Mike Titelbaum, author of the two-volume "Fundamentals of Bayesian Epistemology," dissects the use of probability in philosophy, philosophy of religion, science, and everyday life. We do, of course, discuss my recent discussion with John Norton and the material theory of induction.

Video of this interview is available on YouTube.

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EPISODE CHAPTERS:

Emily Adlam discusses the problems facing several interpretations of quantum mechanics: principal among them, the probability problem. Prepare for discussion of self-locating credences, branch-counting, and whether a mechanism deposits consciousness throughout the branching wavefunction of the universe.

Video of this interview is available on YouTube.

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EPISODE CHAPTERS:

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:52 The problem of recovering empirical confirmation

00:04:47 The many-worlds interpretation

00:07:01 The measurement problem

00:08:42 The probability problem in many-worlds

00:12:06 The decision-theoretic approach to probability

00:16:33 Self-locating evidence and Everettian quantum mechanics

00:19:20 Pure vs. superficial self-locating credence

00:25:08 Can the Born rule constrain self-locating credence?

00:30:15 Interpretations vs. theories of quantum mechanics

00:34:51 Can we save science from quantum mechanics?

00:44:30 What happened to the Copenhagen interpretation?

00:46:45 What do physicists believe about quantum mechanics?

00:48:27 The anthropic argument for God

00:56:22 Multiverses, fine-tuning, and self-locating evidence

In the hundredth episode of this podcast, I discuss the use, and misuse, of probability in science and philosophy with John Norton. Prepare for a contentious conversation about fundamental issues in probability theory, induction, and cosmic fine-tuning. This one does not disappoint.

Video of this interview is available on YouTube.

To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee.

Follow me on X because you’re awesome.

EPISODE CHAPTERS:

00:00:00 Introduction

00:00:30 Formal vs. material theories of induction

00:04:58 Does material induction make induction redundant?

00:11:15 Bayesianism vs. the material theory

00:16:47 Can we say evolution is “probably” true?

00:19:23 Evidential support without probabilities

00:23:16 Can Bayesianism capture inference to the best explanation?

00:25:00 The outcome space dispute

00:29:47 Probability and the danger of false precision

00:31:03 The simulation argument and misapplied probability

00:35:39 The doomsday argument and self-locating evidence

00:38:33 Objective vs. subjective Bayesianism

00:43:36 The bootstrapping problem for probability

00:50:53 Probability in cosmology and the multiverse

00:57:59 Does inflation make our universe more probable?

01:00:19 What is John Norton most uncertain about?