1 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:06,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:15,640 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 3 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:18,120 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Land, and I'm Julie Douglas. If 4 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:20,279 Speaker 1: you remember from last year, we did an episode where 5 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 1: we discussed a few summer reading picks. We you know, 6 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:25,880 Speaker 1: during the summer, people go on vacations they said, on beaches, 7 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:28,640 Speaker 1: or they're man they're not in school, they're not teaching. 8 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 1: For various reasons, sometimes we feel more inclined to pick 9 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:35,159 Speaker 1: up a book and enjoy it. Or or you know, 10 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:37,239 Speaker 1: maybe you read something that's a little out of your 11 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:41,880 Speaker 1: normal reading uh diet, something maybe a little more fun 12 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: or a little more technical in some cases. I mean, 13 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:46,559 Speaker 1: it just depends. Were just outside of the genres that 14 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 1: you like to to prance around in. Uh So, last 15 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:52,239 Speaker 1: year we did the episode where we each shared a 16 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:55,320 Speaker 1: little fiction, a little science, and we let you decide 17 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:57,880 Speaker 1: if you wanted to read any of them. Well, everyone 18 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: seemed to really enjoy those of that episode, so we thought, well, 19 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 1: this year, let's do it again, except we'll do double side. 20 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:07,320 Speaker 1: We'll do one episode where um, Julie and I share 21 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:09,480 Speaker 1: a few more picks for you to consider. For this 22 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: summer's reading, and then we'll do another episode where we 23 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:17,119 Speaker 1: just get some guests to share their summer reading picks. So, um, 24 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:19,839 Speaker 1: this is the first of those two episodes where Julian 25 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:21,520 Speaker 1: and I are going to go through some things that 26 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: we have read, are reading on, and plan to read. Uh, 27 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:27,560 Speaker 1: and we'll see if they line up with what you 28 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:30,759 Speaker 1: would like to consume with your brain this summer. That's right, 29 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: So get your scrunches ready, put your hair up, slather 30 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 1: on the sunscreen, get your towels ready, because we're gonna 31 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 1: give you some good stuff to consider reading in your 32 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:43,440 Speaker 1: lay about hours here. Yeah, and I'm just gonna launch 33 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 1: into like quintessential beach reading right now. Okay, Now, when 34 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: you say quintessential beach reading, uh, it is worth worth 35 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: mentioning that for some people, I think beach reads people 36 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:57,280 Speaker 1: think leok, get the lowest level book you can get, 37 00:01:57,320 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: you know, like a straight up airport grocery store. Sole. 38 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:02,280 Speaker 1: But but we were approaching all of this with the 39 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 1: understanding that the stuff of all your mind listener um 40 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 1: is going to want something that engages the mind on 41 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: some level exactly, which is why I thought I would 42 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,400 Speaker 1: start with the book by David Deutsch the beginning of 43 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:19,919 Speaker 1: infinity colon explanations that transform the world. I mean seriously, 44 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:21,640 Speaker 1: if you are at the beach and you are staring 45 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:23,840 Speaker 1: out at the horizon the waves are crashing, then you're 46 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:26,960 Speaker 1: probably considering more than ever at this very moment, how 47 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 1: the universe works, what it all means, right, And yeah, 48 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:32,679 Speaker 1: that's always my experience with the beach. I mean it 49 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:37,520 Speaker 1: summons deep thoughts, right, So why not go on exploration 50 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:40,840 Speaker 1: with David Deutsch. Um he is a pioneer in the 51 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: field of quantum computation, uh, the multiverse theory. He is 52 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 1: very much someone who was a proponent of that, and 53 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 1: he has a variety of ted talks that you can 54 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 1: check them out in other ways. But um, I thought 55 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: this book would be great to really explore, and I've 56 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:59,919 Speaker 1: just now dealt into it and it has actually see 57 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: my imagination from the first page because a lot of 58 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 1: the sort of territory that he covers is stuff that 59 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 1: we have touched upon or maybe even explored ourselves. So um, 60 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 1: someone who is a great science communicator Deutsches, and he 61 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:16,000 Speaker 1: can sort of bring the whole story of the universe 62 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 1: to us in a way that it's difficult, right to 63 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: try to wrap all this up in one nice package. Um, 64 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 1: but I just wanted to say a little description from 65 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:29,400 Speaker 1: the publisher and he it says that he argues that 66 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 1: explanations have a fundamental place in the universe. They have 67 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:36,520 Speaker 1: unlimited scope and parato cause change, and the quest to 68 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 1: improve them is the basic regulating principle not only of science, 69 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:43,640 Speaker 1: but of all successful human endeavor. The stream of ever 70 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: improving explanations has infinite breach. This is uh, the idea 71 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 1: of infinity that he's exploring. Um, we are subject only 72 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 1: to the laws of physics, and they impose no upper 73 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 1: boundary to what we can eventually understand, control and the chieve. 74 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:00,640 Speaker 1: So he goes through all the different periods of historical 75 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 1: thoughts by humans and you know, empiricism or enlightenment, and 76 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 1: then he gets to the science revolution and says that 77 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 1: we have ideas continue to exist and knowledge is the 78 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: limit less and so we know. It's kind of reminded 79 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: me of this idea that we talked about humans being 80 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:24,880 Speaker 1: meme machines, idea machines, and that our ideas just exist 81 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 1: into the future and just transmutate as they go along. 82 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 1: So anyway, very cool, book trying to scratch at this 83 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:36,120 Speaker 1: idea of infinity and knowledge and and how we move 84 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:38,679 Speaker 1: through the world with the information that we have available 85 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:40,920 Speaker 1: to this at this very moment. Wow, the I think 86 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:43,920 Speaker 1: I'm gonna definitely have to pick this one up as well. Uh, 87 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:46,440 Speaker 1: in part because I dare say we shall record an 88 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,520 Speaker 1: episode in the near future on the topic of infinity. 89 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:54,279 Speaker 1: In fact, I just returned from visiting the World Science 90 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 1: Festival in New York City, where there is a There 91 00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:00,680 Speaker 1: was one lecture discussion on the nature of infinity. Is 92 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:03,640 Speaker 1: there such thing as infinity? It's it's it's a really 93 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: fascinating topic because in some disciplines, if you run into 94 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 1: an infinity, you run into a problem, because an infinity 95 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: is an error in the computational process. Uh. So it's 96 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:18,919 Speaker 1: a fascinating topic, and this book does indeed sound like 97 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: a great way to spend your time, uh, contemplating reality 98 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:24,880 Speaker 1: on the beach. Yes, so there you go. That's that's 99 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 1: my first pick. You want to throw one in there too, Yeah, 100 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 1: I'm gonna. I'm gonna throw them start with the one 101 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 1: that I'm really most excited about because I just finished 102 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:33,480 Speaker 1: reading it. I'm still at that stage where I'm I'm 103 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:36,320 Speaker 1: trying to decide if I if I really really liked it, 104 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:38,840 Speaker 1: or if I actually loved it I book like this, 105 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: I'll I tend to give it four out of five 106 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:43,600 Speaker 1: stars right off the bat, and then as I think 107 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:45,599 Speaker 1: about it out the side, well, I maybe should I 108 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 1: bump it up to five stars? Didn't really have that 109 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:50,600 Speaker 1: kind of an impact on me? Or should I maybe uh, 110 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:52,960 Speaker 1: you know, leave it for or even move it down 111 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:55,360 Speaker 1: to three, you know, as you begin to fully digest 112 00:05:55,400 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 1: the ideas. So this book is a surface detail by 113 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,040 Speaker 1: Scottish author Ian M. Banks. If you remember from last year, 114 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:05,800 Speaker 1: I actually recommended another E. N. M. Banks sci fi 115 00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:09,679 Speaker 1: story called The Player of Games, which, like this book, 116 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:13,359 Speaker 1: is set in the Culture Universe. The Culture Universe of 117 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:16,440 Speaker 1: idean in Banks has created in in these ten different 118 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:21,080 Speaker 1: books is um far future, almost kind of space opera world. 119 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:25,880 Speaker 1: They are all these different galactic societies at varying levels 120 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:31,000 Speaker 1: of technological advancement, with varying ideologies and uh and the 121 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:34,240 Speaker 1: central civilization is called the Culture and it is a 122 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 1: very much a post singularity world where the Culture society 123 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 1: has all of these humans and pan humans in it, 124 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:44,240 Speaker 1: but they kind of do what they want to the 125 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:46,960 Speaker 1: for the most part, they kind of live you know this, Uh, 126 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:50,599 Speaker 1: this free for all existence within the culture, while very 127 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:55,280 Speaker 1: advanced artificial intelligences make all the decisions and the main 128 00:06:55,400 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: artificial intelligences here are these minds that control these enormous spaceships. 129 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 1: And the culture is kind of a benevolent entity that 130 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:10,760 Speaker 1: that will, to varying degrees, involve itself in other galactic communities. Uh, 131 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:13,280 Speaker 1: generally with the best intentions, but not always with the 132 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:16,560 Speaker 1: best of results. And uh, even though this is a 133 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:18,800 Speaker 1: ten there are ten books in this series. This is 134 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 1: not a part one, part two, part three book. You 135 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:24,679 Speaker 1: can essentially jump in at any point. Not every book 136 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 1: is a great first book for someone to read in 137 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 1: this series. For instance, uh, The Player of Games. I 138 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:33,600 Speaker 1: think it's an excellent first culture book to read and 139 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:36,160 Speaker 1: I and I have a strong feeling that surface detail 140 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: also would work really well for someone who had who 141 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:42,200 Speaker 1: has no idea or just a faint idea about what 142 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:45,280 Speaker 1: the culture consists of. So the big thing about this 143 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:47,320 Speaker 1: book that I found interesting, and certainly it has a 144 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:50,600 Speaker 1: number of awesome sci fi ideas running around it. There's 145 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:55,600 Speaker 1: digitized consciousness, there's a space warfare, their self replicating machines, 146 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:58,240 Speaker 1: because even though it's post singularity, it's a it's for 147 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:01,840 Speaker 1: the most party, very positive view of a post singularity civilization. 148 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:04,880 Speaker 1: There's also the dark side of post singularity as well 149 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:08,560 Speaker 1: as a there's a segment of the culture that has 150 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 1: to deal with with taking care of self replicating machines, 151 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 1: which they call smatter in the book, and keeping them 152 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:18,120 Speaker 1: from becoming too much of a problem. So is is 153 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 1: boredom a problem? Um? It can't. Yeah, it can be 154 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:25,120 Speaker 1: for sure within the actual pan humans. Within the culture, 155 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,560 Speaker 1: they'll The way they tend to deal with this is 156 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: they get involved in the benevolent aspects of the culture, 157 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:36,400 Speaker 1: trying to help other civilizations, etcetera. So they become sort 158 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:39,640 Speaker 1: of like they tap into their inner opress. Yeah, yeah, 159 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 1: kind of. I want to see if you would win 160 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:43,120 Speaker 1: souf I said that you did not, no, no, no, 161 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:46,000 Speaker 1: no kind with that. But one of the things that 162 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:48,760 Speaker 1: really drug dragged me into this book is, first of all, uh, 163 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:50,680 Speaker 1: I've read a few culture books in the past, but 164 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:53,160 Speaker 1: then the sad news recently is that ian and Banks 165 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:56,120 Speaker 1: is dying of cancer and was not not long for 166 00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:59,240 Speaker 1: this world. Um, which is which is awful. We're gonna 167 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 1: lose a tremendous author and a tremendous mind here, who 168 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 1: has thankfully produced a number of books, both sci fi 169 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:09,959 Speaker 1: and literary fiction. Uh. But I had I had heard 170 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:12,480 Speaker 1: that his more recent books had dealt more with darker 171 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:16,679 Speaker 1: issues and issues of mortality. And uh. And this book, 172 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:19,960 Speaker 1: even though like a very advanced, you know, sci fi book, 173 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:23,720 Speaker 1: deals for the most part, with hell, with theologies of 174 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 1: hell and the problem of hell. Because imagine a world 175 00:09:27,679 --> 00:09:30,200 Speaker 1: in which we can digitize human consciousness. We can create 176 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:33,280 Speaker 1: a digital virtual version of you by just you know, 177 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:36,280 Speaker 1: scanning the brain and put that into this virtual world. 178 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 1: So the culture and various other civilizations in this universe, 179 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:43,480 Speaker 1: they generally reached the point where they either developed the technology, 180 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:47,719 Speaker 1: borrow the technology, or steal the technology to digitize consciousnesses 181 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 1: and create a kind of afterlife for a virtual afterlife 182 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:54,360 Speaker 1: for people who have died, for individuals who have died. 183 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:57,680 Speaker 1: And for the most part, these various civilizations tend to 184 00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:00,920 Speaker 1: take a very um positive spin on things. It's just like, 185 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:03,559 Speaker 1: you know, a hedonistic heaven for those have died, or 186 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:06,640 Speaker 1: some sort of peaceful place you kind of store an 187 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 1: intelligence in a mind that you might want to, you know, 188 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 1: a loved one you might want to talk to later, 189 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:13,840 Speaker 1: or a great thinker that you might want to consult 190 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 1: with later. But inevitably, some of these civilizations hold on 191 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:23,200 Speaker 1: to their arguably primitive ideas of hell. So you have 192 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:28,880 Speaker 1: societies that um end up sending digitized consciousness is too 193 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:32,200 Speaker 1: at place of eternal suffering, and that's a problem for 194 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:35,320 Speaker 1: the culture. The culture doesn't think that's cool to have 195 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:38,280 Speaker 1: a you know, even a virtual world where an intelligent 196 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:42,280 Speaker 1: being is tortured and had and suffers just horribly for 197 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 1: some you know, unimaginable length of time. So, uh, this 198 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:49,640 Speaker 1: there ends up being this war that they call the 199 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:52,800 Speaker 1: War in Heaven, but it's actually a virtual war game 200 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:57,080 Speaker 1: that that ends up taking place between pro hell civilizations 201 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:00,680 Speaker 1: and anti health civilizations, and the ideas it they'll they'll 202 00:11:00,679 --> 00:11:03,959 Speaker 1: have this virtual war and then whoever wins wins. If 203 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:07,400 Speaker 1: the pro Hell side wins, then well then these these 204 00:11:07,679 --> 00:11:10,080 Speaker 1: few societies that cling to the idea of hell, they 205 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:12,120 Speaker 1: get to keep it, they get to keep their virtual health. 206 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:15,320 Speaker 1: But if the anti health side wins, well then they 207 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:18,200 Speaker 1: all have to be eradicated. But in this book, there 208 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:21,360 Speaker 1: are a number of storylines that are that are coming together, 209 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:26,520 Speaker 1: and there's this increasing possibility that this, this virtual war 210 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:29,719 Speaker 1: game is going to emerge into the real world as 211 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:34,520 Speaker 1: an actual conflict and actual armed conflict. That's really fascinating 212 00:11:34,559 --> 00:11:36,720 Speaker 1: because I've been thinking about war a lot, and of 213 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:41,040 Speaker 1: course only because my daughter continues to ask various questions 214 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:45,200 Speaker 1: four years old and curious about war, and so that's 215 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: been on my mind lately. And and then I wonder 216 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:50,600 Speaker 1: if you could get to a point where you could 217 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:54,840 Speaker 1: play out of virtual war in society, yeah, and I 218 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:58,000 Speaker 1: mean for us, and would it have the same sort 219 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:01,800 Speaker 1: of dire consequences in one way or another that actual 220 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:05,680 Speaker 1: war does. I mean, I'm not talking about fatality so much, 221 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:10,120 Speaker 1: but more in terms of regime control or the ways 222 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:13,240 Speaker 1: that we can strip our citizens of rights. Yeah. And 223 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:15,320 Speaker 1: this this book does explore that territory where you know, 224 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:18,920 Speaker 1: it's a situation where there's a big, huge conflict between 225 00:12:19,559 --> 00:12:22,400 Speaker 1: these two factions. And for the most part, they realized 226 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:24,439 Speaker 1: that this is something that we can settle in a 227 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:28,760 Speaker 1: virtual environment outside of actually bringing in real deaths and 228 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:32,840 Speaker 1: real destruction. But then to what extent can that work? 229 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:35,640 Speaker 1: Does it reach a point where it boils over into 230 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:38,520 Speaker 1: the real world again. So so I found it to 231 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:40,920 Speaker 1: be a really fascinating book. Um, and I recommend it 232 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:43,360 Speaker 1: to anyone out there who is who's interested in sci fi, 233 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,880 Speaker 1: who's interested in uh in a little theology, a little philosophy. 234 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:49,600 Speaker 1: Uh And and I also I should always add that 235 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:52,199 Speaker 1: Ian and Banks had injects a certain sense of humor 236 00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:54,920 Speaker 1: into it as well, so it's not just you know, 237 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:58,960 Speaker 1: cold hard sci fi and cold hard philosophy. There's there's 238 00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:03,719 Speaker 1: some giggles thrown in there as well, so very good. Well, Um, 239 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:06,280 Speaker 1: I had brought up my four year old ask me questions, 240 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:10,400 Speaker 1: and so I wanted to let you guys know of 241 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:14,760 Speaker 1: a book called Big Questions from Little People and Simple 242 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:18,000 Speaker 1: Answers from Great Minds, And this is geared more towards 243 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:20,600 Speaker 1: the four too, maybe twelve year old set, and I thought, well, 244 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 1: I really do want to do a kid centric book recommendation. Uh. 245 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:26,800 Speaker 1: Last year I think it was the Magic of Reality 246 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:30,360 Speaker 1: by Hawkins, and that is excellent that book, by the way, 247 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:32,839 Speaker 1: although I would say that's for older children, but this 248 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:37,280 Speaker 1: book is, I mean, all the questions are generated by 249 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:41,719 Speaker 1: children and the answers are given by various experts we're 250 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:46,240 Speaker 1: talking about Mary Roach, Richard Dawkins, Philip Pullman, David Eagleman, 251 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:51,880 Speaker 1: Noam Chomsky, Mario Batali. Uh So, just a variety of 252 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:55,280 Speaker 1: different people and the questions very I mean, it can 253 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:57,840 Speaker 1: be uh you know, sort of the wrote stuff like 254 00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:01,280 Speaker 1: who named all the cities? Anyway? To do aliens exist? 255 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:05,720 Speaker 1: What makes me me? Is it okay to eat a worm? Uh? 256 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 1: Can a beasting another? B? Why are some people mean? 257 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:14,800 Speaker 1: Why is the or why is space so sparkly? Um? 258 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:17,360 Speaker 1: And it really it's one of those kind of books 259 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:19,080 Speaker 1: in the in the explanations that I've given are so 260 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:22,080 Speaker 1: pithy and great and oftentimes have a lot of humor 261 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:25,520 Speaker 1: that even if you think you know the answer to 262 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:28,480 Speaker 1: this question as an adult, it will be reframed for 263 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:31,440 Speaker 1: you in another way and you'll definitely learn something from it. 264 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:33,720 Speaker 1: In My four year old loves it. Well, just flip 265 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:35,080 Speaker 1: through it every once in a while and let's just 266 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 1: say that one and when we discuss it. But anyway, 267 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:40,640 Speaker 1: it's a it's a great kind of book for for 268 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:43,800 Speaker 1: kids who are coming online in terms of expanding their 269 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 1: consciousness about the various topics in life, like hey, why 270 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:51,440 Speaker 1: are people mean? Why is the uh nighttime skuys so 271 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:55,520 Speaker 1: sparkly and it kind of gets at the meat of 272 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:59,360 Speaker 1: those questions, which is pretty great. Cool. Well, my next 273 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:03,080 Speaker 1: recommendation is is a science book, and this one is 274 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:06,960 Speaker 1: is definitely aimed at, you know, more more grown audience, 275 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:09,960 Speaker 1: though younger minds well I think also find plenty of 276 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:12,480 Speaker 1: of wonderful things in it as well. And the book 277 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:15,560 Speaker 1: is called Elephants on Acid and Other Bizarre Experiments by 278 00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:19,840 Speaker 1: Alex Bows. Alex's his his line of study is the 279 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:23,920 Speaker 1: history of science, and this book is a it's it's 280 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:26,400 Speaker 1: a great one. It's a great book to just pick 281 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:29,600 Speaker 1: up and so sort of flip through and find something 282 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:33,400 Speaker 1: interesting and start reading it, because, uh, there are several chapters. 283 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:35,680 Speaker 1: In each chapter has all these subdivisions. Each to each 284 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:39,720 Speaker 1: subdivision an interesting look and an actual scientific experiment or 285 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:43,280 Speaker 1: series of experiments that have taken place, generally experiments with 286 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 1: kind of a either a surface level weirdness, you know, 287 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:47,920 Speaker 1: one of those where you're you're like, well, why did 288 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:50,640 Speaker 1: they you know, why are they giving Latte's two cockroaches? 289 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:52,000 Speaker 1: That doesn't make any sense? And then you then you 290 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:54,160 Speaker 1: read it and you're like, oh, well, of course if 291 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:56,840 Speaker 1: they had not given latte to cockroaches, we would not 292 00:15:56,920 --> 00:15:58,840 Speaker 1: have this vital information. And then some of the other 293 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:01,920 Speaker 1: ones are kind of reverse like, oh, well that seems reasonable, 294 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:04,600 Speaker 1: but wow, they didn't really carry that out right. This 295 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:07,280 Speaker 1: book gets its title from a nineteen sixty to experiment 296 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:10,960 Speaker 1: that saw Oklahoma's School of Medicine researchers dose an elephant 297 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:14,800 Speaker 1: named Tusco with l s D. Uh. Last, of course, 298 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:18,520 Speaker 1: is the llucogen the artificial lucogens that we've talked about 299 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:21,640 Speaker 1: in the previous episodes. Um. Not only did they give 300 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:24,800 Speaker 1: Tusco the elephant LSD, they gave Tusco the largest dose 301 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:28,120 Speaker 1: of LSD ever administered to a single organism, two D 302 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:31,560 Speaker 1: ninety seven milligrams. That's three thousand times the level of 303 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 1: a human dose. Now, it's worth noting that at this 304 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:37,400 Speaker 1: time everyone was getting in on LSD research. Okay, was 305 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 1: this is the heyday of LSD research and uh, and 306 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:42,840 Speaker 1: we were fascinated by its effects on the human mind 307 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:46,360 Speaker 1: and the way we we observe the world. Also, as uh, 308 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:49,040 Speaker 1: as the author points out, UH, this was also a 309 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:52,080 Speaker 1: time when the CIA was very interested in military applications 310 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:54,080 Speaker 1: of l s D, so they funneled tons of money 311 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:58,760 Speaker 1: through front organizations to various American LSD research projects. So 312 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:01,760 Speaker 1: uh no, we're not sure. We can't say one we 313 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:07,440 Speaker 1: or another. Uh if this particular experiment benefited from CIA funds, 314 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:09,480 Speaker 1: but a number of them down. A lot of people 315 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:13,199 Speaker 1: got their hands into that candy jar. So uh, this uh, 316 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:16,959 Speaker 1: this is kind of a tragic experiment though, because of 317 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:19,600 Speaker 1: what happens is that they they had a syringe of 318 00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:23,800 Speaker 1: this LST again, two seven milligrams of three thousand times 319 00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:27,560 Speaker 1: the level of human dosage injected into Tusco, and Tusco 320 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:32,720 Speaker 1: staggers a bit, uh, trumpets his his trunk falls over 321 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:36,879 Speaker 1: and seems to have a seizure. So they administer milligrams 322 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:39,879 Speaker 1: of anti psychotics. The seizures subside a little, but not 323 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:43,200 Speaker 1: much so. Then then they administer a bunch of barbagurates uh, 324 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:46,080 Speaker 1: and Tusco dies a few minutes later. So it's sad, 325 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 1: not the first time an elephant has died neediously in 326 00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:54,399 Speaker 1: the scientifically experiment um, but but sad. Nonetheless, they performed 327 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:57,600 Speaker 1: in that cropsy revealed that it died from asphyxiation. His 328 00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:00,200 Speaker 1: throat muscles had closed up, and there's a film this 329 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:03,440 Speaker 1: somewhere in the u c l A archives, but it's 330 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:05,720 Speaker 1: never been made public for obvious reasons. This was a 331 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:09,080 Speaker 1: huge embarrassment. This was uh. It showed up in all 332 00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:12,200 Speaker 1: the papers. There were some misinformation floating about as well. 333 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:15,199 Speaker 1: There was some information about how the researchers may have 334 00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:18,760 Speaker 1: had LSD themselves um earlier in the week, and that 335 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:20,720 Speaker 1: led to some people saying, well, were they on LSD 336 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:23,679 Speaker 1: when they get the elephant? LSD? There was, it was, 337 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:27,440 Speaker 1: it was. It was not a pleasant story for anyone involved. 338 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:30,200 Speaker 1: I can't imagine like that happened today. Can you imagine 339 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:33,880 Speaker 1: the fun politicians would have with that. I mean, I'm 340 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:37,520 Speaker 1: actually surprised that didn't become LSD gate back then. Yeah. Well, 341 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:41,520 Speaker 1: in nineteen nine, another U c l A researcher came 342 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:44,400 Speaker 1: along and he decided to follow up dozing two elephants 343 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:48,520 Speaker 1: with LSD. But here's here's the catch, under much more control. 344 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:51,840 Speaker 1: And the guy doing it was Ronald Siegel. And Ronald 345 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:53,879 Speaker 1: Siegel was one of the world's leading experts on the 346 00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:56,520 Speaker 1: effects of Hallucingen's on animals, so he brought a lot 347 00:18:56,600 --> 00:19:00,200 Speaker 1: more experience, a lot more control, and he had a 348 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:03,760 Speaker 1: bad example to look back on. He was not involved 349 00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:07,200 Speaker 1: in the first experiment, but he benefited from their missteps. 350 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:09,800 Speaker 1: So he did it a few things differently. Uh, he 351 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:12,520 Speaker 1: put LSD in the animals water instead of a syringe, 352 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:14,919 Speaker 1: and then that didn't then didn't let the elephants have 353 00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:17,560 Speaker 1: any water for twelve hours, so they came in thirsty. 354 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:21,640 Speaker 1: But they're not getting that skyrocket effect all at once. 355 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:24,240 Speaker 1: It's more of a gradual um. And they used two 356 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:26,840 Speaker 1: dose wages, one for each elephant, one with a lower dose, 357 00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:29,800 Speaker 1: one with a higher and the higher one was actually 358 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:34,000 Speaker 1: proportionally equivalent to what Tusco had, not in terms of 359 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:37,840 Speaker 1: the actual amount of the drug, but proportionately to its body. 360 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:39,880 Speaker 1: And this is, you know, it's important for a number 361 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:42,239 Speaker 1: of reasons. First of all, he wanted to correct the 362 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:45,600 Speaker 1: problems of that first study. You know, let's let's and 363 00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:48,240 Speaker 1: figure out what happened, like why did the elephant die. 364 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:49,879 Speaker 1: Did the elephant die because it had all of this 365 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:52,639 Speaker 1: LSD in its system or was it the cocktail of 366 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:55,000 Speaker 1: other things that they administered after the fact, you know 367 00:19:55,359 --> 00:19:57,920 Speaker 1: what was going on here. So so that they conducted 368 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:00,520 Speaker 1: the experiment, the the elephants acted a little weird but 369 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:02,560 Speaker 1: there were no seizures. There was just one of them 370 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:05,560 Speaker 1: took an extended hay bath. Uh. It was a much 371 00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:08,880 Speaker 1: more pleasant story. So so it gave us a little 372 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:12,760 Speaker 1: more insight into what what happens when packet erms take 373 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:16,960 Speaker 1: hallucinogenic drugs and and also helped us better understand what 374 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:19,880 Speaker 1: happened with this first disastrous attempt. So that's just one 375 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:22,800 Speaker 1: of the studies that is looked at in the in 376 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:24,399 Speaker 1: this book, and you can flip through it. There's all 377 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:26,919 Speaker 1: sorts of stuff you want, stuff having to do with automobiles, 378 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:31,320 Speaker 1: you know, digestion um cats. Oh, that there were a 379 00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:33,960 Speaker 1: way to measure whether or not the elephants were more 380 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:38,840 Speaker 1: open as elephants as packetderms after really experience you know, yeah, 381 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:44,200 Speaker 1: I don't know. I mean, what are elephant doors of perception? Anyway, 382 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:48,800 Speaker 1: they were, They're very large, I'm sure. Nice. All right, 383 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:51,040 Speaker 1: we're gonna take a quick break and when we get 384 00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:55,320 Speaker 1: back more books. We're talking to graphic novels, uh, novel 385 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:58,679 Speaker 1: from an Icelandic author and all sorts of stuff, So 386 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:15,080 Speaker 1: we'll be right back. Hey, we're back. We're continuing with 387 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:18,200 Speaker 1: Julian and I summer reading recommendations to you the listener. 388 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:22,280 Speaker 1: A mix of fiction, mix of science, a little science 389 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:25,359 Speaker 1: fiction and even a little comics. So Julie take it 390 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:29,480 Speaker 1: all right. So here is my little guilty pleasure. Here 391 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:33,040 Speaker 1: this this summer. It is The Hitman's Guide the House Cleaning. 392 00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:36,679 Speaker 1: It is by hal Garum Halston and this is his 393 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:40,800 Speaker 1: first book in English. He is an Icelandic author crime fiction, 394 00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:43,679 Speaker 1: very very dark humor. I cannot wait to read this. 395 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:45,919 Speaker 1: My my husband actually get us for me. Let me 396 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:48,440 Speaker 1: just kind of give you a quick synopsis of this book. 397 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:53,159 Speaker 1: It is about this Croatian hit man. He worked for 398 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:57,040 Speaker 1: the Croatian mafia. His name is Toxic. His real name 399 00:21:57,080 --> 00:22:01,600 Speaker 1: is Thomas Loves Toxic and that he has sixties six 400 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:04,560 Speaker 1: flawless hits under his belt. Of course number sixty seven. 401 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:07,399 Speaker 1: He kills the wrong guy and he has forced to 402 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:10,960 Speaker 1: flee the United States and he takes on a new 403 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:14,200 Speaker 1: identity in in the form of Father Friendly, who is 404 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:18,679 Speaker 1: an American evangelist who he actually ends up killing and 405 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:22,280 Speaker 1: assuming his identity. Um So here he is on his 406 00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:26,000 Speaker 1: way to Iceland. He has no means of escape from 407 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:28,840 Speaker 1: this island he which is devoid of gun shops by 408 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:32,440 Speaker 1: the way. So he's completely out of his element. Um, 409 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:35,040 Speaker 1: and there's no business for him there. Obviously there's not 410 00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:38,320 Speaker 1: a lot of contract killing in Iceland, and he's sort 411 00:22:38,359 --> 00:22:40,480 Speaker 1: of forced to come to terms with his own bloody pass. 412 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:43,040 Speaker 1: And so it's got all the little you know, fun traps. 413 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:47,600 Speaker 1: They're mistaken identity, uh, the forces of good and evil 414 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:49,840 Speaker 1: and who we really are? You know, who is this 415 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:53,080 Speaker 1: person inside of us? Um? So I really can't wait 416 00:22:53,119 --> 00:22:55,840 Speaker 1: to read this. Um it's gotten some some good reviews, 417 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,560 Speaker 1: and um, I haven't developed into a crime fiction in 418 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:00,320 Speaker 1: a while. So, like I said, this is going to 419 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:03,439 Speaker 1: be my guilty pleasure. But I just wanted to mention 420 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:05,919 Speaker 1: that how the sin is, he's kind of a larger 421 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:09,840 Speaker 1: than life figure himself. Um, he's a poet. Um, he's 422 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:12,760 Speaker 1: kind of a provocateur. Um. He is someone who really 423 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:15,400 Speaker 1: has come down actually very hard on Iceland in terms 424 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:19,600 Speaker 1: of its politics and its economics. And uh, he's been 425 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:22,560 Speaker 1: called the Bukowski of Iceland. I'm not sure how I 426 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:24,720 Speaker 1: feel about that, but I think that just sort of 427 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:26,600 Speaker 1: points to the idea that he ruffles a lot of 428 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:32,359 Speaker 1: people's feathers, albeit in a very darkly rendered way with 429 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:35,960 Speaker 1: his humor. So for anybody out there who is looking 430 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,919 Speaker 1: for a new crime fiction novel, there you go. And 431 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:41,280 Speaker 1: I often find that the European crime fiction is the 432 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:44,240 Speaker 1: way to go because, especially if you've read enough for 433 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:48,760 Speaker 1: seen enough American and US based crime fiction. He kind 434 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:51,040 Speaker 1: of you kind of grow dead to it after a while. 435 00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:55,639 Speaker 1: But even a fairly cliche crime story set in uh, 436 00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:00,000 Speaker 1: in a European country, instantly it's all these different elements 437 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 1: influence the experience. Yeah, he has spent a good chunk 438 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:06,679 Speaker 1: of his life in New York and various other cities 439 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:09,600 Speaker 1: around the world, so he has a baseline understanding of 440 00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:14,639 Speaker 1: different cultures and the strangeness that comes with, you know, 441 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:17,120 Speaker 1: flipping between one and another, which kind of I think 442 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:21,840 Speaker 1: helps to sort of underscore this idea about what identity is. Well, 443 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:26,640 Speaker 1: that one sounds very good. Yeah, cool. Well, uh, from 444 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:29,119 Speaker 1: my next one, I'm gonna I'm gonna go with another 445 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:31,159 Speaker 1: science the topic. And this is actually a book you 446 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:33,919 Speaker 1: gave to me. And and this is another one that 447 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:36,199 Speaker 1: is nice and that it is not a you know, 448 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:38,880 Speaker 1: it's a it's a reasonably thick, like you know, about 449 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:44,600 Speaker 1: four pages, but it's composed of various essays and uh, 450 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:50,400 Speaker 1: and and and articles by a host of scientists, science writers, 451 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:54,320 Speaker 1: um other professional commentators on on the subjects contained. It's 452 00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:58,240 Speaker 1: called This will make You Smarter Uh. New scientific Concepts 453 00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:01,680 Speaker 1: to improve your thinking, Edited by John Brockman. The book 454 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:03,760 Speaker 1: is great because, again you can just flip through it. 455 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:07,560 Speaker 1: You can find a number of really interesting topics, including, uh, 456 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:10,840 Speaker 1: the article that we referenced in our pro Wrestling episode. Uh, 457 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:12,680 Speaker 1: that's where I found it. I was just flipping through 458 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:14,879 Speaker 1: the back, looking through the index, and I saw the 459 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:17,280 Speaker 1: word wrestling, and I'm like, really, there's one of these 460 00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:20,520 Speaker 1: articles deals with wrestling. And sure enough, Uh, mathematition and 461 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:24,160 Speaker 1: economist Eric Weinstein had that article about cafe about the 462 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:28,479 Speaker 1: the altered reality of layered falsehoods and how this it's 463 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:31,439 Speaker 1: existance in the world of professional wrestling actually relates very 464 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:34,240 Speaker 1: strongly to the way systems work in the real world. 465 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:37,959 Speaker 1: But in addition to that, you'll find articles inside by 466 00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:41,240 Speaker 1: Richard Dawkins we mentioned earlier. Uh. This is is Max 467 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:44,280 Speaker 1: tech Mark, who I just saw in New York at 468 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:48,359 Speaker 1: the World Science Festival, always a great scientific communicator. Jonah Laire, 469 00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:53,240 Speaker 1: Aubrey de Gray, David Eagleman, Alison gott Nick, v s Rama, Chandrin. 470 00:25:53,359 --> 00:25:56,200 Speaker 1: All these names I'm sure you recognized from from previous 471 00:25:56,200 --> 00:26:00,159 Speaker 1: episodes of our show and your external scientific reading. Uh so, 472 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:02,959 Speaker 1: highly recommend this. You can like, really, you can like. 473 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:05,359 Speaker 1: I flipped through it and then here is an article 474 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:10,080 Speaker 1: by Matthew Richie systematic equilibrium bam, and it's like three pages. 475 00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:12,159 Speaker 1: So it's a great book for I don't know, if 476 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:14,000 Speaker 1: you're one of the people who read stuff on in 477 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:17,600 Speaker 1: the bathroom and you want an enlightened experience there, I 478 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:19,879 Speaker 1: think this would be a great one, likewise on the beach, 479 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:23,679 Speaker 1: fitting in quick bursts of information for your brain in 480 00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:27,160 Speaker 1: between your various travels. Go for it. And honestly, who 481 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:31,200 Speaker 1: hasn't reached enlightenment in the bathroom? Really, you know, let's 482 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:34,520 Speaker 1: be honest about it. Um. So, when I was talking 483 00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:36,360 Speaker 1: about him AND's God the house cleaning, I was talking 484 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:39,080 Speaker 1: about this idea of what it means to be a 485 00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:42,240 Speaker 1: stranger in a strange land, and perhaps one of the 486 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:47,040 Speaker 1: best books to capture what that feels like is a 487 00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:50,879 Speaker 1: graphic novel by Shaun tan It's called The Arrival and 488 00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:54,560 Speaker 1: it is just hauntingly beautiful. It is about a man 489 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:58,440 Speaker 1: who leaves his family and he gets on a boat 490 00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:01,720 Speaker 1: and he goes to another land. Um. There are absolutely 491 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:05,000 Speaker 1: no words in it. And the reason is that um, 492 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:07,639 Speaker 1: as he leaves his land, his home land, he leaves 493 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:10,719 Speaker 1: his language, he leaves his mother tongue. And so the 494 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:13,880 Speaker 1: idea is that you get the sense of pure isolation 495 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:20,800 Speaker 1: that he is experiencing, and also other worldliness, strangeness alien uh, 496 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:24,600 Speaker 1: an alien culture with an alien language. And so the 497 00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:28,000 Speaker 1: way that Tan represents this is that he has all 498 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:32,240 Speaker 1: sorts of incredibly mystical creatures that are running around in 499 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:36,080 Speaker 1: this new land that this man is experiencing. So um, 500 00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:39,639 Speaker 1: the drawings themselves are technically absolutely beautiful. UM. They're in 501 00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:43,440 Speaker 1: shades of black and white and gray and brown. UM. 502 00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:46,000 Speaker 1: And you'll see street scenes and they look at first 503 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:48,480 Speaker 1: glance completely normal, and then you see that that birds 504 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:51,119 Speaker 1: have horns on them, or that there's a giant snail 505 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:55,520 Speaker 1: just walking around. UM. I wanted to read a really 506 00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:58,639 Speaker 1: quick excerpt from Breton Nickel. He reviewed the book on 507 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:00,440 Speaker 1: good Reads. I just thought he had an a good 508 00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:03,320 Speaker 1: take on this. He says, Tan's world here is struck 509 00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:07,000 Speaker 1: through with fantastical twist, as though we view a quantum 510 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:10,960 Speaker 1: reality several iterations from our own. It is vaguely steampunkished 511 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:13,439 Speaker 1: with perhaps a hint of anime. This is where you 512 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:16,760 Speaker 1: find the genius of Sean Tan. He has imagined an 513 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:21,080 Speaker 1: alternate reality that is fully alien yet instantly familiar. Many 514 00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:23,960 Speaker 1: an artist, when attempting to depict the alien, will lazily 515 00:28:24,119 --> 00:28:27,239 Speaker 1: skip straight to the zany, the nonsensical, the surreal, so 516 00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:28,919 Speaker 1: that the audience is struck on the head by the 517 00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:32,160 Speaker 1: message that this is not your earth. Tan is better 518 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:35,879 Speaker 1: than that. He draws pet animals, food, architecture, and vehicles 519 00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:38,200 Speaker 1: that are certainly odd and whimsical, but the reader is 520 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:41,120 Speaker 1: able to intuit how it might fit all together and work. 521 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:44,800 Speaker 1: The strange horrors that the books protagonist and his new 522 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:48,080 Speaker 1: found friends fled from in their homelands rest firmly in 523 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:50,640 Speaker 1: the realm of fantasy that they can easily be interpreted 524 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:53,720 Speaker 1: as nods to various evils and hardships in our own 525 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:56,800 Speaker 1: real world, and some of the animals that are in here. 526 00:28:56,880 --> 00:29:00,880 Speaker 1: It's just like it's such a feat of imagination. Um. 527 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:02,920 Speaker 1: You know, you see things that look like they could 528 00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:05,120 Speaker 1: be a reptilian, or you often see this sort of 529 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:08,680 Speaker 1: tadpole looking dog. The tadpole looking dog is the one 530 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:11,720 Speaker 1: that that caught my at first. It's just because because 531 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:14,640 Speaker 1: very cute, very alien though, and and again the art 532 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:18,120 Speaker 1: is wonderful here. It looks like like like sort of 533 00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:23,120 Speaker 1: classic CPI, A toned images of of of you newcomers 534 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:25,800 Speaker 1: to New York and the Golden Age, but fused with this, 535 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:29,520 Speaker 1: with with this alien world, this world of alien creatures. 536 00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:31,760 Speaker 1: And it's funny that you say that, because you know, 537 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:34,040 Speaker 1: he began this as a children's book, and then he 538 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:35,960 Speaker 1: realized that he had much more to say about it, 539 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:38,480 Speaker 1: as is the child of a father who had immigrated, 540 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:41,760 Speaker 1: and he spent four years researching it and really going 541 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:44,959 Speaker 1: through the Ellis Islands records. In fact, you see a 542 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:50,280 Speaker 1: lot of sketches of um people. Art really echoes those images, 543 00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:53,000 Speaker 1: those those iconic immigrant images that we see just so 544 00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:55,600 Speaker 1: well it just yeah. And then he shows these the 545 00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:59,120 Speaker 1: picture of the new city that the character is in, 546 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:03,400 Speaker 1: and it's just so futuristic. It's like Blade Runner meets like, uh, 547 00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:06,400 Speaker 1: you know, nineteenth century America. It's amazing. Well, that's one 548 00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:09,560 Speaker 1: of the wonderful things about fantasy is that is that 549 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:13,880 Speaker 1: like like fantasy, like pure fantasy, that's great. But when 550 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:16,480 Speaker 1: you inject like a little bit of fantasy and a 551 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:19,320 Speaker 1: little bit of of of real world, a little bit 552 00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:21,640 Speaker 1: of science, a little bit of history, what have you? Uh, 553 00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:24,880 Speaker 1: you can illuminate things in the history or in the 554 00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:27,400 Speaker 1: science that either you had grown numb to or you 555 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 1: never realize we're there to begin with. Well, and see, 556 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:31,600 Speaker 1: that's what I think is so intriguing about this. We 557 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:33,840 Speaker 1: often talk about this like there's there are certain tropes 558 00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:37,400 Speaker 1: that just are like the alien experience, right, or being 559 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:40,560 Speaker 1: a stranger in a strange land, and it's very easy 560 00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:43,320 Speaker 1: to sort of fall into cliche. And when we've talked 561 00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:46,880 Speaker 1: about artists being successful at picking this, it's usually because 562 00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:48,920 Speaker 1: they're coming in at an angle that you would not 563 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:53,080 Speaker 1: expect and it makes that trope feel new and fresh 564 00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:56,720 Speaker 1: and understood again for the first time. And one of 565 00:30:56,760 --> 00:30:59,440 Speaker 1: the ways that I think that Tan does this, it's 566 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:03,040 Speaker 1: just by even uh this two page spread of clouds 567 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:05,800 Speaker 1: and cloud formations that he has in the book, and 568 00:31:05,840 --> 00:31:08,920 Speaker 1: it's meant to show you what the character sees when 569 00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:11,960 Speaker 1: he's on the steamship to this new world looking up 570 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:15,120 Speaker 1: at the sky each day, Each each cloud formation is 571 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:19,960 Speaker 1: different and beautiful and just other worldly. And so I 572 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:22,000 Speaker 1: mean just this page. I could sit here and stare 573 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:24,920 Speaker 1: it probably for an hour and analyze it. Um. So 574 00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:28,480 Speaker 1: anyway that if you guys like graphic novels, if you, um, 575 00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:30,800 Speaker 1: if you want to, should have delve in deeper to 576 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:33,720 Speaker 1: the psychological aspects of what it is to feel isolated 577 00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:37,000 Speaker 1: or to be uh, are you know, inserted into this 578 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:39,959 Speaker 1: what feels like alien existence? Then check out the arrival. 579 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:42,120 Speaker 1: Can't recommend it enough? Yeah, And this is one to 580 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:43,760 Speaker 1: just look looking at you can tell it's not a 581 00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:45,640 Speaker 1: comic that you read and you put on the shelf. 582 00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:47,040 Speaker 1: You know, it's it's when you can keep out on 583 00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:50,120 Speaker 1: the coffee. Yes, people are gonna be drawn to it. Well, 584 00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:51,760 Speaker 1: and I tend to pick it up and just flip 585 00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:55,120 Speaker 1: through it again and again just because esthetically I can't 586 00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:57,880 Speaker 1: help it. But you know, thematically, it's just I find 587 00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:01,280 Speaker 1: something new every time I look at it. Okay, Well, 588 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:03,040 Speaker 1: for my next pick, I just want I have to 589 00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:06,400 Speaker 1: mention this one because this is the most beautiful book 590 00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:09,360 Speaker 1: that I have read, uh this year. Um. And it's 591 00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:12,760 Speaker 1: called Train Dreams by Dennis Johnson. Uh. It's a story 592 00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:15,440 Speaker 1: of Robert Grenier a day labor in the American West 593 00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:17,640 Speaker 1: at the start of the twenties century, an ordinary man 594 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:23,080 Speaker 1: in extraordinary times. Uh. He experiences some severe loss, loses 595 00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:25,160 Speaker 1: his family, and then struggles to make sense of this, 596 00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:29,040 Speaker 1: uh as the modern world creeps into this uh, this 597 00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:32,120 Speaker 1: this American West that he's grown to know and love. 598 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:34,760 Speaker 1: Dennis Johnson's writing, and this is just beautiful. I'm gonna 599 00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:36,560 Speaker 1: read a little bit from it in just a moment. 600 00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:39,239 Speaker 1: But it's Uh. First of all, it's in novella. So 601 00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:41,400 Speaker 1: if you're wondering, what's I need something short from my 602 00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:43,840 Speaker 1: trip or from my my beach read or from my travels. 603 00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:47,480 Speaker 1: What is the shortest but but the most beautiful thing 604 00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:49,640 Speaker 1: I could possibly read, then I would I would suggest 605 00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:52,600 Speaker 1: giving this one a try. Um, there's nothing there's no 606 00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:55,400 Speaker 1: science in it. Really, there's uh, there's some some fun 607 00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:58,840 Speaker 1: little bits of history uh interesstpersed in there. Uh, there's 608 00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:01,400 Speaker 1: there's nothing really in the way fantasy. There's some dream 609 00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:05,440 Speaker 1: context uh involved, but that's about it. But still it's 610 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:06,960 Speaker 1: the most beautiful thing that I've read. And I'm just 611 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:09,360 Speaker 1: gonna read a quick bit here. This is a before 612 00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:11,520 Speaker 1: he experiences this loss, he has a conversation with his 613 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:15,520 Speaker 1: wife about their about their infant, He says, how much 614 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:17,480 Speaker 1: does she know? Do you suppose, Gladys, as much as 615 00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:20,200 Speaker 1: a dog pup? Do you suppose a dog pup can 616 00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:22,240 Speaker 1: live by its own after the bitch weans it away, 617 00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:25,160 Speaker 1: Gladys said. He waited for her to explain what this meant. 618 00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:28,120 Speaker 1: She often thought ahead of him. A man child couldn't 619 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:30,200 Speaker 1: do that way, she said, Just go off and live 620 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:32,880 Speaker 1: after it was ween. The dog knows more than a 621 00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:35,480 Speaker 1: babe until the babe knows its words, but not just 622 00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:38,200 Speaker 1: a few words. A dog raised around the house knows 623 00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:42,560 Speaker 1: some words too, as many as a baby. How many words, Gladys, 624 00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:44,600 Speaker 1: you know, she said, the word for its tricks and 625 00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:46,840 Speaker 1: the things you tell it to do. Just say some 626 00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:49,040 Speaker 1: of the words, glad It was dark, and he wanted 627 00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:51,960 Speaker 1: to keep hearing her voice. Well, fetch and come and 628 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:54,680 Speaker 1: sit and lay and roll over. Whatever it knows to do, 629 00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:57,600 Speaker 1: it knows the words. In the dark, he felt his 630 00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:01,400 Speaker 1: daughter's eyes turned on him like a hornered brutes. It 631 00:34:01,480 --> 00:34:04,200 Speaker 1: was only his thoughts tricking him, but it poured something 632 00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:06,800 Speaker 1: cold down his spine. He shuddered and pulled the quilt 633 00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:09,400 Speaker 1: up to his neck all of his life. Robert Grenier 634 00:34:09,480 --> 00:34:12,040 Speaker 1: was able to recall that very moment on this very night. 635 00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:16,160 Speaker 1: Oh so it's uh, you know, it's it's it's a 636 00:34:16,200 --> 00:34:19,399 Speaker 1: beautiful novella. I highly recommend checking it out. It's it's 637 00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:22,560 Speaker 1: available in various formats and also as an audiobook. UM, 638 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:26,040 Speaker 1: give you a shot. All right, it sounds very very good. UM. 639 00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:29,080 Speaker 1: So those are just some recommendations from us. We would 640 00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:30,920 Speaker 1: love to hear from you guys to do. Is there 641 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:33,920 Speaker 1: something that you you feel very strongly that we should 642 00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:37,319 Speaker 1: check out, that others should check out. Um, if you 643 00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:41,240 Speaker 1: have one or two recommendations, UM, please blind by us. Yeah. 644 00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:43,760 Speaker 1: And also remember we were going to do a second 645 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:46,200 Speaker 1: episode here that should publish after this one, where we'll 646 00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:50,320 Speaker 1: have some guests, some outside guests from from from various 647 00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:53,200 Speaker 1: parts of the end of the world, uh well two 648 00:34:53,239 --> 00:34:55,880 Speaker 1: parts of the world really, and then also some some 649 00:34:55,960 --> 00:34:59,040 Speaker 1: guests from various parts of our office. So we'll have 650 00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:00,799 Speaker 1: some guests from some of the other house Stuff Works 651 00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:03,840 Speaker 1: podcast on to share their recommendations. And through all of 652 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:05,400 Speaker 1: this they're gonna be places where you're like, oh, that 653 00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:07,200 Speaker 1: book sounded really interesting. What was the name of that 654 00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:09,719 Speaker 1: how do you spell that? Well, luckily we have a 655 00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:12,520 Speaker 1: blog and on that blog you will find an accompanying 656 00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:14,759 Speaker 1: blog post where we will list all the books that 657 00:35:14,800 --> 00:35:17,839 Speaker 1: we've mentioned in this podcast episode and the other one, 658 00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:20,080 Speaker 1: and you can find that at stuff to bowl your 659 00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:22,520 Speaker 1: Mind dot com. That's the mothership. That's where we keep 660 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:24,560 Speaker 1: all of our our content, or at least links to 661 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:27,000 Speaker 1: our content. But you can also find us on social 662 00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:29,279 Speaker 1: media where you will find us at Facebook where we 663 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:30,680 Speaker 1: are stuff to Blow Your Mind. To find us on 664 00:35:30,719 --> 00:35:33,440 Speaker 1: Twitter where handle is blow the Mind. We're on tumbler 665 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:36,920 Speaker 1: as well, and also YouTube where our handle is mind 666 00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:40,240 Speaker 1: Stuff Show. And you can always drop us a line 667 00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:46,200 Speaker 1: at the load of mind at discoveries dot com.