I love the fact that scientists always seek recognition for their work by seriously looking for flaws in other scientists' arguements. That makes the scientific community a very difficult place to enter with weak or untestable ideas. The result is people like Harris, Dennet, Dawkins, Hitchens, Stenger, DJ Groothe, etc. Geniouses.
Sound issues. We asked Dr. Stenger to repeat the audience questions so that I could have some context to the answer of the question. He did not repeat the questions, therefor I have no usable audio for the questions, and I decided to leave the Q and A out for this reason. I apologize.
Ah. Sound issues. I experienced a similar problem at another Victor Stenger talk. The accoustics were so bad, I had trouble understanding him, and the question and answer period was even worse! Once again, he was asked to repeat the questions, but only did so when prompted. By the way, thanks for posting this.
We like to think about thin air or vacuum as nothing. But in fact, nobody has ever experienced nothing.
Maybe the perfect nothingness is as well a Platonic ideal like perfect shapes or mathematical points with zero dimensions are. The ubiquitous zero-point energy state of space-time may well prohibit the idealized »nothing«.
@leporidus I agree with you, but Platonic ideals are dependent upon sapient beings, i.e. beings possessed of a conceptual faculty and these ideals are valid epistemologically without having ontological existence apart from such beings. Aristotle was closer to the mark here than Plato.
If life is a show about nothing, maybe the Hebrew god does exist!?
thruthem 1 year ago
I love the fact that scientists always seek recognition for their work by seriously looking for flaws in other scientists' arguements. That makes the scientific community a very difficult place to enter with weak or untestable ideas. The result is people like Harris, Dennet, Dawkins, Hitchens, Stenger, DJ Groothe, etc. Geniouses.
GHortaV 1 year ago
I'm disappointed that you didn't include the question and answer session.
TLM80209 2 years ago
Sound issues. We asked Dr. Stenger to repeat the audience questions so that I could have some context to the answer of the question. He did not repeat the questions, therefor I have no usable audio for the questions, and I decided to leave the Q and A out for this reason. I apologize.
-Rob
HamboneProductions 2 years ago
Ah. Sound issues. I experienced a similar problem at another Victor Stenger talk. The accoustics were so bad, I had trouble understanding him, and the question and answer period was even worse! Once again, he was asked to repeat the questions, but only did so when prompted. By the way, thanks for posting this.
TLM80209 2 years ago
We like to think about thin air or vacuum as nothing. But in fact, nobody has ever experienced nothing.
Maybe the perfect nothingness is as well a Platonic ideal like perfect shapes or mathematical points with zero dimensions are. The ubiquitous zero-point energy state of space-time may well prohibit the idealized »nothing«.
leporidus 2 years ago
@leporidus I agree with you, but Platonic ideals are dependent upon sapient beings, i.e. beings possessed of a conceptual faculty and these ideals are valid epistemologically without having ontological existence apart from such beings. Aristotle was closer to the mark here than Plato.
MagisterPridgen 2 months ago
Stenger's talk about "nothing" is very unusual.
Ryansarcade9 2 years ago