Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Series
  • People
  • Depts & Colleges
  • Open Education

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Series
  • People
  • Depts & Colleges
  • Open Education

Fine-Tuning Discussion

Series
The Physics of Fine-Tuning
Embed
Simon Friederich, Natalja Deng, and Erik Curiel participate in a roundtable discussion addressing questions around probability, fine-tuning, and arguments for a multiverse or deity.
Simon Friederich, Natalja Deng, and Erik Curiel participate in a roundtable discussion addressing questions around probability, fine-tuning, and arguments for a multiverse or deity. This discussion was conducted at the Lindeman Lecture Theatre, Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford, on October 6, 2016.

Episode Information

Series
The Physics of Fine-Tuning
People
Simon Friederich
Natalja Deng
Erik Curiel
Keywords
Physics
probability
fine-tuning
multiverse
Department: Department of Physics
Date Added: 24/04/2018
Duration: 00:30:05

Subscribe

Download

Erik Curiel: Measure, Topology, and Probability in Cosmology.

Series
The Physics of Fine-Tuning
Embed
Erik Curiel explains the challenges in making assessments of probability by making assumptions about the space of universes--or cosmological models--that our theories allow.
Erik Curiel (Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy) explains the difficulty of making various concepts of and relating to probability precise, rigorous and physically significant when attempting to apply them in reasoning about objects (e.g., spacetimes) living in infinite-dimensional spaces, working through several examples from cosmology. He concludes that most standard forms of argument used in cosmology to estimate the likelihood of the occurrence of various properties or behaviors of spacetimes have serious mathematical, physical and conceptual problems. This lecture was conducted at the Lindeman Lecture Theatre, Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford, on October 6, 2016.

Episode Information

Series
The Physics of Fine-Tuning
People
Erik Curiel
Keywords
Physics
Department: Department of Physics
Date Added: 24/04/2018
Duration: 00:41:33

Subscribe

Download

Natalja Deng: What Kind of Fine-Tuner?

Series
The Physics of Fine-Tuning
Embed
Natalja Deng discusses whether the apparent fine-tuning of the universe for life can be evidence for a divine creator.
Natalja Deng (Yonsei University) comments on two responses to the fine-tuning argument for god, namely one based on dismissive priors , and one based on a ‘God-of-the-gaps’ style objection by theistic design theorists. She suggests that the latter response amounts to a practice-based constraint on theistic conceptions, and that often, theistic conceptions that meet this constraint are vulnerable to the former objection. This lecture was conducted at the Lindeman Lecture Theatre, Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford, on October 6, 2016.

Episode Information

Series
The Physics of Fine-Tuning
People
Natalja Deng
Keywords
Physics
Department: Department of Physics
Date Added: 24/04/2018
Duration: 00:33:59

Subscribe

Download

Simon Friederich: Fine-Tuning for Life in the Universe, A Panoramic View

Series
The Physics of Fine-Tuning
Embed
Simon Friederich reviews the challenges that arise in using empirical evidence that the universe is tuned for life to evaluate multiverse hypothesis.
Simon Friederich (University of Groningen) offers a panoramic view of intricacies and challenges that arise in the assessment of empirical evidence concerning multiverse theories and the relevance of fine-tuning for life. This lecture was conducted at the Lindeman Lecture Theatre, Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford, on October 6, 2016.

Episode Information

Series
The Physics of Fine-Tuning
People
Simon Friederich
Keywords
Physics
Department: Department of Physics
Date Added: 24/04/2018
Duration: 00:40:15

Subscribe

Download

Evidence in the Multiverse

Series
The Physics of Fine-Tuning
Embed
Erik Curiel and Simon Friederich hash out the problems we encounter when we look for evidence of a multiverse.
How do we gain evidence for a multiverse? In the final part of their discussion, Erik Curiel and Simon Friederich hash out the problems we encounter when we try to use our observations as evidence for the multiverse. This discussion was conducted at the University of Oxford on October 6, 2017.

Episode Information

Series
The Physics of Fine-Tuning
People
Erik Curiel
Simon Friederich
Keywords
philosophy
fine-tuning
Physics
science
philosophy of science
astronomy
multiverse
gambler’s fallacy
Department: Department of Physics
Date Added: 24/04/2018
Duration: 00:25:24

Subscribe

Download

The Hard Fact of Life in Big Physics City

Series
The Physics of Fine-Tuning
Embed
How similar is the fine-tuning of our universe to probabilistic reasoning we use and understand? Simon Friederich and Erik Curiel go through a series of examples.
In the third part of their discussion, Simon Friederich and Erik Curiel go over the connection between a widely recognized fallacy--the Gambler’s Fallacy--and the fine-tuning argument. How similar is the fine-tuning argument for the multiverse to common ways of reasoning from observations to likelihoods? This discussion was conducted at the University of Oxford on October 6, 2017.

Episode Information

Series
The Physics of Fine-Tuning
People
Erik Curiel
Simon Friederich
Keywords
philosophy
fine-tuning
Physics
science
philosophy of science
astronomy
multiverse
gambler’s fallacy
Department: Department of Physics
Date Added: 24/04/2018
Duration: 00:14:56

Subscribe

Download

Stability and Probability

Series
The Physics of Fine-Tuning
Embed
Erik Curiel and Simon Friederich discuss how reasoning in cosmology sometimes conflates topological stability with probability, and why that might be wrong.
In the second part of their discussion, Erik Curiel and Simon Friederich talk about the connection between stability arguments, which are popular in discussions of fine-tuning, and probability. Erik raises a problem for a common form of reasoning in cosmology. This discussion was conducted at the University of Oxford on October 6, 2017.

Episode Information

Series
The Physics of Fine-Tuning
People
Simon Friederich
Erik Curiel
Keywords
philosophy
fine-tuning
Physics
science
philosophy of science
cosmology
stability
probability
Department: Department of Physics
Date Added: 24/04/2018
Duration: 00:15:31

Subscribe

Download

Problems with Probability

Series
The Physics of Fine-Tuning
Embed
Simon Friederich and Erik Curiel discuss the problems fine-tuning arguments raise for our understanding of probability.
In the first part of their discussion, Simon Friederich and Erik Curiel outline the fine-tuning argument and discuss the problems it raises for our understanding of probability. This discussion was conducted at the University of Oxford on October 6, 2017.

Episode Information

Series
The Physics of Fine-Tuning
People
Simon Friederich
Erik Curiel
Keywords
philosophy
fine-tuning
Physics
science
philosophy of science
astronomy
probability
chance
Department: Department of Physics
Date Added: 24/04/2018
Duration: 00:19:53

Subscribe

Download

What do water striders have in common with Game of Thrones?

Series
Big Questions - with Oxford Sparks
Embed
On this episode of the Oxford Sparks Big Question’s podcast we visited Dr Jennifer Perry, evolutionary biologist and entomologist to ask: What do water striders have in common with Game of Thrones? Listen here to find out….
Game of Thrones, the world created by author George RR Martin, has gone from beloved book series to much watch box set. Murder, sex, dragons, incest and a battle for the throne! What more could you want from a TV series? Science of course!
There just happens to be one tiny bug that embodies all of these complex relationships we are seeing played out in the show – it’s called a Water Strider.
On this episode of the Oxford Sparks Big Question’s podcast we visited Dr Jennifer Perry, evolutionary biologist and entomologist to ask: What do water striders have in common with Game of Thrones? Listen here to find out….
*you don’t have to have watched Game of Thrones to understand this episode!

Episode Information

Series
Big Questions - with Oxford Sparks
People
Jennifer Perry
Keywords
water striders
game of thrones
insects
animals
animal behaviour
mating
zoology
Department: Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences (MPLS)
Date Added: 17/04/2018
Duration: 00:13:41

Subscribe

Download

Oesophageal Cancer: Past, Present and the Future

Series
Surgical Grand Rounds Lectures
Embed
Professor Tim Underwood takes us through the history of oesophageal cancer, where we are now, and some of the science that is done to ask questions about where we might go with the treatment of oesophageal cancer.
Professor Tim Underwood is professor of Gastrointestinal Surgery at the University of Southampton.
Creative Commons Licence
Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK (BY-NC-SA): England & Wales; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

Episode Information

Series
Surgical Grand Rounds Lectures
People
Tim Underwood
Keywords
surgery
surgeons
research
science
cancer
oesophageal
upper gi
Department: Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences
Date Added: 16/04/2018
Duration: 00:40:39

Subscribe

Download

Pagination

  • First page
  • Previous page
  • …
  • Page 1765
  • Page 1766
  • Page 1767
  • Page 1768
  • Page 1769
  • Page 1770
  • Page 1771
  • Page 1772
  • Page 1773
  • …
  • Next page
  • Last page

Footer

  • About
  • Accessibility
  • Contribute
  • Copyright
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Login
'Oxford Podcasts' X Account @oxfordpodcasts | Upcoming Talks in Oxford | © 2011-2026 The University of Oxford