and Jane's will find in the study of science a richer, more rewarding life.
0:10.7	Hey, welcome to Inquiring Minds. I'm Indrae Viscontas. This is a podcast where we explore the space where science and society collide.
0:18.7	We want to find out what's true, what's left to discover, and why it
0:22.2	matters. Have you ever thought about the pivot points in your life where a seemingly
0:34.7	happenstance incident changed the trajectory of your career, your love life,
0:40.1	your finances? We all have these moments, some of them devastating, others extremely lucky,
0:47.0	and having a positive effect on us. But we relegate them to flukes, random events that because of
0:52.7	their unpredictability have no place in our future planning. But what if the flukes, random events that because of their unpredictability have no place in our future
0:55.7	planning. But what if the flukes are actually the norm? What if our lives are directed more by the
1:01.9	small chance events than the historical patterns we're so keen on relying on to make decisions
1:07.5	about our future? What does that mean for AI, trained on historical data?
1:12.6	And science in general, but political science in particular.
1:16.4	This week, I talked to Brian Klaus, who earned his PhD at Oxford
1:19.6	and is now a professor of global politics at University College, London.
1:24.1	He hosts the Power Corrupts podcast and has advised major politicians and organizations like NATO and the European Union.
1:32.1	His book, Fluke, makes the case for why we need to consider chance, chaos, and why everything we do matters.
1:42.3	Brian Klaus, welcome to Inquiring Minds.
1:44.8	That's great to be here. Thanks for having me on the show.
1:46.5	Your book is super interesting and it's written in a way that you know, you've got all these
1:51.1	amazing stories, ones that make you kind of sit up and think, wow, is the world really that
1:56.2	random? And one of the things that I'm struggling with is how to put all of this new information together
2:02.5	in a way that can help me make decisions in my life or even how to think about life.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Inquiring Minds, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Inquiring Minds and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.