Poetic Naturalism — Podcast — Beautiful Illusions

Jeff and Darron explore a few of the major ideas that shaped Darron’s perception and thinking about the world. They talk about how an early encounter with the work of Charles Darwin started him down a path towards scientific thought and empiricism as a way of understanding the world, how one man’s quest to get his rug back reinforced his roughly existentialist personal philosophy, and how embracing poetic naturalism gave him a framework for unifying the various layers of reality, both fundamental and emergent, science, and art into a more coherent worldview.

Jeff and Darron explore a few of the major ideas that shaped Darron's perception and thinking about the world.

Notes:

2:41 - The Darwin Fish
2:59 - “...you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone” (BobDylan.com) from “The Times They Are A-Changin’” (YouTube video)
3:18 - See “What is Darwin’s Theory of Evolution” (LiveScience, 2018) and “Darwin and His Theory of Evolution” (Pew Research Center)
7:23 - Charles Darwin
8:20 - First published in 1859, Darwin’s master work On the Origin of Species is undoubtedly one of the most important books ever published. It introduced the scientific theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a process of natural selection and is considered to be the foundation of evolutionary biology. The book presented a body of evidence that the diversity of life arose by common descent through a branching pattern of evolution. With its unrivaled explanatory power of a variety of biological phenomena, Darwin’s idea has become the unifying theory of all biology, and importantly has revolutionised our understanding of nature and our place within it. In a 2015 survey conducted by a group of academic booksellers, publishers and librarians in the UK, On the Origin of Species was voted the most influential academic book ever written. In his 1995 book Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, Philosopher Daniel Dennett called Darwin’s theory “...the best idea anyone ever had” saying that "In a single stroke, the idea of evolution by natural selection unifies the realm of life, meaning and purpose with the realm of space and time, cause and effect, mechanism and physical law." As the great biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky famously, and correctly, said, "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution." For more see the On the Origin of Species Wikipedia entry, “Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species’ tops list of most important academic books” (Washington Post, 2015), and “Darwin 200 years later: Evolution by selection of quotations” (Scientific American, 2009)
10:33 - See “Darwin on a Godless Creation: “It’s like confessing to a murder”” (Scientific American, 2009)
10:39 - Modernism
10:42 - The Descent of Man by Charles Darwin
10:54 - Albert Einstein
11:10 - See “Darwin and Genetics” (Genetics, 2009) and “Darwin would have loved DNA: celebrating Darwin 200” (The Royal Society Biology Letters, 2009)
11:27 - See “Nietzsche & Evolution” (Philosophy Now, 2000)
12:40 - The best current fossil evidence suggests that the divergence of humans and chimps began as early as 13 million years ago but it was not a clean split and some hybridization may have been occurring as late as 4 million years ago, so the 6-7 million year number stated in the podcast should not be taken as definitive in any way, for more see the “Chimpanzee-human last common ancestor” Wikipedia entry and “Fossil Reveals What Last Common Ancestor of Humans and Apes Looked Like” (Scientific American, 2017)
12:51 - See the “Tree of life” Wikipedia entry and “What is the Tree of Life?” (Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History)
14:33 - The “Copernican Revolution” (Wikipedia) actually began during the 16th century, approximately 300 years before Darwin’s time, but certainly did alter human perception of our place in the Universe, for more see “Copernicus’ revolution and Galileo’s vision, in pictures” (EarthSky.org)
15:18 - Darwin was well aware of the explosive nature of his ideas and how they undermined the foundations of a society shaped by the Anglican Church, commenting in one of his private journals "As soon you realize that one species could evolve into another, the whole structure wobbles and collapses.” The Autobiography of Charles Darwin, was first published posthumously in 1887, and quotes about Christianity were omitted from the first edition by Darwin's family, whom the autobiography was actually written for, because they were deemed dangerous for Darwin's reputation. These passages were restored in a revised 1958 edition published by his granddaughter. In it Darwin writes “By further reflecting that the clearest evidence would be requisite to make any sane man believe in the miracles by which Christianity is supported, — that the more we know of the fixed laws of nature the more incredible, do miracles become”, that “The old argument of design in nature...which formerly seemed to me so conclusive, fails, now that the law of natural selection had been discovered. We can no longer argue that, for instance, the beautiful hinge of a bivalve shell must have been made by an intelligent being, like the hinge of a door by man. There seems to be no more design in the variability of organic beings and in the action of natural selection, than in the course which the wind blows. Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws” and though he was "very unwilling to give up my belief...disbelief crept over me at a very slow rate, but was at last complete.The rate was so slow that I felt no distress, and have never since doubted even for a single second that my conclusion was correct." Although Darwin had no doubt about natural selection and the evolution of species, his correspondence shows that his religious beliefs changed substantially over the course of this life, but never reached a fixed position, and despite how his ideas may be perceived by others he was not himself antagonistic towards religion. His agnosticism should be understood as a state of genuine uncertainty regarding the existence and nature of God. Darwin’s unwillingness to pronounce on religious matters stemmed from his strongly held view that science and religion rest on different foundations and forms of evidence, and that his scientific expertise, no matter how extensive, did not make him a religious authority and throughout his life Darwin maintained a commitment to the practice of conscientious doubt and critical inquiry in both science and religion. For more see the Wikipedia entry on “Charles Darwin”, “Darwin on a Godless Creation: “It’s like confessing to a murder”” (Scientific American, 2009) and “What did Darwin believe?” (The University of Cambridge Darwin Correspondence Project)
18:38 - Naturalism
18:53 - The mind being a product of the brain is a somewhat controversial assertion, although basically accepted by naturalists who root all causes in the physical, but for more see the “Mind-body problem” Wikipedia entry
19:22 - See “8 People Who Influenced and Inspired Charles Darwin” (ThoughtCo, 2019)
22:23 - See the “History of Science” Encyclopedia Britannica entry
22:34 - See “Galileo vs The Inquisition: The Real Story”, excerpted from The Patterning Instinct by Jeremy Lent
23:05 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 02 - “Our Back Pages”
23:26 - William Shakespeare
23:33 - The book I’m referencing here is Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, a beautifully written novel released in March 2020 that imagines the emotional, domestic, and artistic repercussions after a husband and wife lose their only son, 11-year-old Hamnet in 1596. Four years or so later, the husband writes a play called Hamlet. I’ve since finished reading it and certainly would recommend it for anyone who enjoys historical fiction and is interested in Shakespeare and the Elizabethan era of English history, but more broadly for anyone who just enjoys great writing, thoughtful meditations on life and human relationships, and the innumerable individual stories that have largely been lost to history and and can only be imagined based on the scant bits we have available to us today. For more see Hamnet (Goodreads), and “The Real 'Hamnet' Died Centuries Ago, But This Novel Is Timeless” (NPR, 2020)
24:50 - See “99 Percent Of The Earth's Species Are Extinct—But That's Not The Worst Of It” (Discovery, 2019) - Darwin did not literally say this, the statement in the podcast is an extrapolation based on his ideas about evolution and all the species that must have existed in the past to give rise to those extant species around us today
26:30 - Richard Dawkins and “fathering the meme”
29:07 - Existentialism
29:18 - See “How Did Life Begin?” (Scientific American, 2018) and the “Abiogenesis” Wikipedia entry
29:53 - See “Maybe You're Not an Atheist–Maybe You're a Naturalist Like Sean Carroll” (Wired, 2016), and “Existential Therapy from the Universe: Physicist Sean Carroll on How Poetic Naturalism Illuminates Our Human Search for Meaning” (Brainpickings)
31:09 - The Big Lebowski
31:14 - The Coen Brothers
31:32 - See “Love the Dude? You’ll Want to Go to ‘The Big Lebowski’ Festival” (Travel & Leisure, 2017) and the “Lebowski Fest” Wikipedia entry
31:41 - Even though this movie is over 20 years old at this point I feel compelled to say that we do discuss some plot points and the ending of the movie, so if you’ve never seen it and care about spoilers, then maybe skip the next ten minutes or so and relisten later. That being said, having seen this movie probably at least 50 times in full, it only gets better the more you rewatch it and know what’s going on. It’s my favorite movie (so far) and I highly recommend it.
32:19 - Farce
35:41 - See the “Film noir” Wikipedia entry, “Essential Noir Films: Sean Geraghty on THE BIG LEBOWSKI” (The Black List), and “Is The Big Lebowski a Great Noir Film? A New Way to Look at the Coen Brothers’ Iconic Movie” (Open Culture)
36:19 - Kurzgesagt (YouTube Channel) and Kurzgesagt website
36:35 - “How Evolution Works” by Kurzgesagt (YouTube video)
36:42 - “Optimistic Nihilism” by Kurzgesagt (YouTube video)
36:48 - Nihilism
36:57 - The absurd
37:48 - Albert Camus
37:52 - Sisyphus is a figure from Greek mythology who was known for his trickery and twice cheating death and consequently was punished by Zeus to roll a boulder up a hill in the depths of Hades for all eternity. In Homer’s epic poem the “Odyssey” he is described thusly by Odysseus: “Then I witnessed the torture of Sisyphus, as he wrestled with a huge rock with both hands. Bracing himself and thrusting with hands and feet he pushed the boulder uphill to the top. But every time, as he was about to send it toppling over the crest, its sheer weight turned it back, and once again towards the plain the pitiless rock rolled down. So once more he had to wrestle with the thing and push it up, while the sweat poured from his limbs and the dust rose high above his head.” According to the Ancient History Encyclopedia Sisyphus is nowadays best remembered as a poignant symbol of the folly of those who seek to trifle with the natural order of things and avoid humanity's sad but inescapable lot of mortality. The adjective Sisyphean denotes a task which can never be completed.” In The Myth of Sisyphus, French philosopher Albert Camus uses the figure of Sisysphus as an analogy to the absurdity of humans seeking meaning in a meaningless universe, concluding “I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain! One always finds one's burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy” See the entry on Sisyphus from the Ancient History Encyclopedia and The Myth of Sisyphus Wikipedia entry
40:00 - Watch the final scene of The Big Lebowski (YouTube video)
41:21 - Dictionary.com defines abide as “to put up with, tolerate, stand, to endure, sustain, or withstand without yielding or submitting” and it should also be noted that this is likely a biblical reference, specifically Eccesiastes chapter 1, verse 4 which says “Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.”
42:37 - “...it’s alright, Ma, it’s life, and life only” (BobDylan.com) from “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” (YouTube video)
43:20 - Listen to the section of “Part of Your World” (YouTube video) from The Little Mermaid starting at 1:24 in the linked video
43:38 - Listen to the section of “Space Oddity” (YouTube video) by David Bowie starting at 3:22
44:55 - According to Joni Mitchell’s official website the line is actually “I don't know who I am, But you know life is for learning” - listen to the Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young cover of “Woodstock” (YouTube video) from their brilliant 1970 classic album Deja Vu (All Music)
45:15 - Victor Shklovsky
46:10 - Defamiliarization
46:16 - In his essay Art As Device Shklovsky writing about Leo Tolstoy, says “The narrator of “Kholstomer,” for example, "is a horse, and it is the horse’s point of view (rather than a person’s) that makes the content of the story seem unfamiliar”
48:40 - See “Are you sleepwalking now?” (Aeon, 2018) by Thomas Metzinger, who notably is not a neuroscientist as stated in the podcast, but is actually a theoretical philosopher who does work on neuroethics and neurophilosophy - “Imagine you are standing on the prow of a sailboat, watching a school of dolphins leaping left and right. When travelling long distances, jumping saves dolphins energy, because there’s less friction in the air than in the water below. It also seems to be an efficient way to move rapidly and breathe at the same time. Typically, the animals will alternate long, ballistic jumps with bouts of swimming underwater, close to the top, for about twice the length of the leap – a spectacular, high-speed, surface-piercing display sometimes known as ‘porpoising’. These cetacean acrobatics are a fruitful metaphor for what happens when we think. What most of us still call ‘our conscious thoughts’ are really like dolphins in our mind, jumping briefly out of the ocean of our unconscious for a short period before they submerge themselves once again.”
48:56 - See “At high speeds dolphins save energy by leaping” (Nature, 1980)
50:06 - See the “Memory consolidation” entry on Wikipedia, “Rehearsal initiates systems memory consolidation, sleep makes it last” (Science Advances, 2019), and “Memory Consolidation” (Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives In Biology, 2015)
52:12 - The Dunning-Kruger Effect
55:47 - Listen to episode 40 of the It’s Not What It Seems podcast where Darron discusses Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert with his brother Doug
57:12 - See the “Intellectual humility” Wikipedia entry, “Intellectual Humility: A Guiding Principle for the Skeptical Movement?” (Skeptical Inquirer, 2020), “Intellectual humility: the importance of knowing you might be wrong” (Vox, 2019), and “How ‘Intellectual Humility’ Can Make You a Better Person” (New York Magazine, 2017)
1:00:34 - The Big Picture by Sean Carroll and the concept of Poetic Naturalism
1:00:59 - Emergence
1:02:05 - Mind-body dualism
1:02:30 - In describing Poetic Naturalism on his website Preposterous Universe, Sean Carroll notes that, “while there is only one world, there are many ways of talking about the world."Ways of talking" shouldn't be underestimated; they can otherwise be labeled "theories" or "models" or "vocabularies" or "stories," and if a particular way of talking turns out to be sufficiently accurate and useful, the elements in its corresponding vocabulary deserve to be called real...There is more to the world than what happens; there are the ways we make sense of it by telling its story. The vocabulary we use is not handed to us from outside; it’s ultimately a matter of our choice. A poetic naturalist will deny that notions like "right and wrong," "purpose and duty," or "beauty and ugliness" are part of the fundamental architecture of the world. The world is just the world, unfolding according to the patterns of nature, free of any judgmental attributes. But these moral and ethical and aesthetic vocabularies can be perfectly useful ways of talking about the world. The criteria for choosing the best such ways of talking will necessarily be different than the criteria we use for purely descriptive, scientific vocabularies. There won’t be a single rational way to delineate good from bad, sublime from repulsive. But we can still speak in such terms, and put in the hard work to make our actions live up to our own internal aspirations. We just have to admit that judgments come from within ourselves.”
1:03:57 - See “Philosophy and the Scientific Image of Man” by philosopher Wilfird Sellars - from the Wikipedia entry on Sellars: “In his "Philosophy and the Scientific Image of Man" (1962), Sellars distinguishes between the "manifest image" and the "scientific image" of the world.The manifest image includes intentions, thoughts, and appearances. Sellars allows that the manifest image may be refined through 'correlational induction', but he rules out appeal to imperceptible entities.The scientific image describes the world in terms of the theoretical physical sciences. It includes notions such as causality and theories about particles and forces. The two images sometimes complement one another, and sometimes conflict. For example, the manifest image includes practical or moral claims, whereas the scientific image does not. There is conflict, e.g. where science tells us that apparently solid objects are mostly empty space. Sellars favours a synoptic vision, wherein the scientific image takes ultimate precedence in cases of conflict, at least with respect to empirical descriptions and explanations.”
1:05:10 - Sean Carroll’s Mindscape Podcast
1:05:46 - Rene Descartes and mind-body dualism
1:05:47 - See “"A Strange Hybrid Monster": The Foundational Christian View of Humanity” (excerpted from The Patterning Instinct by Jeremy Lent)
1:06:16 - See “Of 2 Minds: How Fast and Slow Thinking Shape Perception and Choice” from Scientifc American, excerpted from Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
1:08:30 - See “What Does It Mean to Live the Good Life?” (ThoughtCo), “The Philosophy of the Good Life” (The Gifford Lectures), and “What is the Good Life? Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche, & Kant’s Ideas in 4 Animated Videos” (Open Culture)