Ponderings of science, philosophy, history, society, and many other topics
This week I saw the second part of Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of Dune. You've probably seen the glowing recommendations. I'll confirm that the movie is very good, a visually stunning experience. I certainly think it cements Villeneuve's adaptation as the definitive cinematic treatment of Frank Herbert's novel. I recommend seeing it, although it's worth first … Continue reading Dune: Part Two
Yesterday I watched the live action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Live action remakes of anime (or anime inspired) shows has been a dodgy proposition over the years, with the 2010 attempt for this franchise being a stark example. I actually enjoy most of them, but historically I'm an outlier. (I should note that … Continue reading Avatar: The Last Airbender: the live actioning
SMBC on how to get access to the secrets of reality. Click through for source and red button caption: https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/secrets-2 I guess this is philosophical comic sharing week for me. Somewhat related, I've been slowly working my way through Sean Carroll's The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: space, time, and motion. I know a lot … Continue reading How to study reality
What is the difference between magic and science? It's been a while since I shared an Existential Comic. This one gets at a question we've discussed before, although it's been several years. What exactly is the distinction between the physical and non-physical, in this case between science and magic? Credit: https://existentialcomics.com/comic/537 Corey Mohler, the author, has a … Continue reading Existential Comics: the philosophy of magic
I think the reasons someone reaches a conclusion are at least as important as the conclusion itself. Recently someone I know changed their mind about a topic. Where they had previously disagreed with me on something, they now agree. Which was great, except, I found their reasons for the change problematic. It reminded me that I often have … Continue reading Reasons and conclusions
It seems like theories that are causally complete are better than ones with gaps. In thinking about this, I'm reminded of a Psyche article I shared a few years ago on fostering an open mind. One of their pieces of advice resonates with an outlook I've had for some time. If embarking on a full-on explanation … Continue reading Causal completeness
Cosmic voids may cause dark energy, or at least provide an explanation for the Hubble tension. A team of Iranian scientists have proposed that dark energy may not be something inherent to space itself, but the result of cosmic voids, vast regions of the universe between galactic superclusters and filaments with relatively little matter. Paul … Continue reading Cosmic voids and dark energy
The Everett theory of quantum mechanics is testable in ways most people don't realize. Before getting into how or why, I think it's important to deal with a long standing issue. Everettian theory is more commonly known as the "many worlds interpretation", a name I use myself all the time. But what's often lost in the discussion … Continue reading Testing Everettian quantum mechanics
The podcast: Tales From the Bridge: All Things Sci-fi is worth checking out. I listen to a lot of podcasts. They're handy for keeping the mind occupied on daily walks. Most of these are science and philosophy shows. But as an aspiring writer, I also listen to writing podcasts. Among them are Writing Excuses, a group of … Continue reading Tales From the Bridge
Are quantum states and the overall wave function real? Or merely a useful prediction tool? The mystery of quantum mechanics is that quantum objects, like electrons and photons, seem to move like waves, until they're measured, then appear as localized particles. This is known as the measurement problem. The wave function is a mathematical tool for modeling, … Continue reading Those inconvenient quantum interference patterns
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