Faith and Science, Elon Musk's prayer, and Multiverse Madness | Dr Jeff Zweerink #27 

Who's afraid of the multiverse? Are there ways to reconcile faith and science? Can doing so actually strengthen both? My guest on this episode of The Neutral Ground Podcast is Dr. Jeff Zweerink. Dr. Zweerink is an astrophysicist, specializing in gamma rays. We talk about the various multiverse theories, and I even ask him about the Marvel Cinematic Universe multiverse as well. We try to reconcile that there might be multiple versions of ourselves out there and what that means on human and theological levels. We also talk about the inspiration of Star Wars and the science behind Luke Skywalker's famous image of the binary star system on Tattooine. I also ask my guest about the moving moment on the Lix Fridman podcast when he asks Elon Musk about the first launch of Space X and how Elon said a prayer for the people on board. Neither my guest nor myself try to pronounce or prescribe any religious belief to Musk, but we both find it to be a moving moment of humanity--with a little more to say on the topic added as well. Finally, we spend a significant time talking about the relationship between philosophy/theology and science and how the two can hopefully strengthen each other. This is a fantastic episode. Make sure you are subscribed to the channel, and check out Dr. Zweerink's works below as well.  

GUEST WORKS: (Affiliate Link)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&tag=theneutralgro-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=963faf3cfd089c7ae58adefa33803967&camp=1789&creative=9325&index=books&keywords=Jeff Zweerink

EPISODE LINKS:

https://reasons.org/

https://www.facebook.com/RTBOfficial/

https://twitter.com/RTB_official

https://www.youtube.com/user/ReasonsToBelieve1

EPISODE OUTLINE:

00:00 Introduction

01:45 Beginning of interview: worst or best opening question ever?

03:44 Some background on Dr. Zweerink and the Big Bang

11:07 What is one area of astrophysics/multiverse modeling that makes you excited and one that you struggle with?

13:57 Bringing science and philosophy together again

19:55 What is it about Star Wars that got you so excited about science?

23:21 The iconic binary star image from Star Wars with Luke Skywalker

26:00 We're fascinated by the lives of extraterrestrials, how they live

28:23 What's up with the Marvel cinematic multiverse?

30:52 Elon Musk says a prayer for humanity on the Lex Fridman podcast

37:00 Letting go of the control

40:10 How does your faith feed your scientific pursuit of knowledge?

45:00 Are there tough conversations happening in science now?

49:39 Conclusion

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KEY EPISODES FOR UNDERSTANDING MY SHOW:

1) Postmodernism and a Joke Gone Too Far: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szjKBcbAW3I

2) Neomodernism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVHMm2A-fcA

3) Podcasting Rhetorics and Joe Rogan | My Conversation with Matthew Jacobson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsOMhCZORts

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#multiverse #jeffzweerink #neutralgroundpodcast #elonmusk #lexfridman #prayer #starwars #faithandscience #humanity