Welcome to the fourth episode of Fickle Philosophies! Today we’re looking at a dilemma that's coming more-and-more to the forefront of discussions around technology: will the machines we make one day be able to think?

In today’s episode, we’ll be looking at simulations of understanding, John Searle's Chinese-Room Thought-Experiment, and awareness of an internal self.


This season, I’m going to be relying heavily on Stephen Law’s The Philosophy Gym for great, easy-to-digest examples and arguments--I strongly recommend you check out his book for more information and philosophical viewpoints


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If you love this podcast, show your support by rating, subscribing, and downloading!  

The best way to support me is by sharing this podcast with others—the more people can learn, the better we can understand the crazy world we live in :D

Welcome to the third episode of Fickle Philosophies! Today we’re looking at a situation that's ever-present in literature--could we time travel someday?

In today’s episode, we’ll be looking at philosophical contradictions, David Lewis's Personal and External Time, Subject Impression, Casual Loops, and Parallel Universes.


This season, I’m going to be relying heavily on Stephen Law’s The Philosophy Gym for great, easy-to-digest examples and arguments--I strongly recommend you check out his book for more information and philosophical viewpoints


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If you love this podcast, show your support by rating, subscribing, and downloading!  

The best way to support me is by sharing this podcast with others—the more people can learn, the better we can understand the crazy world we live in :D

Welcome to the second episode of Fickle Philosophies! Today we’re looking at perhaps our first (of many!) existential question--how can we be sure we "exist"?

In today’s episode, we’ll be looking at justification as a basis for beliefs, the Ordinary-Language Response, the "Invisible Pebble" Response, and Skepticism.


This season, I’m going to be relying heavily on Stephen Law’s The Philosophy Gym for great, easy-to-digest examples and arguments--I strongly recommend you check out his book for more information and philosophical viewpoints


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If you love this podcast, show your support by rating, subscribing, and downloading!  

The best way to support me is by sharing this podcast with others—the more people can learn, the better we can understand the crazy world we live in :D

Welcome to the first episode of Fickle Philosophies! Today we’re looking at perhaps one of the most overreaching questions--what caused the universe to “happen”?

In today’s episode, we’ll be looking at Cause Arguments (specifically the Cosmological Argument), its errors, contexts where questions can be meaningfully raised, and brute facts in philosophy.


This season, I’m going to be relying heavily on Stephen Law’s The Philosophy Gym for great, easy-to-digest examples and arguments--I strongly recommend you check out his book for more information and philosophical viewpoints


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If you love this podcast, show your support by rating, subscribing, and downloading!  

The best way to support me is by sharing this podcast with others—the more people can learn, the better we can understand the crazy world we live in :D

Premiering on July 1st comes the fifth season of "The Mystery of Your Mind"!

Every other week, I'll be exploring emerging, controversial, or unintuitive approaches and arguments in philosophy, in our classic quick-listen style episodes. You'll learn about everything from existential philosophy to theories about our relations with each other—and come out of every episode with a little more insight about our world.

Come join me this season to challenge your biases and learn more about why we are the way we are!


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If you love this podcast, show your support by rating, subscribing, and downloading!  

The best way to support me is by sharing this podcast with others—the more people can learn, the better we can understand the crazy world we live in :D

This past year has been a bit hectic in terms of keeping up with the podcast--I've had a few issues with my podcast server, my recording service changed platforms (degrading audio quality with it), and some personal work I had to shift my focus towards, but I've come back this season with renewed excitement to share one of my favorite subjects (philosophy!) 

Sorry for the inconsistent posting schedule this past year, and thank you for your patience—this season is going to be the best one yet! :)

Neurotransmitters are our brain’s version of messengers. Since not all neurons are interconnected, the best way for them to communicate between themselves is through a sort of chemical “code” to tell nearby neurons what needs to be done or what we’re experiencing. In this fast-facts episode, Edward reviews common Neurotransmitters' form and function, as well as the key features that make us who we are.

To create this episode, I used information provided by the Queensland Brain Institute which can be found here: https://qbi.uq.edu.au/brain/brain-physiology/what-are-neurotransmitters


No statement, phrase, or episode of this series—or any episode in this podcast—are intended to treat, diagnose, cure, prevent, or otherwise change your mind or body in any form or manner. This podcast—and this series especially—is meant purely for education purposes for the common person. Please do not rely on any of the information I share in this podcast in any way for your medical or psychological treatment. If you feel that you may have a condition mentioned or not mentioned in this podcast, do not come to me. Instead, immediately go to a trusted psychiatrist, psychologist, therapist, counselor, or other reliable source of information and help for further guidance. Never disregard professional, psychological, or medical advice—nor delay in the seeking of this advice—because of something that you have heard or read from this podcast, this podcast's episode descriptions, this podcast's promotional materials, or any other information explicitly or implicitly generated from this podcast.

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If you love this podcast, show your support by rating, subscribing, and downloading!  

The best way to support me is by sharing this podcast with others—the more people can learn, the better we can understand the crazy world we live in :D

I realize that this episode is coming back after a very long hiatus--I have had a few issues with my podcast server, but the rest of the episodes of this season will be published in the next few days :) Sorry for the delays and thank you for your patience!

One of the key parts of ourselves that makes us who we are is our memory. Dopamine, a hormone oftentimes associated with happiness, satisfaction, or success, has a unique function in consolidating memory through the variety of processes and brain structures that are together known as the Dopaminergic System. Dopamine controls and tunes the activity of the Nuclei Accumbens, Putamen, Ventral Tegmental Area, and more and synchronizes them to allow for neurotransmitter-based learning. In this fast-facts episode, Edward reviews the Dopaminergic System's form and function, as well as the key features that make us who we are.

To create this episode, I used information provided by Arias-Carrión et al, 2010, which can be found here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2958859/


No statement, phrase, or episode of this series—or any episode in this podcast—are intended to treat, diagnose, cure, prevent, or otherwise change your mind or body in any form or manner. This podcast—and this series especially—is meant purely for education purposes for the common person. Please do not rely on any of the information I share in this podcast in any way for your medical or psychological treatment. If you feel that you may have a condition mentioned or not mentioned in this podcast, do not come to me. Instead, immediately go to a trusted psychiatrist, psychologist, therapist, counselor, or other reliable source of information and help for further guidance. Never disregard professional, psychological, or medical advice—nor delay in the seeking of this advice—because of something that you have heard or read from this podcast, this podcast's episode descriptions, this podcast's promotional materials, or any other information explicitly or implicitly generated from this podcast.

-----

If you love this podcast, show your support by rating, subscribing, and downloading!  

The best way to support me is by sharing this podcast with others—the more people can learn, the better we can understand the crazy world we live in :D

I realize that this episode is coming back after a very long hiatus--I have had a few issues with my podcast server, but the rest of the episodes of this season will be published in the next few days :) Sorry for the delays and thank you for your patience!

The Vagus Nerve is the tenth cranial nerve and a major part of the Parasympathetic Nervous System and controls for mood, immune response, digestion, and heart rate. It is one of the major connections between the brain and the gastrointestinal tract, and is understood to help the brain monitor conditions of the inner organs. In this fast-facts episode, Edward reviews the Vagus Nerve's form and function, as well as the key features that make us who we are.

To create this episode, I used information provided by Breit, et al., 2018 in Frontiers in Psychiatry, Psychological Therapy and Psychosomatics, which can be found here: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00044/full


No statement, phrase, or episode of this series—or any episode in this podcast—are intended to treat, diagnose, cure, prevent, or otherwise change your mind or body in any form or manner. This podcast—and this series especially—is meant purely for education purposes for the common person. Please do not rely on any of the information I share in this podcast in any way for your medical or psychological treatment. If you feel that you may have a condition mentioned or not mentioned in this podcast, do not come to me. Instead, immediately go to a trusted psychiatrist, psychologist, therapist, counselor, or other reliable source of information and help for further guidance. Never disregard professional, psychological, or medical advice—nor delay in the seeking of this advice—because of something that you have heard or read from this podcast, this podcast's episode descriptions, this podcast's promotional materials, or any other information explicitly or implicitly generated from this podcast.

-----

If you love this podcast, show your support by rating, subscribing, and downloading!  

The best way to support me is by sharing this podcast with others—the more people can learn, the better we can understand the crazy world we live in :D

I realize that this episode is coming back after a very long hiatus--I have had a few issues with my podcast server, but the rest of the episodes of this season will be published in the next few days :) Sorry for the delays and thank you for your patience!