Conjecture Institute

Constructor Theory, Module 0: Bad Arguments Against New Science

The scope of a scientific theory is not a matter of subjective preference, and that judging a theory by its scope is a mistake. Judging a scientific theory by its structure—for example, whether or not it consists of algebraic equations and dynamical laws of motion—is also a mistake. Absent a good explanation for why a given theory’s scope is too great, or why a given theory’s structure renders it inviable, it is irrational to dismiss a theory just because its scope or structure does not meet your preferences.
 
Read: https://www.conjectureinstitute.org/courses/constructor-theory/Logan%20Constructor%20Theory%20Module%200%20-%20Google%20Docs.pdf
 
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People, Reason, & Reality Part I: Reason, Module 4: Criticism Along Philosophy's Three Branches

Philosophy is often divided into three branches: metaphysics or ontology (what is existence, why do reality’s constituent parts behave the way they do, what constrains and explains Nature’s regularities), epistemology (how knowledge grows, how people come to know what we think we know), and morality (what one should and should not do, how to choose some values over others).
 
Read: https://www.conjectureinstitute.org/courses/people-reason-reality/Logan%20-%20Reason%20Module%204%20-%20Google%20Docs.pdf
 
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People, Reason, & Reality Part I: Reason, Module 3: Explanations: Good, Bad, & Constrained

A good explanation is not only hard to vary, but it must also cohere with the rest of our explanations and actually explain what we are trying to explain.
 
These three constraints imply that the search for good explanations will always be nontrivial. In fact, the deeper our explanations of the world, the more constrained the space of good explanations becomes
 
Read: https://www.conjectureinstitute.org/courses/people-reason-reality/Logan%20-%20Reason%20Module%203%20-%20Google%20Docs.pdf
 
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People, Reason, & Reality Part I: Reason, Module 2: The Real Role of Evidence

Evidence-based anything is an illusion. There is no evidence-based science, evidence-based policy, evidence-based argument (see this very paragraph).
 
In reality, a mind first guesses—conjectures—an idea. This could be a scientific idea, a moral idea, an economic idea, a political idea, an idea about beauty—anything.
 
One then criticizes it: is it internally consistent? Does it cohere with our other ideas about how the world works? Is it arbitrary? Is it consistent with our observations?
 
Read: https://www.conjectureinstitute.org/courses/people-reason-reality/Logan%20%E2%80%93%20Reason%20Module%202%20-%20Google%20Docs.pdf
 
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Taking Schrödinger Seriously, Module 1: What Is the Schrödinger Equation?

Taking Schrödinger Seriously, Module 1: What Is the Schrödinger Equation?, by Conjecture Institute Fellow Maxime Desalle
 
By the end of this module, you will be able to:
-Identify each symbol in the Schrödinger equation and explain what it represents,
-Describe what the wave function is and why it must be complex (here, complex
means ‘having both real and imaginary components’),
-Explain why the equation uses only the first derivative of Ψ, and what this implies
about determinism,
-Read the Hamiltonian as a specification of what physical situation the system is
in, and
-Articulate what the equation says, and what it does not say.
 
Read: https://www.conjectureinstitute.org/courses/schrodinger/Maxime%20Module%201.pdf
 
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People, Reason, & Reality Part I: Reason: Module 1: The Paths to Adopting an Idea

People, Reason, & Reality Part I: Reason: Module 1: The Paths to Adopting an Idea, by Conjecture Institute President Logan Chipkin
 
The relationships between errors, problem solving, thinking, and rationality are not as straightforward as common sense might suggest.
 
Read: https://www.conjectureinstitute.org/courses/people-reason-reality/Logan%20%E2%80%93%20Reason%20Module%201%20-%20Google%20Docs.pdf
 
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Ep 13: Chiara Marletto

Conjecture Institute President & Cofounder Logan Chipkin speaks with Oxford physicist and Conjecture Institute Senior Scientist Chiara Marletto about constructor theory, a theory in fundamental physics that seeks to express all of the laws of physics in terms of transformations that are possible, transformations that are impossible, and why.
Logan and Chiara discuss constructor theory’s motivations, its basic structure, and its applications to the physics of information, time, probability, quantum gravity, and other areas.
Visit Chiara’s website: https://www.chiaramarletto.com
Learn more about constructor theory: https://www.constructortheory.org
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Ep 12: Lord Daniel Hannan

Conjecture Institute Advisor, Lord Daniel Hannan is in conversation today about democracy, free trade and freedom broadly. Lord Hannan has a comprehensive website containing his work which is found at https://danielhannan.info/ while his Youtube channel is a catalogue of speeches, talks, interviews, lectures and more defending the ideas and ideals of the Enlightenment and Western Civilization.
Chapters/Timestamps are below
00:00 Introduction
00:04 Preview
00:56 Introduction to Lord Hannan
01:29 Upper Houses and the functions of a Parliament.
09:21 Democracy and the EU Parliament
17:19 “The Will of the People” and referenda.
23:47 The English vs Spanish “Western” civilisations” and political stability. 29:00 The Invention of Freedom and Resource Extraction
37:31 Climate Change, Net Zero and Politics
39:53 Doomerism, Regulation and Social Control.
43:39: Lord Hannan on Nick Bostrom, Techno-Pessimism and AI
45:47 Existential Risk, Property Rights, Wealth
49:56 Common Law, Property Rights and Conservationism
52:12 Free speech and The First Amendment

Ep 11: Maria Violaris

Maria is fellow of Conjecture Institute https://www.conjectureinstitute.org/ and physicist with her own Youtube Channel where she takes deep dives into many aspects of quantum theory - especially quantum computation. Subscribe to her channel here:    / @maria_violaris  

Ep 10: Vlatko Vedral

Oxford physicist Vlatko Vedral speaks with Conjecture Institute President Logan Chipkin about quantum information theory, testing whether or not gravity is classical, whether spacetime is fundamental or emergent, and more.
 
Get Vlatko's new book, Portals to a New Reality: Five Pathways to the Future of Physics: https://a.co/d/cqCIK8x
 
Learn more about Vlatko's work: https://www.vlatkovedral.com
 
Learn more about Conjecture Institute: https://www.conjectureinstitute.org