The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott

Dr. Ellen deLara discusses bullying

In this episode I book-end my two episode investigation on the impacts of bullying with someone who has interviewed victims of bullying to attempt to characterize the impacts.  I recently did a podcast that reviewed my experiences with bullying as a child and how it seemed to have impacted my personality and my life. From a high level, Dr. deLara’s results resonated with me. It felt good to identify an external reason for why I found it hard to interact with others.  But let’s be careful and question our assumptions. Life is difficult and challenging for everyone. Can victims blame their entire life experience on bullying? No. We need to be careful about confirmation bias. It is difficult to guess how life altering these events really were.  Perhaps I would have turned out shy and socially awkward anyways.  Any good science includes a control group to contrast. Let’s find out what the evidence says. Dr. Ellen Walser deLara is an associate professor emerita in the School of Social Work at Syracuse University. She is also a practicing family therapist. Dr. deLara received her doctorate from Cornell University in educational psychology and was a post-doctoral fellow at Cornell focused on child maltreatment. Her areas of research address adolescent development, child maltreatment, school and community violence, and bullying from systemic and developmental perspectives. Currently, Dr. deLara is investigating the long-term consequences of childhood bullying on adult relationships and mental health. She has presented widely at national and international conferences and speaks frequently to the media on bullying and school violence. Dr. deLara’s books include: Bullying Scars: The impact on adult life and relationships (Oxford University Press), And Words Can Hurt Forever: How to protect adolescents from bullying, harassment, and emotional violence (Simon & Schuster) and School-based Intervention Programs (Houghton-Mifflin) co-authored with Dr. James Garbarino. Subscribe at https://therationalview.podbean.com Join the Facebook discussion @TheRationalView Twitter @AlScottRational Instagram @The_Rational_View #TheRationalView #podcast #bullying #mentalhealth 

Escaping my bully

In this episode I want to share something personal about my life. This episode is about bullying and its lifelong effects. My bully made me who I am today. I hope if you are experiencing bullying that you take the time to listen. I learned a lot in school, and most of it in the schoolyard. I learned to run fast, and dodge. I learned that there is no justice in the world. I learned the world is a harsh place and the good guys lose. I learned to be self sufficient. I learned to escape into fantasy. My life was shaped by a series of bullies.  I’m only now learning to stick up for myself. To value myself. To not run from conflict when it is necessary. To speak up for my rights. Do I have regrets?  Sure. Today I like who I’ve become and I wouldn’t change a thing now that I have worked through the pain. Do we need adversity to make good strong people willing to stand up and take a risk for others?  Check out transcripts at www.therationalview.ca Facebook @TheRationalView Twitter @AlScottRational Instagram @The_Rational_View #therationalview #podcast #bullying #mentalhealth #adversity #personalgrowth 

What I’ve learned about the hard problem of consciousness

In this episode I summarize my investigation of consciousness. I’ve been interviewing several experts and there is a huge diversity of thought on the topic of thought. It is called ‘the hard problem of consciousness’ to explain why we have a subjective experience of existence. What have I learned? The problem is hard because people don’t agree on an objective set of criteria about what consciousness entails.  If there is no clear definition, it is no surprise it is hard to explain.  Philosophers fall back on the word ‘Qualia’ meaning those set of 1st person experiences which evade any objective definition. Www.TheRationalView.ca Facebook @TheRationalView Twitter @AlScottRational Instagram @The_Rational_View #TheRationalView #podcast #consciousness #sentience #thought

Angelica Oung says the world needs more CANDU reactors

In this episode I am interviewing a fellow supporter of nuclear energy who, although not a Canadian, she posted an article on Canada Day singing the praises of the CANDU reactor.  I think CANDU is an underappreciated technological wonder, similar to the Avro Arrow.  It is also at risk of going down that same path unless Canadians rise up and tell their MPs and MPPs that we need more of them. Angelica Oung is a journalist specializing in Asia and energy matters living in Taipei, Taiwan. In her spare time she is a nuclear energy enthusiast and advocate known as the Manic Nuclear Scheme Girl on her substack https://elementalenergy.substack.com/   Go to www.therationalview.ca for transcripts Join the Facebook discuss @TheRationalView Twitter @AlScottRational Instagram @The_Rational_View #TheRationalView #podcast #nuclearenergy #atomicenergy #savePickering #CANDU #cleanenergy #greenenergy

Dr. Bernardo Kastrup on the Universal Mind

In this episode I return to my investigation of the physical and philosophical bases of consciousness. Today I will be taking on a new perspective from a leading expert in both philosophy and artificial intelligence. Bernardo Kastrup is the executive director of Essentia Foundation. His work has been leading the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism, the notion that reality is essentially mental. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy and another Ph.D. in computer engineering specializing in artificial intelligence. As a scientist, Bernardo has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories. Find The Rational View on YouTube! Join the Facebook Discussion @TheRationalView Twitter @AlScottRational Instagram @The_Rational_View #TheRationalView #Podcast #mind #panpsychism #consciousness #idealism #solipsism #metaphysics

Dr. Gerfried Jungmeier discusses electric vehicles

In this episode I am returning to one of my favourite topics—the clean energy transition.  Today I wanted to explore the life cycle greenhouse gas footprint of the shift to electric vehicles.  Many governments are using a transition to electrified transportation as the foundation of their GHG emissions reduction programs.  Today I’m going to an expert to find out how effective this transition will be on our society’s GHG emissions profile. Dr. Gerfried Jungmeier holds a Master’s degree in mechanical engineering and received a PhD studying the Greenhouse Gas Balance of Bioenergy Systems. He is an future energy systems researcher at Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH. He lectures at Vienna University of Technology, Danube University Krems, and University of Applied Science Kapfenberg. He is an expert in the life cycle assessment of energy and mobility systems. My podcast is hosted at https://therationalview.podbean.com Join the Facebook discussion @TheRationalView Twitter @AlScottRational Instagram @The_Rational_View #therationalview #podcast #electricvehicles #energytransition #netzero

Communicating science through fiction with Eric Choi

On my episode today I will be exploring a fun topic—science fiction, with a friend an colleague who is also an up and coming science fiction author. We will discuss themes of communicating science and our shared love of science fiction. Eric Choi is a writer, editor, and aerospace engineer in Toronto. He has twice won the Prix Aurora Award – Canada’s national prize for excellence in science fiction and fantasy – for his short story “Crimson Sky” and for the anthology The Dragon and the Stars, and he was the first recipient of the Isaac Asimov Award (now the Dell Magazines Award) for his novelette “Dedication”. His short fiction has appeared in more than two dozen publications in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Hungary, and Japan. He holds a B.A.Sc in engineering science and an M.A.Sc in aerospace engineering, both from the University of Toronto, and an MBA from York University. In 2009, he was one of the Top 40 finalists (out of 5,351 applicants) in the Canadian Space Agency’s astronaut recruitment campaign. Podcast transcripts at www.therationalview.ca Join the Facebook discussion @TheRationalView Twitter @AlScottRational Instagram @The_Rational_View #TheRationalView #podcast #science #sciencefiction #communication

Dr. Scott Aaronson on sentience, AI and quantum computing

In this episode I am continuing my investigation into the so-called hard problem of consciousness. I’ve spoken to several people who believe that consciousness arose in single celled organisms and is somehow integrated at higher levels through electrical synchronization or intercellular molecular transport into a unified experience. Hindus and Buddhists believe that there is a Universal consciousness of which we all partake. This is similar in some ways to Sir Roger Penrose’ theory of consciousness called Orchestrated Objective Reduction, where microtubule organelles in the brain’s neurons have evolved to concentrate the diffuse universal consciousness present in the collapse of quantum superpositions. Some of these folks believe that the randomness at the heart of quantum mechanics is necessary for free will and volition. Others like Bertrand Russel believe that we act in accordance with our will even if our actions have past causes and the future is pre-determined. Today I’m honoured to be interviewing an expert who pushes the limits of human knowledge in terms of our understanding of the implications of quantum computing in regards to artificial intelligence. Scott Aaronson is David J. Bruton Centennial Professor of Computer Science at the University of Texas at Austin, and previously at MIT.  He received his bachelor's from Cornell University and his PhD from UC Berkeley. Aaronson's research in theoretical computer science has focused mainly on the capabilities and limits of quantum computers.  His first book, Quantum Computing Since Democritus, was published in 2013 by Cambridge University Press.  He's received the National Science Foundation’s Alan T. Waterman Award, the United States PECASE Award, the Tomassoni-Chisesi Prize in Physics, and the ACM Prize in Computing, and is a Fellow of the ACM. I'm publishing transcripts of some podcasts at www.therationalview.ca Join the Facebook discussion @TheRationalView Twitter @AlScottRational Instagram @The_Rational_View #TheRationalView #podcast #consciousness #sentience #artificialintelligence #quantum computing

Dr. Michael Levin on cellular cooperation and cognition

In this episode I continue my exploration into the nature of consciousness and awareness.  I’ve learned a lot in my exploration to date. I’ve learned about Hindu and Buddhist ideas on awareness, and I’ve delved into the underlying quantum mechanical nature of reality. I’ve discussed ideas of quantum computing and biological links to the mysteries of quantum mechanics. My guest today is an expert on the cellular basis of memory and cognition. Michael Levin received dual B.S. degrees (computer science and biology), followed by a Ph.D. (Harvard University). After post-doc training (Harvard Medical School), he started his independent lab at Forsyth Institute focusing on the biophysics of cell:cell communication during embryogenesis, regeneration, and cancer. In 2009 he moved his group to Tufts, where they use biophysical and computational approaches to study decision-making and basal cognition in cells, tissues, and synthetic living machines. Levin holds the Vannevar Bush chair, and directs the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts, working to crack the morphogenetic code for applications in regenerative medicine, bioengineering, and artificial intelligence.  Recent work includes the modulation of native bioelectric circuits to control embryogenesis, regeneration, and cancer, and the creation of novel synthetic living proto-organisms. Visit www.therationalview.ca for transcriptions Join the Facebook discussion @TheRationalView Twitter @AlScottRational Instagram @The_Rational_View #therationalview #podcast #cognition #memory #science #consciousness #emergence #cells

A Buddhist perspective on awareness with Dr. John Dunne

In this episode I continue my exploration of consciousness, exploring a field of enquiry that has focused almost exclusively on consciousness and awareness for hundreds of years.  Although it is not science, Buddhism has a uniquely close relation with physics and physicists being oft quoted. 'The Tao of Physics' comes to mind, as well as ‘The Dancing Wu Li Masters’ as examples.  I hope you enjoy this foray into the Buddhist mind. Dr. John Dunne serves on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he holds the Distinguished Chair in Contemplative Humanities at the Center for Healthy Minds.  He is also distinguished professor in the Department of Asian Languages & Cultures, where he currently serves as department Chair. Dr. Dunne's work focuses on Buddhist philosophy and contemplative practice, especially in dialog with Cognitive Science and Psychology. His publications appear in venues ranging across both the Humanities and the Sciences, and they include works on Buddhist philosophy, contemplative practices and their empirical examination and interpretation within scientific contexts. John Dunne speaks in both academic and public contexts, and he occasionally teaches for Buddhist communities, including the Gomde centers of Denmark and Austria and Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe. In addition to serving as core faculty for the Center for Healthy Minds, he is a Fellow of the Mind and Life Institute, where he has previously served on the Board of Directors, and he is an academic advisor to the Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Kathmandu, Nepal. Check out transcripts at www.therationalview.ca Join the Facebook discussion @TheRationalView Twitter @AlScottRational Instagram @The_Rational_View #TheRationalView #podcast #buddhism #consciousness #awareness