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Redefining Reality: The Intellectual Implications of Modern Science
Length: 18 hours and 6 minutes
No subject is bigger than reality itself, and nothing is more challenging to understand, since what counts as reality is undergoing continual revision and has been for centuries. For example, the matter that comprises all stars, planets, and living things turns out to be just a fraction of what actually exists. Moreover, we think that we control our actions, but data analytics can predict, with astonishing accuracy, when we will wake up, what we will buy, and even whom we will marry.
The quest to pin down what's real and what's illusory is both philosophical and scientific, a metaphysical search for ultimate reality that goes back to the ancient Greeks. For the last 400 years, this search has been increasingly guided by scientists, who create theories and test them in order to define and redefine reality. And we have developed the power to alter our own reality in major ways - to defeat diseases, compensate for disabilities, and augment our intellect with computers. Where is that trend going?
Experience the thrill of this exciting quest in 36 wide-ranging lectures that touch on many aspects of the ceaseless search for reality. From the birth of the universe to brain science, discover that separating the real from the illusory is an exhilarating intellectual adventure.
Scientists and philosophers are not alone in grappling, at an intellectual level, with reality. Some of the most accessible interpretations are by painters, novelists, filmmakers, and other artists whose works not only draw on the latest discoveries but also sometimes inspire them. Explore examples such as Alice in Wonderland, pointillism, cubism, surrealism, and reality TV.
And since dealing with reality is an experience we all share, this course is designed for people of all backgrounds.
No subject is bigger than reality itself, and nothing is more challenging to understand, since what counts as reality is undergoing continual revision and has been for centuries. For example, the matter that comprises all stars, planets, and living things turns out to be just a fraction of what actually exists. Moreover, we think that we control our actions, but data analytics can predict, with astonishing accuracy, when we will wake up, what we will buy, and even whom we will marry.
The quest to pin down what's real and what's illusory is both philosophical and scientific, a metaphysical search for ultimate reality that goes back to the ancient Greeks. For the last 400 years, this search has been increasingly guided by scientists, who create theories and test them in order to define and redefine reality. And we have developed the power to alter our own reality in major ways - to defeat diseases, compensate for disabilities, and augment our intellect with computers. Where is that trend going?
Experience the thrill of this exciting quest in 36 wide-ranging lectures that touch on many aspects of the ceaseless search for reality. From the birth of the universe to brain science, discover that separating the real from the illusory is an exhilarating intellectual adventure.
Scientists and philosophers are not alone in grappling, at an intellectual level, with reality. Some of the most accessible interpretations are by painters, novelists, filmmakers, and other artists whose works not only draw on the latest discoveries but also sometimes inspire them. Explore examples such as Alice in Wonderland, pointillism, cubism, surrealism, and reality TV.
And since dealing with reality is an experience we all share, this course is designed for people of all backgrounds.
19 pages, Audible Audio
First published June 16, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
March 6, 2016
This book is a travesty. is a con artist (read: philosopher) masquerading as an expert in science. The book contains nothing more in-depth than one would learn from a few hours on Wikipedia.
It starts off with Thomas Kuhn's straw man argument from his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.
He goes on to give an example of the paradigm shift in medicine, from the germ theory of disease to the discovery of the microbiome. But he takes it a step too far, accusing antibiotics in livestock for being a possible cause of the obesity epidemic. He explains antibiotics help the animals grow fatter, faster, and then we eat them, too. All is true except that last part. Human beings don't receive a dose of antibiotics from meat. Because that would be a bad idea, and because we have the FDA.
Metaphysics is important but Steve Gimbel doesn't seem to know squat about it. But I can forgive this. What I cannot forgive is his overuse of the word "problematic". I count no fewer than 30 occurrences in this book! Probably about twice that! (I started counting half-way into the book.)
The book contains the literary equivalent of that crazy aunt's Facebook feed replete with the following nonsense.
* Descartes's about the pineal gland being the principal seat of the soul.
* Penrose's about quantum consciousness arising from neuronal microtubules.
* An incorrect and deeply misleading description of the thought experiment.
* An introduction to chaos theory so piss-poor that you're better off watching .
* The claim that free will doesn't exist for creatures living in a deterministic world.
* A whole chapter praising the Freud-inspired and of recovering (read: fabricating) memories of abuse using hypnosis with no mention of its being rejected by modern neuroscience.
* A credulous recitation of Jung's pseudoscientific idea of the with no mention of its being rejected by modern neuroscience.
* Claim that mitochondrial eve is evidence for a common human ancestor which is backwards!
* A gullible description of with no mention of its being rejected in modern evolutionary biology.
* I kid you not, a movie review of James Cameron's Avatar in which the author tries to make a case for makes the noble savage myth with a childlike argument from fiction.
* A conspiracy theorist's legalistically ignorant description of "corporate personhood".
* An unskeptical description of ALH84001 the meteorite from Mars that actually probably doesn't contain nano-scale fossils.
* The false dilemma that medicine is either "medical" or "cosmetic".
* A definition of "medical" in the above context which is tantamount to an appeal to nature fallacy.
* An bizarre claim that medical brain death is somehow a "Dualist" notion.
* "Alchemy, in it's heyday, was real science." hahahahahhahahah no.
* The meaningless question, "Does death remove personhood or is death what makes us people?"
* At least a hundred other instances of .
It starts off with Thomas Kuhn's straw man argument from his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.
"Scientists do not question the paradigm."Which is total bullshit. Anyone who reads from or the on a daily basis can see through this right away.
He goes on to give an example of the paradigm shift in medicine, from the germ theory of disease to the discovery of the microbiome. But he takes it a step too far, accusing antibiotics in livestock for being a possible cause of the obesity epidemic. He explains antibiotics help the animals grow fatter, faster, and then we eat them, too. All is true except that last part. Human beings don't receive a dose of antibiotics from meat. Because that would be a bad idea, and because we have the FDA.
Metaphysics is important but Steve Gimbel doesn't seem to know squat about it. But I can forgive this. What I cannot forgive is his overuse of the word "problematic". I count no fewer than 30 occurrences in this book! Probably about twice that! (I started counting half-way into the book.)
The book contains the literary equivalent of that crazy aunt's Facebook feed replete with the following nonsense.
* Descartes's about the pineal gland being the principal seat of the soul.
* Penrose's about quantum consciousness arising from neuronal microtubules.
* An incorrect and deeply misleading description of the thought experiment.
* An introduction to chaos theory so piss-poor that you're better off watching .
* The claim that free will doesn't exist for creatures living in a deterministic world.
* A whole chapter praising the Freud-inspired and of recovering (read: fabricating) memories of abuse using hypnosis with no mention of its being rejected by modern neuroscience.
* A credulous recitation of Jung's pseudoscientific idea of the with no mention of its being rejected by modern neuroscience.
* Claim that mitochondrial eve is evidence for a common human ancestor which is backwards!
* A gullible description of with no mention of its being rejected in modern evolutionary biology.
* I kid you not, a movie review of James Cameron's Avatar in which the author tries to make a case for makes the noble savage myth with a childlike argument from fiction.
* A conspiracy theorist's legalistically ignorant description of "corporate personhood".
* An unskeptical description of ALH84001 the meteorite from Mars that actually probably doesn't contain nano-scale fossils.
* The false dilemma that medicine is either "medical" or "cosmetic".
* A definition of "medical" in the above context which is tantamount to an appeal to nature fallacy.
* An bizarre claim that medical brain death is somehow a "Dualist" notion.
* "Alchemy, in it's heyday, was real science." hahahahahhahahah no.
* The meaningless question, "Does death remove personhood or is death what makes us people?"
* At least a hundred other instances of .
June 24, 2018
I'm not much on philosophy, so when I saw the first lecture had "Metaphysics" in the title, I was skeptical, but I quickly found out that Gimbel is an excellent, practical lecturer. If anything, he goes through some very important points too quickly. Great lead-ins from each lecture to the next.
He has a good sense of humor. There's quips here & there to great effect. His examples of how science has influenced art & every day life are good. He shows it in art & literature. Very good examples. I do wish he had consistently gotten correct. He did the first time, but then changed 'Harsh' to something else - rough, maybe. Still, his point was well made.
What did science, the scientific method, mean to our civilization? It took away the mystery in the world. No longer was it something unknowable by the common man & that democratized society by cutting the legs out from under the existing power structures of religion & the divine right of rulers. Of course, there are always holdovers in our thinking & Gimbel mentions some of these.
Best of all, he does a great job of describing these basic ideas as they came about & how they as well as the people worked together to develop them. It's really helpful to see how the various scientists & their discoveries played out in broad form over time building on each other. He really makes sense of the progression.
It might be a bit too simple, but I appreciate that since it would be very easy to get too complicated. The first half dozen lectures deal primarily with physics & math, so he barely mentioned germ theory or the theory of evolution. He does eventually & covers them well, but the 19th & 20th centuries had so many society-shattering revelations that it's great he kept it simple & understandable. He eventually gets into psychology, AI, & Big Data, so he covers all bases.
We lived with Aristotle & Euclid for something like 2000 years before Newton & his ilk changed our worldview. Only a few centuries later Einstein & company pulled the rug out from under that & Quantum Mechanics expanded & changed their theories mere decades later, about the beginning of my generation. The changes since the 1950s are just mind boggling, accelerating ever faster. Some of the wildest dreams of SF writers are commonplace while some seem hopelessly dated.
All of these are changing our views on reality in amazing ways, but it also brings us a lot of questions. Toward the end, he kept leaving more open. What is mental illness? Homosexuality was one as late as 1974 in the US, I think. A child can now have up to 7 parents without trying to hard with our current tech. I was disappointed that he didn't mention the trouble we're having defining a GMO.
Excellent series of lectures. He missed very few things & glossed over some areas that I wish he would have gone into a bit more, but it was a fantastic job. Who would think that 18 hours of lectures would seem to short? It did. I wanted more. Highly recommended!
--------------------
This is not the correct edition. I guess this is one of The Great Courses that GoodReads has decided isn't a book. Jerks. This is course 4140 & you can find it here:
It's pricey - $220 right now for the audio version & $100 more for the video. The audio version I got from the library is fine, though.
Table of Contents
1 - Metaphysics and the Nature of Science
2 - Defining Reality
3 - Mathematics in Crisis
4 - Special Relativity
5 - General Relativity
6 - Big Bang Cosmology
7 - The Reality of Atoms
8 - Quantum Mechanics
9 - Quantum Reid Theory
10 - Chaos Theory
11 - Dark Matter and Dark Energy
12 - Grand Unified Theories
13 - Quantum Consciousness
14 - Defining Reality in the life Sciences
15 - Genes and Identity
16 - The Birth of Psychology
17 - Jung and the Behaviorists
18 - The Rediscovery of the Mind
19 - The Caring Brain
20 - Brain and Self
21 - Evolutionary Psychology
22 - The Birth of Sociology
23 - Competition and Cooperation
24 - Race and Reality
25 - Social Progress
26 - The Reality of Money
27 - The Origin of life
28 - Exoplanets and Extraterrestrial life
29 - Technology and Death
30 - Cloning and Identity
31 - Genetic Engineering
32 - Medically Enhanced Humans
33 - Transhumans: Making living Gods
34 - Artificial Intelligence
35 - The Internet and Virtual Reality
36 - Data Analytics
He has a good sense of humor. There's quips here & there to great effect. His examples of how science has influenced art & every day life are good. He shows it in art & literature. Very good examples. I do wish he had consistently gotten correct. He did the first time, but then changed 'Harsh' to something else - rough, maybe. Still, his point was well made.
What did science, the scientific method, mean to our civilization? It took away the mystery in the world. No longer was it something unknowable by the common man & that democratized society by cutting the legs out from under the existing power structures of religion & the divine right of rulers. Of course, there are always holdovers in our thinking & Gimbel mentions some of these.
Best of all, he does a great job of describing these basic ideas as they came about & how they as well as the people worked together to develop them. It's really helpful to see how the various scientists & their discoveries played out in broad form over time building on each other. He really makes sense of the progression.
It might be a bit too simple, but I appreciate that since it would be very easy to get too complicated. The first half dozen lectures deal primarily with physics & math, so he barely mentioned germ theory or the theory of evolution. He does eventually & covers them well, but the 19th & 20th centuries had so many society-shattering revelations that it's great he kept it simple & understandable. He eventually gets into psychology, AI, & Big Data, so he covers all bases.
We lived with Aristotle & Euclid for something like 2000 years before Newton & his ilk changed our worldview. Only a few centuries later Einstein & company pulled the rug out from under that & Quantum Mechanics expanded & changed their theories mere decades later, about the beginning of my generation. The changes since the 1950s are just mind boggling, accelerating ever faster. Some of the wildest dreams of SF writers are commonplace while some seem hopelessly dated.
All of these are changing our views on reality in amazing ways, but it also brings us a lot of questions. Toward the end, he kept leaving more open. What is mental illness? Homosexuality was one as late as 1974 in the US, I think. A child can now have up to 7 parents without trying to hard with our current tech. I was disappointed that he didn't mention the trouble we're having defining a GMO.
Excellent series of lectures. He missed very few things & glossed over some areas that I wish he would have gone into a bit more, but it was a fantastic job. Who would think that 18 hours of lectures would seem to short? It did. I wanted more. Highly recommended!
--------------------
This is not the correct edition. I guess this is one of The Great Courses that GoodReads has decided isn't a book. Jerks. This is course 4140 & you can find it here:
It's pricey - $220 right now for the audio version & $100 more for the video. The audio version I got from the library is fine, though.
Table of Contents
1 - Metaphysics and the Nature of Science
2 - Defining Reality
3 - Mathematics in Crisis
4 - Special Relativity
5 - General Relativity
6 - Big Bang Cosmology
7 - The Reality of Atoms
8 - Quantum Mechanics
9 - Quantum Reid Theory
10 - Chaos Theory
11 - Dark Matter and Dark Energy
12 - Grand Unified Theories
13 - Quantum Consciousness
14 - Defining Reality in the life Sciences
15 - Genes and Identity
16 - The Birth of Psychology
17 - Jung and the Behaviorists
18 - The Rediscovery of the Mind
19 - The Caring Brain
20 - Brain and Self
21 - Evolutionary Psychology
22 - The Birth of Sociology
23 - Competition and Cooperation
24 - Race and Reality
25 - Social Progress
26 - The Reality of Money
27 - The Origin of life
28 - Exoplanets and Extraterrestrial life
29 - Technology and Death
30 - Cloning and Identity
31 - Genetic Engineering
32 - Medically Enhanced Humans
33 - Transhumans: Making living Gods
34 - Artificial Intelligence
35 - The Internet and Virtual Reality
36 - Data Analytics
March 12, 2016
This was a shockingly broad academic survey of reality. After reading it, I felt as if I had just gotten a summary of some of the best parts of my entire 4 years of undergrad. Gimble began his lectures by concentrating on the universe at large. This is because all things, e.g. cells, animals, the earth, our brains,our thoughts, etc, are made up of the atoms forged in the early universe. Once he described where matter came from, he proceeded to examine the reality of matter in its various forms. Glorious.
What Gimble does very well:
His explanation of particle/field physics was wonderful. I have only ever heard such an uncluttered explanation from the likes of Sean Carroll. There are so many particles and they all do different things and are governed by different forces, it can be a really tricky subject to tackle. He can't be as thorough as Carroll about forces including the Higgs, because his lecture is much broader. But, I was impressed.
He was equally gifted at describing Einstein's view of the universe. Again, Gimble provided one of the most easy to understand descriptions of general and special relativity. One of the best short histories I have heard. His explanation of the equivalence of gravity and acceleration was absolutely wonderful.
What I think he does not do well:
The words "free will" and quantum physics should never be used together. Period. We simply do not have any solid science for that discussion. I would not have minded a discussion of free will that involved a spattering of eliminative materialism with some outdated dualism. That would have at least been digestible. But to bring quantum physics into the discussion at this point, with a complete lack of data, was a disappointment for me.
Gimble also did not research his neuroscience lectures enough. He did ok with neuroeconomics but not basic neuro. He specifically said neurons do not regenerate. We have known from at least as far back as 2005 that indeed they do. Meditation (8 weeks +), exercise, and various medications result in new neuron growth in the hippocampus. Those new cells then migrate along microglial cells toward the outer cortex, resulting in new neurons in the larger brain. It is a slow process to be sure, unlike a skin cell that is damaged. So losing brain cells is a serious matter. However, there is zero question that neruogenesis occurs. He also fully accepts the mirror neuron hypothesis about empathy and morality when there is a lot of evidence to suggest it might be much more complicated than that. Yes mirror neurons are activated when seeing others carry out actions. However, there is no solid evidence to suggest they are where morality arises. In fact, better evidence to include would have been Josh Green vmPFC and dlPFC in moral decision making. That is fairly solid evidence for morality centers in the brain.
His free will lectures didn't make up a large proportion of the series and it was sandwiched in between fantastic lectures. I was incredibly happy to see him include updated mechanisms of inheritance. In earlier lectures, Gimble presents all the usual genetics information- e.g. Mendel. But then addressed modification of DNA by environmental factors, e.g. a baby can have up to 7 biological parents contribute to their biological being. After discussing the development of a child, he returned to free will, and it was much more palatable in this context.
Some more great moments from this series came from Gimble discussions of thermodynamics in the whole universe, in stars, on plant earth and in living things. He also provided information on the work that synthesizes the conditions at hydrothermal vents, in an attempt to understand from where first life originated. Absolutely wonderful discussion. I highly recommend this series.
What Gimble does very well:
His explanation of particle/field physics was wonderful. I have only ever heard such an uncluttered explanation from the likes of Sean Carroll. There are so many particles and they all do different things and are governed by different forces, it can be a really tricky subject to tackle. He can't be as thorough as Carroll about forces including the Higgs, because his lecture is much broader. But, I was impressed.
He was equally gifted at describing Einstein's view of the universe. Again, Gimble provided one of the most easy to understand descriptions of general and special relativity. One of the best short histories I have heard. His explanation of the equivalence of gravity and acceleration was absolutely wonderful.
What I think he does not do well:
The words "free will" and quantum physics should never be used together. Period. We simply do not have any solid science for that discussion. I would not have minded a discussion of free will that involved a spattering of eliminative materialism with some outdated dualism. That would have at least been digestible. But to bring quantum physics into the discussion at this point, with a complete lack of data, was a disappointment for me.
Gimble also did not research his neuroscience lectures enough. He did ok with neuroeconomics but not basic neuro. He specifically said neurons do not regenerate. We have known from at least as far back as 2005 that indeed they do. Meditation (8 weeks +), exercise, and various medications result in new neuron growth in the hippocampus. Those new cells then migrate along microglial cells toward the outer cortex, resulting in new neurons in the larger brain. It is a slow process to be sure, unlike a skin cell that is damaged. So losing brain cells is a serious matter. However, there is zero question that neruogenesis occurs. He also fully accepts the mirror neuron hypothesis about empathy and morality when there is a lot of evidence to suggest it might be much more complicated than that. Yes mirror neurons are activated when seeing others carry out actions. However, there is no solid evidence to suggest they are where morality arises. In fact, better evidence to include would have been Josh Green vmPFC and dlPFC in moral decision making. That is fairly solid evidence for morality centers in the brain.
His free will lectures didn't make up a large proportion of the series and it was sandwiched in between fantastic lectures. I was incredibly happy to see him include updated mechanisms of inheritance. In earlier lectures, Gimble presents all the usual genetics information- e.g. Mendel. But then addressed modification of DNA by environmental factors, e.g. a baby can have up to 7 biological parents contribute to their biological being. After discussing the development of a child, he returned to free will, and it was much more palatable in this context.
Some more great moments from this series came from Gimble discussions of thermodynamics in the whole universe, in stars, on plant earth and in living things. He also provided information on the work that synthesizes the conditions at hydrothermal vents, in an attempt to understand from where first life originated. Absolutely wonderful discussion. I highly recommend this series.
July 13, 2015
All of the cool parts of all the sciences (and social sciences) are covered in this lecture. The lecture is somewhat equivalent to taking the first year undergraduate course of study where you didn't have to worry about memorizing irrelevant facts or learn the mathematics. He tells you what you need to know about physics, geology, economics, sociology, psychology, and even why deductive systems such as mathematics with it's different orders of infinity is so cool and relevant to understanding the nature of reality.
The lecturer ties each lecture together by linking the growth of each subject by how we first understand the individual item (say a rock), then the relationship between the rocks (say gravity) and then the web for which the rocks live in (say the universe).
The paradigms we use to describe our reality are part of the current understanding and when somebody steps out of that paradigm and sees the world differently we first say they are spouting nonsense, but overtime the new paradigm can take hold. Newton was called crazy (action at a distance, what an absurd concept!), Einstein was challenged until he wasn't then he never accepts the quantum mechanics, and so on.
Always, the lecture educates and entertains. He will tie difficult points to a movie, a book, or a painting and show how it is relevant to the point he is making. "Frankenstein" the book finally makes sense to me.
The lecturer ties each lecture together by linking the growth of each subject by how we first understand the individual item (say a rock), then the relationship between the rocks (say gravity) and then the web for which the rocks live in (say the universe).
The paradigms we use to describe our reality are part of the current understanding and when somebody steps out of that paradigm and sees the world differently we first say they are spouting nonsense, but overtime the new paradigm can take hold. Newton was called crazy (action at a distance, what an absurd concept!), Einstein was challenged until he wasn't then he never accepts the quantum mechanics, and so on.
Always, the lecture educates and entertains. He will tie difficult points to a movie, a book, or a painting and show how it is relevant to the point he is making. "Frankenstein" the book finally makes sense to me.
November 2, 2017
This crazy fucked up thing about everything. A history of history with philosophy and science at no extra charge. It's intimidating. I liked it.
July 26, 2019
This was a lot of information and a deep look into scientific evolvement. Overall it's a reminder that more knowledge changes perspective and understanding of the world around us.
January 12, 2018
I'm sad to have finished this book because I loved it all the way through and wished it would continue.
It's first third talks about most great theories in Physics and I thought that would be its only subject. But then it does the same for Chemistry, and then Biology, and Psychology, Sociology, Economics, Mathematics, Computer Science, and probably a few others I can't remember anymore. It's a fantastic journey through the history of humanity's great intelectual achievements.
The author tries to come up with a meta-theory of how those areas evolved from theories with a focus on atoms, to theories focusing on relationships, and ending with theories focusing on the whole. I don't know if I buy this completely, but it doesn't matter because the journey was delightful.
Since this isn't a normal book but a series of (36) lectures, the author is reading his own notes. I loved his eloquence and his sense of humor. Looking for him on Google and Youtube I found out that he does stand-up comedy as a hobby. And it shows. It seems that he tries hard to deliver the lectures in all seriousness but many times jokes come through unexpectedly, making me laugh out loud many times during the listening. What a treat!
It's first third talks about most great theories in Physics and I thought that would be its only subject. But then it does the same for Chemistry, and then Biology, and Psychology, Sociology, Economics, Mathematics, Computer Science, and probably a few others I can't remember anymore. It's a fantastic journey through the history of humanity's great intelectual achievements.
The author tries to come up with a meta-theory of how those areas evolved from theories with a focus on atoms, to theories focusing on relationships, and ending with theories focusing on the whole. I don't know if I buy this completely, but it doesn't matter because the journey was delightful.
Since this isn't a normal book but a series of (36) lectures, the author is reading his own notes. I loved his eloquence and his sense of humor. Looking for him on Google and Youtube I found out that he does stand-up comedy as a hobby. And it shows. It seems that he tries hard to deliver the lectures in all seriousness but many times jokes come through unexpectedly, making me laugh out loud many times during the listening. What a treat!
January 9, 2024
This was fun. I will keep it on my shelf and read bits of it again.
February 2, 2017
If you chase two (or more) rabbits, you will not catch either one. Gimbel had a select few chapters that I enjoyed, a lot. However, I felt that overall he touched on far too many topics (chemistry, sociology, AI, and even more) which made it difficult to establish any strong correlation between the lectures. In my opinion, the ambitious title, "Redefining Reality", could have been better supported had there been less topic changes and more times to delve into the questions while covering only a few of the topics more thoroughly. Having said that, I would still recommend these lectures to anyone looking for a broad history of physical sciences.
December 2, 2017
Much too broad. The sections I have the best understanding of (QM from university, genetics from my own interests) are poorly and often inaccurately portrayed. The rest of the lectures are entertaining but I can’t say if they are accurate or not.
If you are trying to get a condensed story of everything then this is a good start but if you are trying to expand your understanding of one or two specific topics, get a more narrow scopes book or lecture by someone in that field.
If you are trying to get a condensed story of everything then this is a good start but if you are trying to expand your understanding of one or two specific topics, get a more narrow scopes book or lecture by someone in that field.
December 22, 2016
An AWESOME read. I loved every second of it.
It touches all the major edges of the science and their implications. It gives a fair scientific view on different philosophies and understandings and shows what we don't know.
I loved it.
It touches all the major edges of the science and their implications. It gives a fair scientific view on different philosophies and understandings and shows what we don't know.
I loved it.
October 31, 2022
Expired before I could finish. Toe curlingly exciting. Cutting edge physics explained well.
October 11, 2022
Absolutely the best summary of such a wide range of scientific subjects that I have ever come across. The information is very well explained and the audio performance excellent. I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in getting a birds-eye view of the scientific ideas that have shaped our understanding of reality and our culture.
I do have one quibble worth mentioning: I felt the presentation of the uncertainty principle in quantum mechanics was misleading on a very important point.
Also, it should be mentioned that throughout this book the lecturer often expresses the perspective of people who were promoting a given idea in terms that that person might use themselves. This might give some people the impression that the presenter is claiming that those views are correct when he isn't.
And, while there are a few places where it could be argued that the presenter is skewing the information toward his preferred interpretation, I think he generally does a good job of maintaining a neutral position when discussing points that are subject to significant controversy.
I do have one quibble worth mentioning: I felt the presentation of the uncertainty principle in quantum mechanics was misleading on a very important point.
Also, it should be mentioned that throughout this book the lecturer often expresses the perspective of people who were promoting a given idea in terms that that person might use themselves. This might give some people the impression that the presenter is claiming that those views are correct when he isn't.
And, while there are a few places where it could be argued that the presenter is skewing the information toward his preferred interpretation, I think he generally does a good job of maintaining a neutral position when discussing points that are subject to significant controversy.
January 23, 2024
Fun and interesting course from a presenter who is easy to listen to and doesn't use those annoying fake-mime hand gestures that annoy me so much. This is a long GC at 36 lectures, but it covers a lot of areas of science. It's not meant to be an in-depth study of anything, but to be part history, part survey, and part "what if." Kind of a science buffet sprinkled with lots of commentary. I liked how he explained a scientific theory as it was understood when it was new and shiny, then sort of popped the balloon and exposed the "but" of them. Science, like many things, changes as our tools and processes improve. What was taken as gospel once is often overwritten as more discoveries are made.
November 24, 2021
Wow it was long but I felt like I learned a lot. Or more like I listened to a lot that went over my head:)
December 13, 2019
A (Very) General Survey Course
AT A GLANCE:
Sprawling coverage of everything!
CONTENT:
There is a wide array of topics covered, from physics to biology to artificial intelligence (and seemingly everything in between). The lecturer is a philosopher of science and seemingly a jack-of-all-trades familiar with the basics of many fields. Though there is some progression (atomistic views give way to uncertainty, specialized corners and future predictions on the frontiers of human modification), I was left wanting for more structure. Some of the lectures serve more as self-contained intros to a field than as descriptions of how reality was redefined. I cannot attest to the veracity of everything presented (who could?) but did notice at least one erroneous oversimplification in the section dealing with IQ.
NARRATOR:
Not wishing to sound harsh, but to my ear Professor Gimbel does not have a pleasant voice. He is highly articulate and I became used to it over time; overall a good presenter.
OVERALL:
Recommended to those interested in popular science or how its various areas developed. It could fill in a few gaps of an undergraduate education, and there are enough interesting tidbits to challenge and inform anyone.
AT A GLANCE:
Sprawling coverage of everything!
CONTENT:
There is a wide array of topics covered, from physics to biology to artificial intelligence (and seemingly everything in between). The lecturer is a philosopher of science and seemingly a jack-of-all-trades familiar with the basics of many fields. Though there is some progression (atomistic views give way to uncertainty, specialized corners and future predictions on the frontiers of human modification), I was left wanting for more structure. Some of the lectures serve more as self-contained intros to a field than as descriptions of how reality was redefined. I cannot attest to the veracity of everything presented (who could?) but did notice at least one erroneous oversimplification in the section dealing with IQ.
NARRATOR:
Not wishing to sound harsh, but to my ear Professor Gimbel does not have a pleasant voice. He is highly articulate and I became used to it over time; overall a good presenter.
OVERALL:
Recommended to those interested in popular science or how its various areas developed. It could fill in a few gaps of an undergraduate education, and there are enough interesting tidbits to challenge and inform anyone.
June 30, 2016
This was fascinating and not at all what I was expecting. This lecture series houses a LOT of content. On a fundamental level, it is basically a history of the many scientific theories about reality, how they are received, how they impacted the public and aspects of people's lives, and how they have changed over time. There was a fair amount of detail about each of the theories, at least enough to give you an idea of why they were considered. The narrator did a fantastic job of pointing out the solid points of each argument, but also presented the problems of each argument. What I thought was the most fascinating was how changes to scientific theories impacted other aspects of our world. He talks about how theories impacted psychology, sociology, art, behavior, politics, all sorts of things. I never knew, for instance, that pointillism can be directly traced to the discovery of the smaller particles that make up our universe. I highly recommend this course if you want a change of pace from a normal science lecture.
April 9, 2016
Each lecture was like taking an introductory course on the discoveries in each of the major fields of science. Nothing startlingly new if you have some knowledge in that area, but a nice refresher. He’s fun to listen to and held my attention for the first 13 lectures (discoveries in mathematics, relativity and quantum theory.) I zoned out a little during the lectures on the social sciences, so I can’t really speak to those. But, he brought me back with genetics and technology. He added something a little unique: he discussed the relationship between the scientific discoveries from each field and the art that it inspired. He also cited a few books I’ll add to my reading list (love when professors do that.)
September 20, 2024
Book Review: “Redefining Reality: The Intellectual Implications of Modern Science� by Steven Gimbel
“Redefining Reality� by Steven Gimbel offers an engaging and thought-provoking exploration of how modern science has transformed our understanding of reality. Gimbel, a philosopher of science, masterfully presents complex ideas from physics, biology, and philosophy in an accessible, entertaining style, making this book an easy read or listen for both novices and enthusiasts alike.
What stands out most about the book is Gimbel’s ability to weave together a narrative that doesn’t just explain scientific advancements but invites readers to reflect on the deeper intellectual implications of these discoveries. From quantum mechanics to evolutionary biology, the author challenges us to rethink our perceptions of the world and our place in it.
This book is a rare blend of intellectual depth and lighthearted storytelling. Gimbel’s humor and clear explanations make it highly enjoyable while still tackling profound questions. It’s a book that more people should read, especially those curious about the intersection of science and philosophy. Whether you’re interested in physics, philosophy, or simply expanding your perspective on reality, “Redefining Reality� is an enriching and highly recommended read.
“Redefining Reality� by Steven Gimbel offers an engaging and thought-provoking exploration of how modern science has transformed our understanding of reality. Gimbel, a philosopher of science, masterfully presents complex ideas from physics, biology, and philosophy in an accessible, entertaining style, making this book an easy read or listen for both novices and enthusiasts alike.
What stands out most about the book is Gimbel’s ability to weave together a narrative that doesn’t just explain scientific advancements but invites readers to reflect on the deeper intellectual implications of these discoveries. From quantum mechanics to evolutionary biology, the author challenges us to rethink our perceptions of the world and our place in it.
This book is a rare blend of intellectual depth and lighthearted storytelling. Gimbel’s humor and clear explanations make it highly enjoyable while still tackling profound questions. It’s a book that more people should read, especially those curious about the intersection of science and philosophy. Whether you’re interested in physics, philosophy, or simply expanding your perspective on reality, “Redefining Reality� is an enriching and highly recommended read.
August 17, 2023
In 2015 The Teaching Company released Professor Steven Gimbel’s 36 lecture course “”Redefining Reality: The Intellectual Implications of Modern Science.� Gimbel is a Philosophy of Science Professor at Gettysburg College where he teaches courses about how science and technology impact world cultures. His 18 hour audio course has three parts. Part 1 is about metaphysics and how scientific knowledge defines reality in the context of relativity, mathematics, creation of the universe, and quantum theory. Part 1 also has lectures about chaos theory and how dark matter and energy operate in our universe. Part 2 lectures discuss genetics, the birth of Freudian psychology, Jung’s theories about behaviorism, the human brain, evolutionary psychology, sociology, and racial relationships based on competition and cooperation. The last set of lectures (Part 3) are about present day economics, extraterrestrial life, cloning, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality. These lectures also feature data analytics and how these analytics impact today’s current events. The 272 page course guidebook is well done and has an excellent annotated 15 page bibliography. The guidebook does not have a date timeline nor a glossary of terms. (P)
May 1, 2024
This was quite disappointing.
I guess I was expecting more on the philosophical implications of the scientific discoveries.
There was very little of that.
I did not expect reality TV shows to be mentioned in a course such as this one, I was not sure if I should consider that part of the intellectual implications.
Maybe “Cultural implications of Modern Science� should be a more fitting title for this course?
I am not sure how much Gimbel knows about art history, I am an amateur too.
However, based on the little that I know, to connect the theory of relativity to cubism and to link atomic theory to pointillism seems very unconvincing, and probably even inappropriate to bring up in a set of lectures talking about the implications of the scientific discoveries.
I also felt that some of the explanations on the scientific discoveries might have been too overly-simplified.
Maybe sticking to physics and taking more time to cover each topic would be better?
Topics in this course that interest me ( need to do more reading on):
Theory of Relativity
Quantum Field Theory
Grand Unified Theory
Artificial Intelligence
Big Bang cosmology
Math: Gödel and Cantor
I guess I was expecting more on the philosophical implications of the scientific discoveries.
There was very little of that.
I did not expect reality TV shows to be mentioned in a course such as this one, I was not sure if I should consider that part of the intellectual implications.
Maybe “Cultural implications of Modern Science� should be a more fitting title for this course?
I am not sure how much Gimbel knows about art history, I am an amateur too.
However, based on the little that I know, to connect the theory of relativity to cubism and to link atomic theory to pointillism seems very unconvincing, and probably even inappropriate to bring up in a set of lectures talking about the implications of the scientific discoveries.
I also felt that some of the explanations on the scientific discoveries might have been too overly-simplified.
Maybe sticking to physics and taking more time to cover each topic would be better?
Topics in this course that interest me ( need to do more reading on):
Theory of Relativity
Quantum Field Theory
Grand Unified Theory
Artificial Intelligence
Big Bang cosmology
Math: Gödel and Cantor
October 21, 2017
This one was not really what I expected, but it was good! Gimbel works his way through the history revelations of scientific revolutions in everything from biology, astronomy, physics, ecology, economics, psychology, technology, and probably a bunch that I'm forgetting. He discusses everything from dark matter to big data (did you know there's apparently a link between how many cotton balls a woman buys and exactly what trimester she's in?!) Some of it went over my head and I didn't feel like it was explained terribly well, but he's really good at pulling in fictional examples of everything, which I LOVE; it makes it really accessible and keeps the drier topics interesting. Also, he slips in some REALLY funny jokes.
I will say that from time to time his cadence gets annoying. I listen to a lot of audiobooks, and there are some people I can listen to for hours, and he is not one of them. Near the end, I was kicking the speed up to 1.20, and that was a good speed, I think.
All in all, though, this is a good one.
I will say that from time to time his cadence gets annoying. I listen to a lot of audiobooks, and there are some people I can listen to for hours, and he is not one of them. Near the end, I was kicking the speed up to 1.20, and that was a good speed, I think.
All in all, though, this is a good one.
December 12, 2017
A wide ranging introduction to the history of a variety of different topics including physics, chemistry, biology, economics and sociology. Material will be familiar to anyone who has taken a course in the history of science or read popular science books. The professor is a good speaker who keeps the material engaging. Since the course is listed as modern philosophy I was expecting more about the "intellectual implications" of these discoveries. Unfortunately, the 30 minute lecture format of the Great Courses is not well suited to this topic. By the time the lecturer has described the mechanics and history of quantum mechanics or DNA, for example, he often has only a few minutes left to describe the wider cultural impact though art, literature, film etc. This cultural analysis is the most interesting&original part of the lectures and yet it's often compressed into the last five minutes of each lecture.
March 17, 2017
The only real complaint I have is that he talks to abstractly. This could be challenging for anybody who is unfamiliar with any of the areas that he is talking about. Thankfully he title every single lecture with the area that he's talking about so in case you are lost you can pick up a book about that topic to understand it more thoroughly.
If you ever find yourself stuck on one of his lectures, I would highly recommend going back to the title The lecture and find out what topic he's talking about. Then you can find a book about it and save it for later to read.
As for me, I found myself lost in a couple lectures and I got a couple books explaining deeper about the topic that I'm struggling with. Time goes by I may go back to this lecture series so I can find out what I don't understand about reality.
If you ever find yourself stuck on one of his lectures, I would highly recommend going back to the title The lecture and find out what topic he's talking about. Then you can find a book about it and save it for later to read.
As for me, I found myself lost in a couple lectures and I got a couple books explaining deeper about the topic that I'm struggling with. Time goes by I may go back to this lecture series so I can find out what I don't understand about reality.
August 26, 2017
it's so broad that it ends up kinda giving you a general introduction to a bunch of different things, relativity, quantum physics, corporate entities, economics, AI and modern technology-driven algorithms, interspersedly dipping into jungian psychology and various philosophies. and it all sort of loosely falls under the umbrella of macro systems that are built up of micro level 'atoms'. he keeps coming back to that metaphor in each of the systems he talks about. but for the most part i sort of forgot we were even talking about re-defining reality and was just quite entertained at the informative overviews i was getting on each subject, though it's mostly pretty basic stuff. all the physics and quantum physics stuff was by far the most involved and most interesting. just read the first quarter
August 25, 2020
These are wonderfully far-ranging lectures that connect some of the most disparate subjects in both science and the humanities. Obviously, this has to be at a very high level...and it is...but the energetic and informative organization and presentation by Dr Gimbel made for a sort of philosophical theory of everything (I watched the Great Courses lecture series covering that…the heavy duty physics…at roughly the same time...no comparison there) that truly make you think. And that's why we're all here, eh?
I'll not get into the weeds of the content since you'll get a better idea reading the chapter synopses, but will say that I was certainly amazed by the way Gimbel transitioned from physics and cosmology into psychology and AI. Whoa, dude!
This one's worth every dime...but wait for the theory of coupons and sales to handle that entropy thingy!
I'll not get into the weeds of the content since you'll get a better idea reading the chapter synopses, but will say that I was certainly amazed by the way Gimbel transitioned from physics and cosmology into psychology and AI. Whoa, dude!
This one's worth every dime...but wait for the theory of coupons and sales to handle that entropy thingy!
July 24, 2017
Incredible lecture series that covers everything from modern physics to genetic engineering and economics to psychology. This is supposed to give you a general view concerning the modern debates and theories regarding how everything in the world works, both science and social science. It shows you how we got to our modern views and then reflects on how these theories reflect in our every day culture. Prof Gimbel usually gives a movie, book, or theater example of how these complex theories resonate in our everyday lives. I would highly recommend this series to anyone, especially if you're not familiar with modern theories. Prof Gimbel makes it easy and fun to learn
November 4, 2018
Well, you have to admire someone who manages to shove quantum physics, quantum computing, psychology and sociology in a single book. It is done in a way that is somewhat seamless for whoever is listening to the lessons (which was probably the most impressive part of these lessons), but at the same time it kinda feels that these lessons kinda lack focus. Everything that Gimbel talked about in this book is very relevant for Science, but I still feel like I missed the point of those lessons. It kinda felt like a bunch of trivia? Which is fine, I like trivia, but I'm not sure of how exactly I can apply the knowledge that I have just acquired...
November 16, 2020
Excellent read... demonstrating how our understanding of, well, everything evolves. Moreover, that evolution of thought follows a very similar trajectory regardless of the field of study. An excellent read. It is incredibly unique in that it one of they very few books I've read that follows a spiral format that actually works and doesn't leave me feeling, "we've already gone over this before." There is some geeky stuff in here, but the author does an excellent job of making it accessible to everyone.
February 8, 2024
Unfortunately, I didn't learn a single thing from this course. Don't get me wrong, it is packed full of information, but most of that information is commonly known or picked up just by living your life. Granted, a few of the topics can most likely only be introduced to the reader/learner via college; so if you had attended college, then there is absolutely nothing this course has to offer. If you did not attend college then you might get something out of this course. I would not recommend this course to anybody I know.
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