Episode 157 — Materialism

[agata 2789]

Tig, David, and Kyle start off the show with Kyle's story about his TV, Tig's house hunting, and discussion about gluten and Celiac. Then, Australian musician/actor/writer Tim Minchin joins the crew for an excellent discussion about existence, materialism, the usefulness of multivitamins, spirituality, consciousness, and they go deep into some interesting concepts like the power of positive thinking and what happens after death.

[phoenixclap 12]

I'm an old Tim fan and a current Blastronaut. I woke up this morning and for the first time in a long time had a Tim song in my head, so spent about half an hour going from Youtube clip to Youtube clip. Now tonight, I see that the guest is Tim! A lot of Tim all in one day to make up for years of neglect.

[blau 12]

If I wasn't influenced by rational thought, like Tim Minchin, I'd think it divine intervention that I was the donor shoutout on this edition. (We know at least one person in common.)

 

Great show. Liked it a great deal.

 

Another good podcast he's been on is

, which is all about the science-and-evidence based.

 

Also, Ben Goldacre is great at debunking detoxes and other unnecessary things we think are science-y and beneficial, but are generally not.

[jughead 189]

I think that Tim would have been great on the "Dimensions" episode. He would have been able to easily explain what would happen if someone threw their shoe into another dimension. Top 5 guest!

[Merick 28]

Just wanted to comment to say thanks for having someone on who really knows what they're talking about.

[Lukas Holmes 2287]

In terms of the glasses-case example, I would think that knowing that it will fall and knowing that there is nothing after death is flawed because the baseline is already established in one. We know the case will fall because we have experienced it, we don't know what will happen when we die because we have never experienced it.

[NotBettyWhite 137]

Another good podcast he's been on is

, which is all about the science-and-evidence based.

 

YES!!! TIMC is such a great show!

 

I, too, have been a Minchin fan. His look on life has greatly simplified and made my own much more happy. I used to be such a superstitious person and now just tell myself, "There's nothing in physics which states doing X will make Y a success. Just enjoy and focus on what you have right now." .. Thanks Tim! And thanks PB for having him on!

[be easy on me 330]

I listen to too many podcasts already, but if Tim Minchin started one, I wouldn't be against adding another one.

[RoryMcDaid 75]

Top 5 guest!

 

I would most definitely agree. My favourite guest for quite some time I think. He had a nice energy amongst the group as well as being clearly knowledgable and passionate about the subjects he discusses and is (uderstandably) an incredibly able communicator of his thoughts, making it an all round enjoyable discussion and episode.

Though sometimes I wonder what on Earth David is talking about

 

 

Also an old TIMC fan.

 

I remember reading Ben Goldacre's Bad Science book some years ago and enjoying his debunking, another very clear and articulate man like Minchin, always enjoyable.