The Thin End

The Thin End

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A journey of discovery of what makes us who we are and the choices we make through topical issues

Ray Noble


    • Nov 5, 2021 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 20m AVG DURATION
    • 27 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from The Thin End

    Learning from the Wood Mouse (repeat)

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2021 11:38


    One of the problems for humans and the planet is that we have isolated ourselves from our ecosystem. Yet,  our activity impacts the global climate and habitats. For example, unlike Apodemus sylvaticus, we destroy more of our forests than we plant. In addition, we deplete the world's freshwater with our increasing demand for crops and our unregulated world trade.  Is this the best we can do with our 'intelligence'? Or have we much to learn from the wood mouse? 

    Ecological Intelligence - from ants to birds and plants

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 29, 2021 6:34


    All life demonstrates ecological intelligence, an ability to solve problems as groups or as ecological systems.  This is seen in the behaviour of birds migrating, ants foraging and plants growing and spreading their seed.  Life is on the move, a continuous and directed motion. 

    Weekly Magazine Episode 2 Bad growth pollutes the planet

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 23, 2018 10:31


    The Thin End considers how growth has become a political mantra and how bad trade pollutes the planet and fuels climate change, and the suggestion that there should be carbon taxes.  

    The Thin End Weekly Magazine Episode 1

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 16, 2018 16:49


    A weekly round up of news and views on topical issues appearing in The Thin End Magazine.  This week:  Invasive Rabbits and Hares, pesticides and hummingbirds, Invasive mosquitos, abortion law reform in the UK, and controversl new blood pressure guidelines. 

    Brexit won't save the planet

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 28, 2018 11:08


    Brexit isn't an ideal.  It might break the cosy economic and political illusion that all growth and trade is good.  But there is little thinking behind it.  It won't lead to better trade.  It won't save our planet.  

    Learning from the Wood Mouse

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 20, 2018 11:38


    One of the problems for humans, and for the planet, is that we have isolated ourselves from our ecosystem. Yet,  our activity impacts on the global climate and on habitats.  Unlike  Apodemus sylvaticus, we destroy more of our forests than we plant, and we deplete the worlds fresh water with our increasing demand for crops and our unregulated world trade. Is this really the best we can do with our 'intelligence'? Or have we much to learn from the wood mouse? 

    The NHS Saved My Life

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 1, 2018 18:04


    Ray Noble tells how the NHS saved his life and considers the benefits of the British National Health Serivice.  He argues why markets alone are insufficient to meet needs.  The NHS is already being adversely affected by Brexit with worstenng staff shortages leading to delays and longer waiting lists. The NHS has been starved of adequate finding, and public service provision has been blighted by an eroneous faith in markets as a miraculous solution to meeting needs. 

    Why I can't be cloned

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 25, 2018 9:43


    With news of monkeys being cloned in a Chinese laboratory, Ray Noble considers whether it is possible to clone a given human being.  

    We are not in our genes

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 23, 2018 11:13


    We hear often the phrase 'in the genes'. But we are not in our genes.  Our attributes are often considered to be partitioned between genetic and environement.  But this is a false dichotomy.  Ray Noble considers what makes us who we are. 

    Dialogue with Samuel Shem - House of God Revisited

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 19, 2018 13:04


    Ray Noble talks to Samuel Shem, the acclaimed author of The House of God. The House of God, published in 1978, has in many ways become a cult book in the medical profession. It follows a group of medical interns at Beth Israel Hospital over the course of a year in the early 1970s, focusing on the psychological harm and dehumanization caused by their residency training.  For this dialogue we took the opportunity to catch up with Samuel Shem when he visited Oxford last year.  We hope to have a more extensive interview with Samuel Shem in the near future. 

    Spinning The Wheels of Thinking Part Two

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 18, 2018 28:29


    In this second part of a two part series, Denis and Ray Noble continue their discussion about the nature of thinking.  

    Spinning The Wheels of Thinking Part One

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 18, 2018 23:17


    On location in the Perigord with noise of  cockerels in the background, Denis Noble discusses with Ray Noble ideas about thinking. They start by considering the problems of dualist logic.   

    Imagine Brexit doesn't mean Brexit

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 28, 2017 19:50


    With negotations underway Ray Noble considers  the reality of Brexit. The phony war is over. The truth is understood. Brexit isn't good. It isn't good for the economy, for jobs, for health and social care, for research, for fighting climate change, and so the negotiations now turn on how to ameliorate the harm it will do.

    The Cry of the Wolf - Apes, culture and intentions

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 25, 2017 21:08


    We are not alone in having a sense of fairness and justice. It is present in other cooperative mammals.  In this episode of The Thin End Ray Noble considers intentions and purposive behaviour in wolves, apes and humans and its ethical consequences. 

    Lynn Margulis - The Vindicated Rebel

    Play Episode Listen Later May 5, 2017 54:44


    The Thin End discusses the work and influence of the evolutionaly biologist Lynn Margulis with Jim MacAillister, archivist for the Lynn Margulis Archive at University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Jim was a student and colleague of Lynn Margulis for the last decade of her life and converted her teaching materials and research video library to digital files.  Here he shares some of his insights into the life and work of an extraordinary scientist and scholar.  

    Dialogue with Perry Marshall

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 13, 2017 53:03


    Perry Marshall discusses with the Thin End his jouney of discovery and the background to writing his book Evolution 2.0. 

    Science and the Neo-Darwinian Dogma

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 10, 2017 56:03


    The Thin End has been to the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies to discuss with Geoffrey Bamford how the Neo-Darwinian 'modern synthesis' has become a dogma by creating a rigid belief system. 

    Evolution and The One-Eyed Watchmaker

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 5, 2017 43:23


    In this second dialogue, Denis Noble, author of Dance to the Tune of LIfe, discusses whether there can be purpose and direction in evolution. 

    Dialogue with Denis Noble

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 16, 2016 36:01


    Thin End discusses with Professor Denis Noble his new book Dance to the Tune of Life and new ideas on evolution. 

    Trump's folly?

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 13, 2016 13:31


    Trump says he wants to cancel the 2015 Paris agreement combatting climate change. It is an agreement signed by almost 200 nations. Is this Trump’s folly? Or do we need a new global politics?

    Shaking the ideas of Evolution

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 10, 2016 9:21


    There is a revolution of thought taking place in our understanding of evolution. It is moving us away from a gene-centred 'determinist' view of our lives, and replacing it with an 'open system view' where many factors influence evolution, including culture and environment in a dynamic interaction with organisms.

    Does science need philosophy?

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 8, 2016 10:20


    Good science comes from understanding its limitations, bad science from ignoring them.  Scientists do not work in a bubble free from cultural, social, ethical or political influences.  So does science need philosophy?

    No Man is an Island

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 2, 2016 15:13


    Modern neoliberalism tends to emphasise the individual as an autonomous being.  Society is seen as an aggregate of our individual, self-motivated, self interested behaviour. But this is a profoundly mistaken view of our social being. 

    What are genes to do with it?

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2016 15:46


    Gene editing technology offers hope to sufferers of genetic disorders such as Huntington’s disease. But many are concerned with its possible misuse in producing ‘designer’ babies, or in enhancing body function. They are concerned also that it will change how we consider our identity. But should we be concerned? What makes us who we are?

    The Gene Delusion

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2016 14:26


    We have a freedom of will - a will constrained rather than determined by circumstance. Often, with ingenuity and knowledge, we can understand the nature of our circumstance and overcome constraints. We can solve problems and go where others have not. 

    Strutting our stuff

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2016 11:13


    All the worlds a stage, but there is no set script.  Our lives are not mapped by a screenplay as in a film.  We do not follow a script.  We don’t really know what will be said next.  Our lives are not mapped in our genomes. 

    Double trouble but you can't clone me!

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2016 9:43


    I recently watched Moon, the 2009 Science fiction film co-written and directed by Duncan Jones. If you haven’t seen it, I won’t spoil the plot, but the film follows Sam Bell, a man who experiences a personal crisis as he nears the end of a three-year solitary stint mining helium-3 on the far side of the Moon.  After a crash he discovers his double and in turn they find a secret vault containing hundreds of hibernating clones. They realize that Lunar Industries manufactures clones to avoid paying for new astronauts.  So, how realistic a prospect is this – or is it simply the stuff of science fiction?

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