Jennifer Nagel: Why Universal Skepticism Defeats Itself

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

Curt Jaimungal

Physics, Philosophy, Society & Culture, Science

4.6 • 606 Ratings

🗓️ 19 April 2025

⏱️ 158 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Philosopher Jennifer Nagel argues that universal skepticism is philosophy’s greatest deception, claiming that doubt is an illusion and knowledge is a primitive instant recognition. We explore the nature of knowledge, different forms of skepticism, the Gettier problem, and how these ideas relate to consciousness and free will.0:00 Introduction1:28 The Nature of Knowledge10:58 Philosophers and the Skeptical Mindset16:57 Types of Skepticism22:27 Exploring Knowledge Attribution29:51 The Illusion of Knowledge34:16 Knowing Without Knowing38:10 Writing About Knowledge46:10 Analyzing Knowledge55:08 The Gettier Problem and Its Challenges1:01:10 The Functionality of Knowledge1:11:23 Collaborative Understanding of Knowledge2:10:00 Understanding and Consciousness2:26:32 Truth and Its Nature2:32:16 Superposition and Contradictions2:32:19 ConclusionSPONSORS:- I personally subscribe to The Economist. TOE listeners get 35% off the annual subscription. No other podcast has this! https://economist.com/TOE- Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/SpotifyTOE- YouTube Membership: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdWIQh9DGG6uhJk8eyIFl1w/join- Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungalRESOURCES:- Knowledge: A Very Short Introduction (book): https://www.amazon.com/Knowledge-Very-Short-Introduction-Introductions/dp/019966126X- Knowledge and its Limits (book): https://www.amazon.ca/Knowledge-its-Limits-Timothy-Williamson/dp/019925656X- Time: A Very Short Introduction (book): https://www.amazon.ca/Time-Short-Introduction-Jenann-Ismael/dp/0198832664- Laplace meets Godel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB3tS7j7nNU- Flexible Goals (paper): https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/cogs.13195- The Legend of the Justified True Belief Analysis (paper): https://philpapers.org/archive/DUTTLO-3.pdf- Lay Denial of Knowledge for Justified True Beliefs (paper): https://philpapers.org/archive/NAGLDO- TOE’s Consciousness Iceberg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDjnEiys98o- Matt Segal on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeTm4fSXpbM- Curt reads Plato’s Cave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PurNlwnxwfY- David Bentley Hart on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEAgVvW9i10- Donald Hoffman on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmieNQH7Q4w&t=1s- Iain McGilchrist on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-SgOwc6Pe4&t=6326s&ab_channel=CurtJaimungal- Geoffrey Hinton on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_DUft-BdIE- John Vervaeke on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVj1KYGyesI&t=1s- Wolfgang Smith on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp18_L_y_30- Polymath’s Ai panel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abzXzPBW4_s- Donald Hoffman and Philip Goff on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmaIBxkqcT4- Robert Sapolsky on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0IqA1hYKY8&pp=ygUUY3VydCByb2JlcnQgc2Fwb2xza3k%3D- Curt debunks the “all possible paths” myth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcY3ZtgYis0&t=46s- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt- Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal features long-form, technically detailed interviews with leading researchers in physics, mathematics, consciousness, and philosophy, exploring topics at the level of active research. For academics, graduate students, and anyone seeking depth beyond popular science. FOLLOW: Substack | Spotify | YouTube | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You think you're watching a video, could just be dreaming. Is this even really happening?
0:04.0	There's all kinds of tactics you can put it in play. Start making you feel like, yeah, actually,
0:08.7	maybe I don't know anything. And that's very interesting. So there's this weird thing that
0:12.7	some philosophers are very drawn to the pattern of intuitions you get when you get really
0:16.7	self-conscious about knowing. If you see your friend across a crowded room, you almost instantly recognize them.
0:24.6	This is an effortless act of knowing.
0:26.6	However, if I challenged you by saying, hey, are you sure that it's them?
0:31.2	Couldn't it be a look-alike?
0:32.7	Et cetera, then your certainty may evaporate.
0:36.6	Professor Jennifer Nagel of the University of Toronto
0:39.1	argues that the boundary between knowing and not knowing
0:42.6	holds the key to understanding knowledge itself.
0:46.5	As much as we love to say in our society
0:48.7	that everything is an illusion,
0:50.6	that we can't know anything,
0:52.5	Professor Nagel's groundbreaking work argues that this universal
0:55.7	skepticism itself is the most pestiferous illusion. It's the illusion of illusion, in a sense.
1:02.9	Today we talk about the alternative picture. Knowledge is less like constructing a proof,
1:07.3	that's been the philosopher's game since Descartes, and more like instant recognition, a fundamental capacity.
1:14.0	Knowledge itself is primitive.
1:16.1	This has implications for your conception of self, free will, and consciousness, all of which we talk about today.
1:22.4	Enjoy.
	...

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