Food For Thought (with Melvin Poh)
by Melvin Poh
'Food For Thought' aims to expand your personal knowledge by bringing deep and thought-provoking personal chats from Melvin Poh, the founder of Empirics Asia.
Podcast episodes
Season 2
Bieber vs. Beethoven: Who Is A Better Musician?
As I sit back and enjoy some music after a long day at work, I can't help but ponder on the variety of music we all enjoy. There certainly are a lot of people who would listen to the music of Justin Bieber all day and others would tune in on Beethoven. Yet between the two, who is actually better, Bieber or Beethoven? In fact, this is a question that often gets thrown around, is there a certain kind of entertainment that is more superior than others and when we debate these things, do we always have to resort to subjective considerations; is there an objective way of weighing in on this debate? I think the answer lies in philosophy and specifically the field of utilitarianism. It presents us a good metric to compare works of art and media and I look at the thoughts of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill.
Season 1
Do Animals Have Rights? Should They Be Protected?
In this chat, as I was disturbed my own furry friend (my pet cat), I start to ponder on the question of whether animals have rights. We ofcourse now of the rising trend of veganism as well as alternative meats, but are there any philosophical or persuasive basis for protecting and respecting animals? Let's chat about it in this discussion. I draw on the different belief systems from science, religion and philosophy; specifically the works of Aristotle, Scala Naturae, Charles Darwin, Rene Descartes, Jeremy Bentham, Peter Singer, Carl Cohen and Immanuel Kant to lead our investigation into this perplexing question.
How Banks Have Lied To Us For Hundreds Of Years
Today on my day off from work, in our evening chat, I seek to reveal to you how we have been lied to and exposed to a grand illusion perpetuated by banks for hundreds of years. Specifically, I look at "fractional reserve banking", the fabric and very essence of banking process. After exploring and scrutinising the concept, I see whether it stands up to the modern world.
The True Significance Of The Billionaires Space Race
Surely, you have seen headlines about Sir Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk competing with one another to go to space. Space at the moment seems to be a game for billionaires, trying to make the first move in the emerging industry of space tourism. Yet with tickets ranging from USD $250,000 to $20 million, what significance does space hold for ordinary people and society at large? In tonight's late chat I share my personal views and draw on my life stories to show you why the billionaire space race is one of the most important steps in man kind.
The Philosophy Of Intelligence: Can Machines Actually Think?
In this chat, I ponder about an increasingly relevant question of our times: "Can machines actually think?" With incredible improvements in the fields of artificial intelligence, computers are getting increasingly smarter but surprisingly more human like. Is it conceivable that very soon, they will gain human intelligence? What exactly is intelligence anyway, and how can we be so sure that we humans have "intelligence"? Let's take a deep dive as I explore this topic with the philosophy works of Alan Turing, John Searle, Rene Descartes and Gilbert Ryle.