{"id":748,"date":"2019-08-19T12:52:51","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T17:52:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/?p=748"},"modified":"2020-02-02T10:16:43","modified_gmt":"2020-02-02T15:16:43","slug":"the-puzzle-of-existence-with-jim-holt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/the-puzzle-of-existence-with-jim-holt\/","title":{"rendered":"“Why Does the World Exist?” with Jim Holt"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Note<\/strong>: this interview was broadcast on the WGBH public radio affiliate WCAI, on the Cape and Islands!<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"189\" height=\"230\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-749\" title=\"Jim Holt (photo: Michael Todd)\" src=\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/jimholtpix.jpg\" alt=\"Jim Holt (photo: Michael Todd)\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In this ThoughtCast interview, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/archive\/2006\/10\/02\/061002crat_atlarge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">science writer Jim Holt<\/a> takes us on a jaunty tour of being and nothingness, existence and emptiness, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.photonics.com\/Content\/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=37656\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">quantum tunneling<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=heisenberg+uncertainty+principle&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbs=tl:1&tbo=1&ei=1mJlSuK-JN6Ctgf1-vnwDw&sa=X&oi=timeline_result&ct=title&resnum=12\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">uncertainty principle<\/a>. The author of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/culture\/culturereviews\/magazine\/16-07\/st_holt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Stop Me If You’ve Heard This: A History and Philosophy of Jokes<\/em><\/a>, Holt lends his wit to a dissection of the puzzle of existence, which happens to be the topic of his book <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Why-Does-World-Exist-Existential\/dp\/0871404095\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Why Does the World Exist? An Existential Detective Story<\/a>!\u00a0 A frequent contributor to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/02\/15\/books\/review\/Holt-t.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The New York Times<\/a> and other publications, Holt approaches his subject with a personal, philosophical and scientific point of view. But does he solve the puzzle?… You tell me!<\/p>\n<p>Click here <a href=\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/podcasts\/Holt28minsMono-Final.mp3\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/mike.jpeg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a> to listen (28 minutes.)<\/p>\n<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_7195\"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-748-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/podcasts\/Holt28minsMono-Final.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/podcasts\/Holt28minsMono-Final.mp3\">https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/podcasts\/Holt28minsMono-Final.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/podcasts\/Holt28minsMono-Final.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/?powerpress_pinw=748-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/podcasts\/Holt28minsMono-Final.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"Holt28minsMono-Final.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_subscribe_links\">Subscribe: <a href=\"https:\/\/thoughtcast.org\/feed\/podcast\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_rss\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe via RSS\" rel=\"nofollow\">RSS<\/a><\/p><!--powerpress_player-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In his book “Why Does the World Exist?” science writer Jim Holt takes us on a jaunty tour of being and nothingness, existence and emptiness, quantum tunneling and the uncertainty principle – on ThoughtCast!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[782,398,23,33,32],"tags":[380,276,429,381,376,73,343,377,374,375,378,379,72],"class_list":["post-748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-new-podcast","category-ideas","category-philosophy","category-religion","category-science","tag-a-j-ayer","tag-alex-vilenkin","tag-cosmology","tag-derek-parfit","tag-heisenberg-uncertainty-principle","tag-jenny-attiyeh","tag-jim-holt","tag-ludwig-wittgenstein","tag-puzzle-of-existence","tag-quantum-tunneling","tag-robert-nozick","tag-thomas-nagel","tag-thoughtcast"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.6 - 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