How Bad Math Spread to Physics & Beyond - Steve Patterson (DemystifySci +451)

Today we're talking with philosopher Steve Patterson about how a lack of conceptual clarity in the foundations of 20th century mathematics led to problems not only downstream of this in physics, but eventually feeding irrationalist movements in diverse disciplines. From points with no size summing to lines, to sets of infinite quantities, formalism traded truth for usefulness, and that habit was transferred onto everyone from quantum physicists to economists. Ultimately, tolerating contradictions has made it easy for people to accept that our ability to reason is itself broken. We don't think so and propose some courses of action to mitigate the crisis.Steve's website: https://steve-patterson.com/infinite-things-do-not-exist/PATREON https://www.patreon.com/c/demystifysciOUR BOOK, PARADOX LOST: https://demystifysci.com/paradoxlostHOMEBREW MUSIC :Vinyl: https://demystifysci-shop.fourthwall.com/products/vinyl-lp-secretary-of-nature-everything-is-so-good-hereStreaming: https://secretaryofnature.bandcamp.com/album/everything-is-so-good-herePARADIGM DRIFThttps://demystifysci.com/paradigm-drift-show00:00 Go! Why can physics calculate light but not explain it?00:04:16 Who convinced us that reason is broken?00:12:43 What gets lost when you turn the world into math?00:20:01 Does math discover anything, or just refine it?00:30:03 What happened when math lost its foundation?00:37:17 How does anything move if every step can be halved?00:47:03 Can a line be made of points with no size?00:58:02 Does 0.999… really equal 1?01:06:45 How did infinity get written into the rules?01:15:22 What changes if we give up infinity?01:24:23 Is reality smooth or pixelated?01:34:52 Can a rule make anything happen?01:45:37 What can you only see by zooming out? #Physics #Mathematics #quantum MERCH: Rock some DemystifySci gear : https://demystifysci-shop.fourthwall.com/AMAZON: Do your shopping through this link: https://amzn.to/3YyoT98DONATE: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaDSUBSTACK: https://substack.com/@UCqV4_7i9h1_V7hY48eZZSLw@demystifysci RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rssMAILING LIST: https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S SOCIAL: - Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySciMUSIC: -Shilo Delay: https://g.co/kgs/oty671

We're back to continue reading from our new book, Paradox Lost, where we examine the loss of material mediators in fundamental physics and then apply a simple set of axioms to imagine what the future of that abandoned physics might look like. Previously we introduced a material model of extended atomic architecture and used it to explain the basics of light transactions. This week, we get deeper into the specifics of light and see what it takes for light to interact with atoms. This requires us to think long and hard about the meaning of the critical term, photon.Order our new book, Paradox Lost: https://demystifysci.com/paradoxlost#Light #Photon #QuantumPhysics #QuantumMechanics #WaveParticleDuality #Electromagnetism #ParadoxLost PATREON https://www.patreon.com/c/demystifysciHOMEBREW MUSIC - Check out our new album!Hard Copies (Vinyl): FREE SHIPPING https://demystifysci-shop.fourthwall.com/products/vinyl-lp-secretary-of-nature-everything-is-so-good-hereStreaming:https://secretaryofnature.bandcamp.com/album/everything-is-so-good-herePARADIGM DRIFThttps://demystifysci.com/paradigm-drift-showMERCH: Rock some DemystifySci gear : https://demystifysci-shop.fourthwall.com/AMAZON: Do your shopping through this link: https://amzn.to/3YyoT98DONATE: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaDSUBSTACK: https://substack.com/@UCqV4_7i9h1_V7hY48eZZSLw@demystifysci RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rssMAILING LIST: https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S SOCIAL: - Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySciMUSIC: -Shilo Delay: https://g.co/kgs/oty671

Today we're joined by Dr. Brook Ziporyn, a scholar of Classical Chinese from the University of Chicago, and translator of Zhuangzi and the Daodejing. He makes the case that classical Chinese rescues us from the hard problem of consciousness where meaning comes from context and relation instead of isolation. Identity is carved out of an undivided whole, and what's cut away is devalued in the same stroke. This approach also feeds into a critique of the Western epistemological approach to the cosmos where a law that can't be wrong fuels a hidden patchwork program to protect itself.PATREON https://www.patreon.com/c/demystifysciOUR BOOK, PARADOX LOST: https://demystifysci.com/paradoxlostHOMEBREW MUSIC: Vinyl: https://demystifysci-shop.fourthwall.com/products/vinyl-lp-secretary-of-nature-everything-is-so-good-hereStreaming: https://secretaryofnature.bandcamp.com/album/everything-is-so-good-herePARADIGM DRIFThttps://demystifysci.com/paradigm-drift-show00:00 Go! Why Does Studying Something Require Removing It First?00:05:14 What Makes a Text Impossible to Translate the Same Way Twice?00:13:01 How Did an Atheist Text Acquire Gods?00:21:16 What Happens to a Word With No Tense and No Plural?00:30:08 Which Thoughts Are Uphill and Which Are Downhill?00:39:08 Why Do Mayan and Classical Chinese Line Up?00:47:00 When Is Ambiguity the Point Instead of the Failure?00:56:24 What Grows in a Tradition That Never Wrote Down Its Rules?01:03:20 What Do You Invent When the Law Cannot Be Wrong?01:07:05 Where Exactly Does the Inside Stop?01:17:39 Why Does the West Need Things to Be For Something?01:26:24 Can You Make Something Beautiful If You Know How It Ends?01:33:28 Who Designed the Sky?01:42:32 What Is Four Billion Years of Something Not Stopping?01:53:33 Do Equations Explain Anything or Just Describe It?02:02:32 What Did Atomism Have to Invent Nothing For?02:08:57 What Is Understanding Good For If It Is Good For Nothing? #Philosophy #ChinesePhilosophy #PhilosophyOfMind #Linguistics#Metaphysics #Zhuangzi #PhilosophyOfLanguageMERCH: Rock some DemystifySci gear : https://demystifysci-shop.fourthwall.com/AMAZON: Do your shopping through this link: https://amzn.to/3YyoT98DONATE: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaDSUBSTACK: https://substack.com/@UCqV4_7i9h1_V7hY48eZZSLw@demystifysci RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rssMAILING LIST: https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S SOCIAL: - Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySciMUSIC: -Shilo Delay: https://g.co/kgs/oty671

We're back to continue reading from our new book, Paradox Lost, where we are finally ready to talk about a mechanistic explanation for electromagnetic radiation - finally, we settle the question 'what is light, really?' To do this, we give physical form to the transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics and explain light as an interatomic handshake across physical, filamentary extensions, which interconnect atoms into an invisible, material web. This interpretation does not require new mathematics, but instead vanquishes the paradoxes implicit in the familiar spooky actions at a distance ossified into the standard canon.Order our new book, Paradox Lost: https://demystifysci.com/paradoxlost#Physics #Light #QuantumMechanics #Photon #Atoms #FilamentaryPhysics #ParadoxLost #DemystifySciPATREON https://www.patreon.com/c/demystifysciHOMEBREW MUSIC - Check out our new album!Hard Copies (Vinyl): FREE SHIPPING https://demystifysci-shop.fourthwall.com/products/vinyl-lp-secretary-of-nature-everything-is-so-good-hereStreaming:https://secretaryofnature.bandcamp.com/album/everything-is-so-good-herePARADIGM DRIFThttps://demystifysci.com/paradigm-drift-showMERCH: Rock some DemystifySci gear : https://demystifysci-shop.fourthwall.com/AMAZON: Do your shopping through this link: https://amzn.to/3YyoT98DONATE: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaDSUBSTACK: https://substack.com/@UCqV4_7i9h1_V7hY48eZZSLw@demystifysci RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rssMAILING LIST: https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S SOCIAL: - Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySciMUSIC: -Shilo Delay: https://g.co/kgs/oty671

DemystifySci is the place where we bring people together in search of the theories that will change the world, and Paradigm Drift is your chance to have a hand in that future. Theorists, randomly chosen, get 60 seconds to present their revolutionary idea... and then we see if it's gonna stand the test of time or if it's back into the tank for a little while longer.#ParadigmDrift, #FirstPrinciple, #FoundationalPhysics, #Quantum, #FreeWill, #Consciousness, #DarkMatter, #Cosmology, #IndependentThinkers, #physicspodcast, #openmic #philosophypodcast PARADIGM DRIFT SIGN UPShttps://demystifysci.com/paradigm-drift-showOUR BOOK, PARADOX LOST: https://demystifysci.com/paradoxlostPATREON https://www.patreon.com/c/demystifysciHOMEBREW MUSIC - Check out our new album!Hard Copies (Vinyl): FREE SHIPPING https://demystifysci-shop.fourthwall.com/products/vinyl-lp-secretary-of-nature-everything-is-so-good-hereStreaming:https://secretaryofnature.bandcamp.com/album/everything-is-so-good-hereMERCH: Rock some DemystifySci gear : https://demystifysci-shop.fourthwall.com/AMAZON: Do your shopping through this link: https://amzn.to/3YyoT98DONATE: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaDSUBSTACK: https://substack.com/@UCqV4_7i9h1_V7hY48eZZSLw@demystifysci RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rssMAILING LIST: https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S SOCIAL: - Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySciMUSIC: -Shilo Delay: https://g.co/kgs/oty671

This week we're bringing you along to the Yucatán where we investigate the rise and collapse of our nearest ancient civilization, the classic Mesoamerican Maya. We make the argument that each Maya city states ran on a deal between the people and their leaders, where the few promised defense, calendars, and above all - clean, fresh water in a land without rivers. Ultimately, each city didn't die so much as empty out, abandoned when their elite demanded payment without rendering said promised services. What emerges is a common failure mode, that points us toward scrutinizing the social contracts we observe in the modern world.PATREON https://www.patreon.com/c/demystifysciPARADOX LOST (Our Book): https://demystifysci.com/paradoxlostHOMEBREW MUSIC - Check out our new album!Hard Copies (Vinyl): FREE SHIPPING https://demystifysci-shop.fourthwall.com/products/vinyl-lp-secretary-of-nature-everything-is-so-good-hereStreaming:https://secretaryofnature.bandcamp.com/album/everything-is-so-good-herePARADIGM DRIFThttps://demystifysci.com/paradigm-drift-show00:00 Go! What does a civilization owe the people who build it?00:03:44 Why would anyone build cities in a place like this?00:10:50 How did a few people end up in charge of everyone?00:17:22 Why did the cities empty out at their peak?00:26:38 What knowledge did the elite actually hold?00:36:30 What was Chichen Itza built to do?00:42:22 Was the great ball court ever actually played?00:50:06 How much of what tourists hear is real?00:59:12 Who was pulling the strings between cities?01:10:08 What happens when the experts run out of answers?01:17:28 Did people still believe as the sacrifices grew?01:23:21 Who wins when priests and warriors collide?01:30:03 Did these cities grow, or were they planted?01:37:17 Was Chichen Itza founded or conquered?01:49:59 What did the collapse actually leave behind?01:58:44 Are we living out the same story now?02:10:16 Do today's elites still deserve their place? #maya #ancienthistory #archaeology #collapse MERCH: Rock some DemystifySci gear : https://demystifysci-shop.fourthwall.com/AMAZON: Do your shopping through this link: https://amzn.to/3YyoT98DONATE: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaDSUBSTACK: https://substack.com/@UCqV4_7i9h1_V7hY48eZZSLw@demystifysci RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rssMAILING LIST: https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S SOCIAL: - Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySciMUSIC: -Shilo Delay: https://g.co/kgs/oty671

This week we continue to read from our book, Paradox Lost, exploring the hidden meaning of the word "mass" in the Newtonian sense, and see how this maps onto modern usage of the word. We apply the material principles of natural philosophy to understand mass as a product of atomic architecture in networks of physically chained atoms, experiencing basic mechanical adhesion and, ultimately, cohesion.#Physics #Gravity #Inertia #Mass #Newton #Cosmology #ParadoxLostPre-order our upcoming book, Paradox Lost: https://demystifysci.com/paradoxlostPATREON https://www.patreon.com/c/demystifysciHOMEBREW MUSIC - Check out our new album!Hard Copies (Vinyl): FREE SHIPPING https://demystifysci-shop.fourthwall.com/products/vinyl-lp-secretary-of-nature-everything-is-so-good-hereStreaming:https://secretaryofnature.bandcamp.com/album/everything-is-so-good-herePARADIGM DRIFThttps://demystifysci.com/paradigm-drift-showMERCH: Rock some DemystifySci gear : https://demystifysci-shop.fourthwall.com/AMAZON: Do your shopping through this link: https://amzn.to/3YyoT98DONATE: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaDSUBSTACK: https://substack.com/@UCqV4_7i9h1_V7hY48eZZSLw@demystifysci RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rssMAILING LIST: https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S SOCIAL: - Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySciMUSIC: -Shilo Delay: https://g.co/kgs/oty671

Today we're joined by Arnaud Delorme, a computational neuroscientist at UCSD EEGLAB creator, and one of the most cited brainwave researchers, who is also fascinated by the emerging field of consciousness and parapsychology. Across a long career studying mediums, monks, and meditation, he's never claimed to have proven anything paranormal, but refuses to dismiss what the instrument actually records. Arnaud has sought evidence to support an antennae model of consciousness, and has stumbled upon at least one striking result when it comes to the strange brains of allegedly psychic mediums. We put his findings under the DemystifySci microscope. PATREON https://www.patreon.com/c/demystifysciPARADOX LOST PRE-SALE: https://buy.stripe.com/7sY7sKdoN5d29eUdYddEs0bHOMEBREW MUSIC - Check out our new album!Hard Copies (Vinyl): FREE SHIPPING https://demystifysci-shop.fourthwall.com/products/vinyl-lp-secretary-of-nature-everything-is-so-good-hereStreaming:https://secretaryofnature.bandcamp.com/album/everything-is-so-good-herePARADIGM DRIFThttps://demystifysci.com/paradigm-drift-show00:00 Go! Who Is Arnaud Delorme?00:03:46 What Deep Learning Still Can't Copy From the Brain00:14:16 What Meditation Made a Neuroscientist Question00:30:06 What an EEG Picks Up During a Reading00:36:57 Can Mediums Read Death From a Photo00:46:14 Why Won't These Effects Repeat00:55:22 Where Does Consciousness Actually Begin01:07:24 Is the Brain a Receiver, Not a Source01:22:29 Does Consciousness Do Anything at All01:31:40 What Delorme Is Testing Next #physics #philosophyofmind #consciousness MERCH: Rock some DemystifySci gear : https://demystifysci-shop.fourthwall.com/AMAZON: Do your shopping through this link: https://amzn.to/3YyoT98DONATE: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaDSUBSTACK: https://substack.com/@UCqV4_7i9h1_V7hY48eZZSLw@demystifysci RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rssMAILING LIST: https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S SOCIAL: - Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySciMUSIC: -Shilo Delay: https://g.co/kgs/oty671

This week we are broadcasting live from Mexico, on an unrelated assignment, and we continue our discussion of the material atom, reading from our upcoming book Paradox Lost. Picking up where we left off last week, we seek an explanation for electron guns like cathode ray tubes that doesn't involve the projectile action of electric particles. Instead we model the electron as circulation of atomic surface material, discussing electron beams as atom-to-atom propagation of this action.#physics #particlephysics #quantumphysics #paradoxlost Pre-order our upcoming book, Paradox Lost: https://buy.stripe.com/7sY7sKdoN5d29eUdYddEs0bPATREON https://www.patreon.com/c/demystifysciHOMEBREW MUSIC - Check out our new album!Hard Copies (Vinyl): FREE SHIPPING https://demystifysci-shop.fourthwall.com/products/vinyl-lp-secretary-of-nature-everything-is-so-good-hereStreaming:https://secretaryofnature.bandcamp.com/album/everything-is-so-good-herePARADIGM DRIFThttps://demystifysci.com/paradigm-drift-showMERCH: Rock some DemystifySci gear : https://demystifysci-shop.fourthwall.com/AMAZON: Do your shopping through this link: https://amzn.to/3YyoT98DONATE: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaDSUBSTACK: https://substack.com/@UCqV4_7i9h1_V7hY48eZZSLw@demystifysci RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rssMAILING LIST: https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S SOCIAL: - Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySciMUSIC: -Shilo Delay: https://g.co/kgs/oty671

This is part two from a recent conversation with Luke Kemp from Cambridge University's Centre for the Study of Existential Risk. In part one we asked what made humanity suddenly pivot to the nation-state all around the world at the cusp of the bronze age. In part two Kemp argues that colonial expansion stretched a single Goliath across the globe, and we now live in a single integrated system of finance, information, and military power. The deeper problem is not hierarchy itself but permanent, illegitimate dominance. What comes next isn't mere doom and gloom. It's already being tested in fragments: sortition and citizens' assemblies that separate decisions from wealth, benefit corporations, decentralized projects that outperform funded hierarchies, and power split across politics, money, information, and force so that no single domain can capture the rest.Part one: https://youtu.be/rTwRXy_-pZQPATREON https://www.patreon.com/c/demystifysciPARADOX LOST PRE-SALE: https://buy.stripe.com/7sY7sKdoN5d29eUdYddEs0bHOMEBREW MUSIC - Check out our new album!Hard Copies (Vinyl): FREE SHIPPING https://demystifysci-shop.fourthwall.com/products/vinyl-lp-secretary-of-nature-everything-is-so-good-hereStreaming:https://secretaryofnature.bandcamp.com/album/everything-is-so-good-herePARADIGM DRIFThttps://demystifysci.com/paradigm-drift-show00:00 Go! How Empire Reaches the Present Day03:39 Why Violence Fell as the Stakes Rose08:13 How Close We Came to Nuclear War15:03 Why Global Rules Have No Teeth17:49 Do We Already Live Under One Empire?21:19 How Corporations Became a New Power32:26 How Corporate and State Power Fuse41:27 What Power Does to People46:21 Could Random Citizens Govern Better?54:27 Who Actually Deserves to Lead1:05:21 How Inequality Breaks Democracy1:09:00 Can a Company Serve More Than Profit?1:16:09 Why Fear Keeps Choosing Strongmen1:18:00 What Comes After Empire1:24:40 Should Citizens Decide the Biggest Risks? #economics #politicalphilosophy #historyMERCH: Rock some DemystifySci gear : https://demystifysci-shop.fourthwall.com/AMAZON: Do your shopping through this link: https://amzn.to/3YyoT98DONATE: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaDSUBSTACK: https://substack.com/@UCqV4_7i9h1_V7hY48eZZSLw@demystifysci RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rssMAILING LIST: https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S SOCIAL: - Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySciMUSIC: -Shilo Delay: https://g.co/kgs/oty671