Before science was SCIENCE, it was Natural Philosophy. Hear a story of Alhazen, the world’s first scientist, and dig into the real value of the scientific method.

What comes up in this episode:

~ Alhazen ~

~ Francis Bacon ~

~ How the scientific method safeguards against bias ~

~ Parallels in the development of the scientific method and academic philosophy ~

Referenced or mentioned:

~ Euclid ~

~ Ptolemy ~

~ Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica ~

~ Buster Harper ~

~ Breakfast burritos ~

A thought to carry with you:
“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool.” - Richard Feynman

Credits / Links:

~ The So, You’re A Philosopher homepage: ponderpus.com ~

~ Text or leave a voicemail for Chris : 469.626.7355 ~

Where Chris wanders outside of his comfort zone and right into the largest protest in United States history.

What comes up in this episode:

• Impressions of the protest
• Interviews with protestors
• Lots of crowd noise
• Reflection on philosophy and action
• Discontentedness

Referenced or mentioned:

• Tikkun olam
• Racism
• Representation of the people
• Shut the fuck up and do something
• Being the voice of others
• Vote

A thought to carry with you:
“The punishment which the wise suffer who refuse to take part in the government, is to live under the government of worse men.”

— yer boy Plato

Credits / Links:

• restorativefarms.org
• So, You’re A Philosopher’s homepage: ponderpus.com
• Leave Chris a voicemail: 469.626.7355

Overthinking. Oy! It plagues us all. But…should it? Could we, perhaps, tame this cognitive beast and use it for good?

What comes up in this episode:

• When is thinking overthinking?
• Adaptive vs maladaptive cognition.
• Two juicy Delphic Maxims.
• Mason’s killswitch.
• Crickets.

Referenced or mentioned:

• Socrates
• Seneca
• Kierkegaard (briefly)
• Mason
• Sean

A thought to carry with you:
Your ability to control your thinking is as much in your power as the power to think.

Credits / Links:

• How To Be A Stoic, by Massimo Pigliuccii
• So, You’re A Philosopher’s homepage: ponderpus.com
• Leave Chris a voicemail: 469.626.7355

You were born to be a philosopher. The unique evolutionary output of the human mind is that it is designed to wonder…and philosophy begins in wonder.

What comes up in this episode:

• What is philosophy, anyway?
• There are PHILOSOPHERS and there are philosophers.
• The roles philosophers play.
• Pythagoras gave us more than a theorem…
• Philosophy is inescapable (even if you try really hard).

Referenced or mentioned:

• Pythagorean Harmonics
• Aristotle’s Metaphysics
• Natural Philosophy (kinda)

A thought to carry with you:
The self-help industry is essentially “popularized philosophy.”

Credits / Links:

• So, You’re A Philosopher’s homepage: ponderpus.com
• Leave Chris a voicemail: 469.626.7355