Category: Philosophy

Stars End S3E37

“Asimovs Foundation Podcast and Philosophy”

I podcast, therefore I am. Or is it, “I podcast, therefore I philosophize?”

If you’ve listened to some of our recent episodes, you might think it’s the latter as recently we’re delved into topics like free will and pondered whether there’s an objective morality beyond things that we might be programmed with, like societal norms or the Three Laws of Robotics.

Well, if you like that stuff, you’ll love this episode! There’s a new book out called ⁠Asimov’s Foundation and Philosophy⁠ (AF&P), a collection of essays about… well, you’ve figured that out, right?

Remember books, by the way? They’re weird. You can read them, but they don’t have batteries and they’re made of wood, of all things!

We discuss this book with three of its authors, who are simultaneously two-and-a-half special guests!

Josef Simpson is one of the editors of AF&P and helped bring the book to life. He also wrote “A Foundation-al Lesson on Free Will and Determinism” for the project.

Our second guest is a long-time friend of the show, ⁠Cora Buhlert⁠! Cora was our first guest way back in Season 1 Episode 7. She is now our first returning guest and the first Hugo Winner to appear on our show as she was chosen the Best Fan Writer for 2022! Congratulations, Cora! Cora contributed “Between Cynicism and Faith” to AF&P.

The book also contains a chapter by our own Dan Fried, “The Dao of Psychohistory!” Thus, Dan is our one-half of a special guest as he splits his duties between interviewer and interviewee!

So if our excursions into philosophy have whetted your appetite for such things, pick up a copy of Asimov’s Foundation and Philosophy⁠. You’re sure to enjoy it! And if you want to read the book without harming a tree or through inaction allowing a tree to come to harm, here’s ⁠one option⁠.

Images used under the fair use doctrine.

Stars End S3E33

“Use the Podcast But Not to Justify Needless Harm to Individuals”

We interrupt our regular program!

Dateline: Capitol District, Trantor

This just in: AppleTV+ has announced the premiere date for Foundation, Season 2: 14 July 2023.

That means that we, at Stars End will be wrapping up Season 3 of the podcast and strapping in for Season 4!

Release Date! Trailer! New Episodes! We’ll talk about it! You’ll listen! It’s a psychohistorical necessity!

You can watch the trailer along with us on the episode right here.

Meanwhile still in season 3, we reach the climax of not merely Robots and Empire but The Great and Glorius Az’s Robot novels collectively! Do we finally get a satisfying ending? You’ll have to listen to find out! And just how philosophical do we get this time? We’re not saying! So tune in and join us already! We promise that no co-host melted down in the recording of this podcast! Probably.

This could very well be where the climax of the novel happens!

And speaking of meltdowns, the ultimate confrontation between Daneel and Giskard on the one hand Amadiro and Mandamus on the other play out against the backdrop of Three Mile Island. In Asimov’s future, this sounds like a vast deserted wilderness and maybe it is 3000 years hence. Not so today. Three Mile Island itself is pretty small, barely big enough for a nuclear power plant or two. Fun fact: TMA-2, the reactor that suffered a partial meltdown and was shut down in 1979 is currently in a state called “Post defueling monitored storage.” It will be officially decommissioned in 2052.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program. If this has been an actual emergency you would have been instructed where to tune in your area for Foundation and official Asimovalia.

Stars End S3E32

“The Very Word Podcast is Taboo in Polite Society”

We hit some big, philosophical issues in this episode.

As a mathematician, it seems odd that I’m frequently the one to point out that some things can’t be quantified. We’re reaching the limits of quantifiability with the Three Laws of Robotics, just as we did with Psychohistory. How do you quantify harm? Take the First Law, for example. Even within a single human, there’s psychological harm or physical harm, at least if you’re Giskard. How do you compare the two? It’s not even possible to measure the two things with the same unit. What’s bigger: 17 furlongs or 200 degrees on the Rankine scale? And there’s also social harm, financial harm, legal harm… the list goes on.

How is this not the cover for The Naked Sun?

It’s even trickier if the question is about the amount of harm between two humans. And what about the Zeroth Law? Quantifying harm between groups of humans? Species of humans? Collections of sapient beings that might be humans? That way, it seems, lies madness. What’s bigger: royal blue or next Tuesday? The only possible path to an answer is the ability to predict the consequences of any action. That brings us back to Psychohistory. It’s a vicious circle.

We get into it as Daneel continues to evolve into a Zeroth Law robot in chapters 15, 16, and 17 of Robots and Empire. Meanwhile, we revisit the caves of steel, experience the pomp and circumstance surrounding Gladia’s visit to Earth, meet a government functionary, and witness an assassination attempt! Plus: a space maneuver worthy of Captain Kirk himself! You’ll enjoy this one!

We also ask: do college professors think? We never quite get to the bottom of that one, either.

Let’s go!

Stars End S3E05

“We Have Something Far Better than Religion We Have a Podcast”

Introducing this episode puts me in mind of Tom Lehrer’s Alma, which was inspired by, as he puts it, “the juiciest, spiciest, raciest obituary it has ever been my pleasure to read.”  The amount of prime humor that one mathematician can fit into a three-and-a-half-minute sound clip is impressive.

Hari Seldon, our protagonal mathematician, isn’t nearly so funny.  In fact, he seems to take himself quite seriously.  But he does get to participate in the juiciest, spiciest, raciest scene in the entire Asimov canon.  And that includes the non-fiction.

That scene is also startlingly strange.  We’ll talk about it.  Then we’ll move on to other grandiose notions like the nature of religion, governmental ethics, and Pascal’s Wager.  Also, there is a robot!

Join us as we follow Hari and Dors through the remainder of their sojourn in Mycogen.  You’ll be glad you did!

Stars End S3E04

“The Podcast as a Whole in its Full Complexity Cannot Be Represented By any Simulation Smaller Than Itself”

After our break, we’re back to reading Prelude to Foundation and things are starting to get weird. Dors and Hari finally journey to Mycogen as we embark on a Voyage to the Space Amish, with apologies to A. E. Van Vogt.

This one has it all! Dors and Chetter deconstructing Hari’s trip to Upperside ad nauseam! Bad bald caps (Boy, does Issac like the word “pate!”)! Rigidly defined gender roles! Lots of complaining! Dors and Hari don’t understand their room! More complaining! And Hari drags some poor guy out of bed in the middle of the night to make him a sandwich. Let’s just say he’s not the ideal guest. Also with some more apologies, this time to Rod Serling, there’s an iPad… and IT’S A COOKBOOK!

Also a new Apple TV+ Minute! Buckle up! This one will be fun!