January 23, 2014 - Patricia Churchland

EPISODE NUMBER: 10052 (January 23, 2014)
GUEST: Patricia Churchland | Tim Wu
SEGMENTS: Riots in the Ukraine | End of Net Neutrality | End of Net Neutrality - Tim Wu | China’s Colbert Report Rip-Off | Patricia Churchland | Sign Off - Goodnight
SUIT REPORT: Dark Grey Suit | White Shirt | Red/Navy Stripped Tie
VIDEOS: Thursday, January 23, 2014

Stephen shows his solidarity with his fellow Ukrainian Comrades in Collanders.

I was so hoping that Stephen would cover the Chinese rip-off story, and thankfully he did. Generally, his character hits hard against these “Who’s Riding my Coattails” kinds of stories, but he seemed pretty up for a trip to China, sagely noting that The Banquet is exposed to 400 million viewers. What do you think? Maybe Stephen should do a week of episodes from China? I think he deserves the budget for a nice, remote series of shows.

A diverse array of topics were covered last night: the absurd lengths the Ukraine protest is going, the serious lobby by cable companies to quash internet neutrality, and finally, a pretty awesome interview with Patricia Churchland.

Neuroscience is truly fascinating. The structures of the brain can dictate so much about human behavior, it is almost daunting of a task to consider. It is a noble and vital field of research. However, I think Ms. Churchland goes waaay too far to suggest that because of these chemical structures, a human being thus has no soul. It didn’t seem to set too well with Stephen, either. She kind of reminded me of the Church Lady, but just substitute neuroscience for Jesus; she was throwing a lot of cold water on faith.

I will be putting up screencaps and quotes a little later on, but tell me, what did you think of the episode? How do you feel about the prospect of cable companies charging you more for the content you download and enjoy? Did you agree with Patricia Churchland’s assertions about how neuroscience explains away the existence of theological concepts? How can we get a petition going to send Colbert to China for some remote shows?

• Both [Ukraine and Russia] are some of our most important trading partners as they contain the world’s largest strategic reserves of alcoholism.

• Nation, I love the Internet. And, the Internet loves me back. Why else would it offer me so much sex?

Tim Wu: There doesn’t always need to be someone in control. When you drive across the Brooklyn Bridge, there’s no one deciding who gets to drive on the bridge.
Stephen: No, but on the George Washington Bridge, Christie decides.

(Fake laughing) “Eggs. It’s funny, because the government says so.”

“Jimmy, let’s make our Chinese viewers feel right at home. Hmm. Hmm. I can almost smell my iPhone being made.”

“I’ve been ripped off by the Chinese! Folks, this is nothing short of wholesale theft – and I love it. Because only the biggest hits get Chinese bootlegs. Seinfeld knew he’d finally made it when China started airing ‘High-Pants Petty Jew’.”

• Now my knock off is called The Banquet, I think, I don’t read Chinese. And they have lovingly plagiarized everything about my show…from everything….to my “having a point of view.” Which frankly, I don’t even know how I feel about it.

Patricia Churchland teaches us about how a single peptide, Oxytocin, governs a great deal of mammal’s socializing and bonding behaviors.

Stephen: What is neurophilosphy?
Patricia: It has to do with the interface between the discoveries we are making in neuroscience and how those discoveries might have an impact on traditional philosophical questions. Questions about where does morality comes from, how do we make decisions, what is the nature of consciousness, how do we learn about the nature of the external world?
Stephen: There is already a book for that. It’s called the Bible.

Stephen: When you say “the self as brain,” I think of my soul as myself. Are you saying that I don’t have a soul?
Patricia: (Nods yes.)
Stephen: I don’t know much about our nervous system, but I know you have some nerve to come on and say that.