World Model · podcast knowledge graph

188 | Arik Kershenbaum on What Aliens Will Be Like

2022-03-14 · 81 min · episode 188 · 9 entities

episode page audio

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    evidence rules-v4
    author of The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy
  • → hosted by Sean Carroll person
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    evidence rules-v4
    Feed author/publisher: Sean Carroll
  • → discusses Science concept
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    evidence rules-v4
    Feed category: Science
  • → discusses Physics concept
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    evidence rules-v4
    Feed category: Physics

Entities found in this episode

concepts 5

  • mentioned Science concept
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    evidence rules-v4
    Feed category: Science
  • mentioned Physics concept
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    evidence rules-v4
    Feed category: Physics
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    evidence rules-v4
    188 | Arik Kershenbaum on What Aliens Will Be Like
  • discusses Science concept
    0.40
    evidence rules-v4
    Feed category: Science
  • discusses Physics concept
    0.40
    evidence rules-v4
    Feed category: Physics

books 2

persons 2

  • mentioned Sean Carroll person
    0.70
    evidence rules-v4
    Feed author/publisher: Sean Carroll
  • hosted by Sean Carroll person
    0.55
    evidence rules-v4
    Feed author/publisher: Sean Carroll
Episode description as stored
If extraterrestrial life is out there — not just microbial slime, but big, complex, macroscopic organisms — what will they be like? Movies have trained us to think that they won't be that different at all; they'll even drink and play music at the same cafes that humans frequent. A bit of imagination, however, makes us wonder whether they won't be  completely  alien — we have zero data about what extraterrestrial biology could be like, so it makes sense to keep an open mind. Arik Kershenbaum argues for a judicious middle ground. He points to constraints from physics and chemistry, as well as the tendency of evolution to converge toward successful designs, as reasons to think that biologically complex aliens won't be utterly different from us after all. Support Mindscape on  Patreon . Arik Kershenbaum received his Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology from the University of Haifa. He is currently College Lecturer and Director of Studies at Girton College, University of Cambridge. He is the author of  The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal About Aliens — and Ourselves . Web site Cambridge web page Google Scholar publications Amazon author page Twitter