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Arts & Ideas

Self Knowledge, Global Catastrophe and Simulated Worlds

Arts & Ideas

BBC

Society & Culture

4.2598 Ratings

🗓️ 7 February 2019

⏱️ 47 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Self-knowledge, intellectual vices & conspiracy theories are debated by Professor Quassim Cassam and presenter Matthew Sweet. Plus New Generation Thinker Simon Beard discusses an exhibition of artwork commissioned by the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Existential Risk. And a re-release of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 1973 sci-fi TV series Wire World on a Wire takes us into cybernetics and artificial life.

Quassim Cassam's new book is called Vices of the Mind. Ground Zero Earth curated by Yasmine Rix runs at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk February 15th - March 22nd 2019.

Producer: Debbie Kilbride

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Welcome back to the home of the oxymoron. Evil genius. He asked the newspaper to print his obituary early so he'd enjoy it. That's like hiding at your own funeral. Yeah, a big, great gig. I'm Russell Kane. Join me to weigh in on whether the biggest players in history are more evil or genius. Becoming that rich, I'd say that is some level of genius. It also helps that it's a long time ago, right?

0:23.3

It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream van plays music

0:27.0

when it's out of ice cream.

0:28.8

Listen to evil genius on BBC Sounds.

0:33.3

BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.

0:37.2

So, you've succumbed.

0:39.2

You heard the Arts and Ideas podcast calling to you, like that pie in the fridge.

0:44.6

Well, my name's Matthew Sweet, and I'm here to tell you that really there's no need to feel guilty.

0:50.2

Give in to your desires.

0:51.9

We all need ideas.

0:53.3

We all need the arts. And you're going to get them right here, right now, after this short message.

1:00.2

It's amazing how many recordings you can find these days of a favourite piece of classical music.

1:05.7

Hundreds of Beethoven symphonies, Mozart concertos, Schubert sonatas or Verdi operas. So wouldn't it be

1:12.1

great to have someone to help you pick the very best? Consider it done. I'm Andrew McGregor from BBC Radio

1:18.4

3's record review. Just download our podcast and one of our expert Building a Library reviewers will

1:24.3

guide you through a great piece of music, comparing recordings, choosing the finest performances.

1:30.1

The Building a Library podcast from Record Review. Subscribe now on BBC Sounds.

1:35.6

Do we live in a computer simulation? There's an easy answer to this. It's impossible to disprove.

1:41.5

So if something strange happens, if you hear a weird, wobbly sound

1:46.3

like this, and I suddenly say, my name's Anita Dobson, and I love you, you'd have to make some

1:54.1

kind of probability calculation to decide whether this was a glitch in the matrix or just, you know,

1:59.4

some foolishness.

...

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