Martin Rees: If Science is to Save Us, Part 2
The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss
Lawrence M. Krauss
4.4 • 592 Ratings
🗓️ 9 June 2023
⏱️ 106 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This is part two of the second podcast dialogue we are airing with renowned astrophysicist, Astronomer Royal, and former President of the Royal Society, Lord Martin Rees. The first time I sat down with Martin for the Podcast we discussed his life in science, and topics ranging from the state of modern cosmology to the potential conflicts between science and religion (which he views as minimal, and I don’t). Martin’s thinking, and his expertise, go far beyond these topics however. Based on his experience at the Royal Society, as an elected member of the House of Lords, and working with the Center for Existential Risk at Cambridge, Martin has thought carefully about the challenges we face as a society in the 21st century, and how science can be marshaled to help us address these challenges. He has written a new book on the subject called If Science is to Save Us. I thought it would be useful and interesting to sit down with Martin to discuss the ideas he raises there, and our conversation turned out to be so wide-ranging that we are presenting it in two separate episodes of the podcast. I am sure you will find his thoughtful and incisive comments both provocative and inspiring. As always, I benefitted greatly from my conversation with him, and I hope you do as well.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi and welcome to the Orgence Podcast. |
| 0:10.0 | I'm your host Lawrence Krause. |
| 0:12.0 | I was lucky enough to have a conversation with my friend, the distinguished astrophysicist Lord Martin Rees, a few years ago on our podcast. |
| 0:20.0 | But he more recently came out with a very interesting book about saving the world with science. |
| 0:24.4 | And I thought it was a great opportunity to have him back to talk about the subjects in the book |
| 0:29.6 | and to have a wide-ranging conversation, far beyond astrophysics and its own background, |
| 0:34.6 | about the areas where science can impact on our lives and our future. |
| 0:41.3 | And it was, as always, a very informative and lively discussion. |
| 0:46.3 | He's a remarkable scholar, human being, and a real pleasure to talk to. |
| 0:50.3 | And I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. |
| 0:53.3 | And you can watch it ad-free on our Substack site if you're a substack subscriber to Critical Mass. And I hope you'll consider doing that because those funds support the Origins Project Foundation. If you're not a subscriber, you can watch it on YouTube eventually. If you're a subscriber to our YouTube channel or of course |
| 1:12.9 | listen to it on any podcast listening site no matter how you watch it or listen to |
| 1:17.5 | it I really hope you'll be informed and educated as much as I am every time I |
| 1:22.5 | talk to Martin Reese so enjoy this Origins podcast with Marguerese. |
| 1:38.5 | Let me just say first, thank you for coming back, Martin. |
| 1:40.1 | This has been a fascinating conversation. |
| 1:42.7 | I really think it's worth delving into, for the most part, |
| 1:43.8 | of the second half of your book. |
| 1:46.9 | It's about sort of the operation of science itself. |
| 1:50.9 | But I do want to touch on a few issues just before we do that on AI that you mentioned |
| 1:52.8 | that I think are intriguing. |
| 1:59.6 | You know, you do demonstrate as we have discussed that we both you and I think that |
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