David Moser Full Episode – Why Chinese is So Damn Hard
David Moser is a scholar of linguistics at Capital Normal University in Beijing and the author of A Billion Voices: China’s Search for a Common Language.0:00 - Introduction5:28 - The Challenge of Translating Gödel, Escher, Bach21:14 - Cultural and Economic Changes in China in the 1980s31:37 - Why Chinese is So Damn Hard38:56 - The Core of Language is not the Writing System44:04 - The Political Fiction of a Unified Chinese Language54:20 - Can We Just Get Rid of the Chinese Characters?1:02:27 - "Character Amnesia" and the Future of Language Input1:07:25 - Comparing the Educational Systems of China vs. America1:16:07 - How David Learned Mandarin1:28:32 - Reflections
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Avi Loeb — Is there Scientific Evidence for Extraterrestrial Life?
Professor Avi Loeb is a theoretical physicist who was the longest-serving chair of Harvard University's Department of Astronomy.In this episode, we talk about the possible extraterrestrial origins of Oumuamua, the eventual fate of our solar system, and how mainstream academia suppresses risk-taking and innovation.0:00 Introduction1:46 The Discovery of Oumuamua8:05 Light Sails and Space Trash: An Artificial Origin for Oumuamua?12:53 Do Extraordinary Claims require Extraordinary Evidence?21:11 Why the Oumuamua Hypothesis generated so much Pushback26:14 How Academia Suppresses Risk-Taking and Innovation30:27 Advice for Young Scientists37:14 What Percentage of Astrophysics Research is Worthless?45:07 The Discovery of the First Interstellar Meteor52:16 What the US Government secretly knows about UAPs1:04:42 The Fermi Paradox and the Dark Forest hypothesis1:12:11 Conclusion"On the Possibility of an Artificial Origin for `Oumuamua" https://arxiv.org/pdf/2110.15213
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Stephen Hsu — Education of a Theoretical Physicist
Stephen Hsu is a theoretical physicist, technology entrepreneur, blogger, and podcaster.We talk about his education as a physicist, how research funding decisions are made in academia, and the replication crisis in science.
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Life Among the Pirahã — Daniel Everett
Daniel Everett is a linguist and anthropologist whose work has challenged long-standing beliefs about human language and cognition.In 1977, Dan journeyed deep into the Amazon rainforest as a Christian missionary to live among an indigenous tribe of hunter-gatherers known as the Pirahã.He is the author of several acclaimed books, including "Don't Sleep, There are Snakes" and "How Language Began". Outline0:00 Episode highlight1:43 First arrival in the Amazon4:00 Unique attributes of the Pirahã language6:53 Noam Chomsky's influence on Linguistics12:05 Lessons from raising Children in the Jungle24:31 The Failure of Missionary Work36:53 Everett's most controversial paper49:51 How UG took over Linguistics57:44 The Future of the Pirahã
South Africa