Bad Philosophy

Monotheistic belief continues to dominate Western culture, but that dominance has diminished appreciably in the last few decades. What forces compel contemporary Christians to question their beliefs? Is the transition smooth or rough, rapid or drawn out? How does it feel to “deconvert?” This week I welcomed local writer Jon Fortenbury, who provided us a glimpse into his own personal journey from Christianity through periods of doubt, atheism, agnosticism, and beyond. Enjoy!

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Note 1: Based on listener feedback, we’ve returned to using a mono audio mix this episode. Happy listening!

Note 2: I misattributed the “First Mover” argument to St. Anselm. It was actually advanced by St. Thomas Aquinas. Anselm’s was a version of the Ontological argument.

Show Notes
JonFortenbury.com
The End of Faith, by Sam Harris
The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins
God is Not Great, by Christopher Hitchens
Cosmological argument

This Week’s Postshow Song Pimpage
“Jesus Christ” by Brand New

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agnosticism, Anselm's Argument, AOL, atheism, Austin, Christianity, cosmological argument, doubt, God, Internet Archive, Jesus, Jon Fortenbury, Las Vegas, Letters to a Christian Nation, LSD, miracles, MythBusters, New York, Reno, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, spirituality, Stephen, the Bible

Let’s be honest, it feels really good to be right, to be correct, to stand on an epistemic foundation and know that no matter what, no one can come along and challenge the rock-solidity of that foundation. But… what if we could be wrong about that? What if we could be wrong about a lot of things? What if we could even be wrong even about these foundations, these necessary truths, these infallible wells of knowledge? Joining me to discuss this philosophical realm, known as fallibilism, is Dr. Mark Webb, all the way from Seville, Spain! Oh, and Kevin, because Kevin. We could be wrong, but we think you’ll really love this episode.

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Show Notes:

Fallibilism – Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
XKCD – Map Projections
The Grammar of Meaning – Amazon
“The Power of ‘I Don’t Know'” by Tim Kreider – NY Times

This Week’s Post-show Song Pimpage:

Community – The DJ Steve Porter Remix!

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business, cartography, Dr. Webb, education, empiricism, epistemology, Eric Ries, fallibilism, FOX News, Graham Priest, Guide to Online Schools, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, John Hawthorne, John Maynard Keynes, Kevin, navigation, Pittsburgh University, poststructuralism, prostitution, religion, skepticism, Spain, Spanish, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stephen, Texas Tech University, The Grammar of Meaning, The Lean Startup, The West Wing, Tim Kreider, Total Recall, uncertainty, William Sellers

Our world is complex! What a no-brainer, right? Turns out we haven’t always thought about it quite this way, though, and many of us still tend to want to simplify the world, especially around the tried-and-true model of the tree. How does thinking about the world this way bias us? What can we learn from a complex, network model of the world? What does complexity have to do with intelligence? And most importantly, why the hell do we put pants on in the morning? This episode Kevin, John Elliot, Numero Uno Fanboy Matt Epperson, and I explore these questions, prompted mainly by the works of Manuel Lima. Have a listen!

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This Week’s Postshow Song Pimpage:
“Monkeys in Space” by Billy Childish and Sexton Ming

Show Notes:
Manuel Lima – “The Power of Networks” (RSA Animate)
Manuel Lima – “The Power of Networks” (full original talk)
Visual Complexity: Mapping Patterns of Information (Amazon)
VisualComplexity.com
“1491” by Charles C. Mann
“Visualizing my Facebook Network” by Stephen Torrence
Amazon’s $23,698,655.93 book about flies

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Amazon, Amsterdam, Anatta, brain, Buddhism, Charles C. Mann, complex networks, complexity, connectome, consciousness, cyborgs, data, data visualization, dialup, Dunbar's Number, education, emergence, Facebook, functionalism, Google Fiber, identity, Inca, individualism, intelligence, Janet Jackson, John Elliott, Kevin, Leonhard Euler, Manuel Lima, Matt Epperson, memory, Monkeysphere, network visualization, New Hampshire, philosophy of mind, rhizome, Royal Society of the Arts, self-awareness, SkyNet, Star Wars, Stephen, stock market, The Internet, The Power of Networks, Traveling Salesman Problem, trees, Visual Complexity

About two years ago we discussed the whole Bitcoin thing, and once again it’s back in the news, for better and worse. The misconceptions, positive and negative, around this strange new form of value exchange seem to multiply without end. To get our heads around this once again, Kevin and I were joined by good friend Simon Ponder to dive into the topic. Have we finally become Beliebers in Bitcoin? Have a listen and find out!

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This Week’s Post-show Song Pimpage:
Metalocalypse – Rock & Roll Clown

Show Notes:

• The bitcoin bubble
• BitCon: Don’t
• Bruce Sterling’s closing SXSW keynote: disruption and destruction
• Episode 088: Some People Talking About Bitcoin
• Where to Spend Your Bitcoins
• CryptoAnarchy
• Hacker steals $250k in Bitcoins from online exchange Bitfloor
• Winklevoss twins back bitcoin as bubble bursts
• Justin Bieber Hopes Anne Frank Would Have Been a ‘Belieber’

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Bitcoin, Boston Marathon bombing, Carlos Arredondo, cocaine, currency, Dot Com bubble, drugs, economics, fiat currency, gambling, Kevin, Lindon Dollars, PBS Idea Channel, ponzi scheme, Prague, real estate bubble, Satoshi Nakamoto, Scotland, Second Life, Silk Road, Simon, speculation, Stephen, The Love Guru, Val Kilmer, value, Yap