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LTT: M. Parker
November 9, 2021 @ 11:10 am - 12:30 pm EST
Matthew Parker, University of Western Ontario, Center Visiting Fellow
What Counts as Evidence in a Vast Universe?
ABSTRACT: Ziv has a psychological theory and claims that an experiment has confirmed it. Nick says this is irrelevant; the universe is so big that someone was bound to make the same observation even if the theory is false. To give the result teeth, he says, Ziv must assert that they (Ziv) observed it and that they are a randomly chosen observer in the universe. But do we really need to worry about what distant beings observe, just to do science on Earth? I will argue we do not, neither in psychology nor cosmology, if we appropriately construe what our evidence is about and what our theories predict.
Please Note: Non-Pitt individuals who want to attend our in-person talks must send an email in advance to Katie Labuda (kathleenlabuda@pitt.edu) requesting Guest Building Access, or you will not be able to enter the Cathedral of Learning.
If you prefer to watch on Zoom, please register here: https://pitt.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tP_2rLlBRbKb-ll-RZLBpQ