Closer To Truth

• Do Human Brains Have Free Will?

  Donate to Closer To Truth and help us keep our content free and without paywalls.   Free will seems the simplest of notions. Why then is free will so vexing to philosophers? Here's why: no one knows how free will works! Science, seemingly, permits no "gaps" in which free will can operate.   This episode features interviews with John Searle, Rodolfo Llinas, Eran Zaidel, Roger Walsh, Mike Merzenich, Henry Stapp, Colin McGinn, and Christof Koch.

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• Janna Levin on Cosmology: Black Holes, the Big Bang, and More

  Help Closer To Truth continue exploring the world's biggest questions with a donation of any amount.   Astrophysicist and science visionary Janna Levin discusses all things cosmology: black holes, gravitational waves, the James Webb Space Telescope discoveries, early galaxies, and more.   Janna J. Levin is a theoretical cosmologist and a professor of physics and astronomy at Barnard College. She researches black holes, the cosmology of extra dimensions, and gravitational waves in the shape of spacetime. In addition she is the director of sciences at Pioneer Works. Her books include Black Hole Survival Guide, Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space, and How the Universe Got Its Spots.

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• Implications of Cosmology?

  Donate to Closer To Truth and help us keep our content free and without paywalls.   The universe is strange and wondrous—dauntingly vast, menacingly violent, infinitely complex. The origin of the universe is equally fascinating. There are explanations, but is there a final explanation?   Featuring interviews with Alan H. Guth, Andrei Linde, George F. Smoot III, Robert Spitzer, Jill Tarter, and Douglas Vakoch.

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• Philip Goff and Helen De Cruz on Finding (and Losing) Their Religion

  Two notable Closer To Truth contributors—and two good friends—discuss their intellectual and spiritual journeys in what seems to be opposite directions: one toward a form of Christianity and the other away from it.   Philip Goff is a British author, idealist philosopher, and professor at Durham University whose research focuses on philosophy of mind and consciousness. Specifically, it focuses on how consciousness can be part of the scientific worldview. He is the author most recently of the book Why? The Purpose of the Universe.     Helen De Cruz is a Belgian philosopher and Danforth Chair of Philosophy at Saint Louis University who specializes in philosophy of religion, experimental philosophy, and philosophy of cognitive science. She is also an activist supporting the rights of EU citizens in the context of Brexit. Her most recent book is Wonderstruck: How Wonder and Awe Shape the Way We Think.  

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• Why Explore Consciousness and Cosmos?

  Donate to Closer To Truth and help us keep our content free and without paywalls.   Cosmos and consciousness seem utterly different, the former encompassing the vast universe, the latter emerging from tiny brains. Yet consciousness founds most religions, and some cosmologists speak quietly, profoundly, about consciousness.   Featuring interviews with David Chalmers, Alexander Vilenkin, David Brin, Colin McGinn, and Paul Davies.

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