Making Sense - Sam Harris - #238 — How to Build a Universe

00:00:00.000 Welcome to the Making Sense Podcast.

00:00:08.860 This is Sam Harris.

00:00:10.900 Just a note to say that if you're hearing this,

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00:00:52.280 Today I'm speaking with Frank Wilczek.

00:01:03.180 Frank won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004 for work he did as a graduate student.

00:01:10.700 He was also one of the earliest MacArthur Fellows,

00:01:13.480 and he has won many other awards for his scientific work and writing.

00:01:17.020 He's the author of several books,

00:01:19.540 but most recently he has published a fantastic primer on the state of physics,

00:01:25.360 and that is called Fundamentals, Ten Keys to Reality.

00:01:30.100 He's also written for the Wall Street Journal.

00:01:33.660 He is currently a professor of physics at MIT,

00:01:36.740 and he's also the chief scientist at the Wilczek Quantum Center in Shanghai, China.

00:01:42.460 And he also has appointments at Arizona State University and Stockholm University.

00:01:48.560 Busy man.

00:01:49.720 Anyway, you will hear that Frank is a wonderful explainer of physics,

00:01:54.520 physics, and I really couldn't have asked for a better guide to this terrain.

00:01:59.420 We discuss the difference between science and non-science,

00:02:03.600 the role that intuition plays in science,

00:02:06.600 and then we plunge into the matter at hand.

00:02:10.180 We discuss the nature of time,

00:02:12.420 the prospect that possibility is an illusion,

00:02:16.060 and that only the actual is ever real.

00:02:19.580 We talk about the current limits of quantum mechanics,

00:02:21.740 the uncertainty principle,

00:02:24.000 space-time as a substance,

00:02:26.280 the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in science,

00:02:30.180 and the possibility that we might be living in a simulation.

00:02:33.960 We cover the fundamental building blocks of matter as we know it,

00:02:38.120 the structure of atoms,

00:02:39.920 the four fundamental forces,

00:02:42.100 wave-particle duality,

00:02:44.520 the electromagnetic spectrum,

00:02:46.760 the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics,

00:02:49.160 the prospect of infinite space-time.

00:02:52.720 We really get the full tour here,

00:02:54.860 and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

00:02:57.600 And now, without further delay,

00:02:59.480 I bring you Frank Wilczek.

00:03:07.500 I am here with Frank Wilczek.

00:03:09.800 Frank, thanks for joining me.

00:03:11.460 It was a very great pleasure to be here.

00:03:13.180 You've written a wonderfully accessible book.

00:03:17.940 You've written several books,

00:03:19.160 but the new one is Fundamentals,

00:03:21.160 Ten Keys to Reality.

00:03:23.400 And I highly recommend people read it,

00:03:25.880 because it's just a fantastic

00:03:28.180 and just amazingly digestible introduction

00:03:32.060 to really the whole history of physics,

00:03:35.240 but our modern picture of the universe,

00:03:37.180 which we'll talk about here,

00:03:39.060 but by no means fully cover.

00:03:41.040 But before we jump in,

00:03:43.460 how is it that you have an opinion

00:03:45.640 about the nature of physical reality?

00:03:47.760 Maybe summarize your intellectual perch

00:03:51.700 over there in Massachusetts.

00:03:53.860 Well, I grew up very curious about the world

00:03:58.160 from many points of view.

00:04:00.900 I grew up during a time

00:04:03.420 when science was very highly valued,

00:04:08.020 partly because of the Cold War

00:04:10.480 and the memory of World War II,

00:04:13.040 which was relatively fresh,

00:04:14.460 although that was before my time.

00:04:17.100 And so at the same time,

00:04:19.380 I was very interested in cosmic things.

00:04:22.680 I was raised in a Catholic church,

00:04:26.500 so I got exposed to these ideas

00:04:29.040 that there are deeper meanings to the world

00:04:31.140 and read Bertrand Russell,

00:04:34.520 read Einstein, was a big hero.

00:04:36.580 So it sort of seemed like a very natural,

00:04:39.800 it sort of seemed like very natural to me

00:04:43.180 to deepen my knowledge of science

00:04:47.760 and physical reality.

00:04:49.560 And that's what I've spent the bulk of my life doing.

00:04:54.120 And it's been a great trip

00:04:57.340 and I've learned a lot,

00:04:59.580 had a lot of surprises,

00:05:00.860 a lot of adventures,

00:05:01.680 a lot of positive feedback.

00:05:05.120 And I feel I've learned a lot.

00:05:07.200 If I could transport myself back

00:05:11.020 to myself as a teenager,

00:05:13.040 I would have a lot to convey.

00:05:15.500 And that's one of the things

00:05:17.540 that I was thinking about

00:05:19.300 as I wrote this book.

00:05:20.580 The other spur to it

00:05:22.840 was conversations with intelligent friends

00:05:26.340 who wanted to know what I was doing,

00:05:29.500 what I had learned,

00:05:30.320 what's really going on

00:05:31.760 at the frontiers of science.

00:05:33.780 How do you separate the wheat from the chaff?

00:05:37.620 And also, what does it all mean?

00:05:40.540 So I really wanted to take the opportunity

00:05:44.300 to answer my friends' questions

00:05:47.240 and my own questions from way back when.

00:05:51.100 And at the same time,

00:05:52.140 just fortuitously,

00:05:53.220 at the same time,

00:05:54.220 my grandson was born

00:05:55.920 and I started to think about

00:05:58.020 what I'd like to tell him

00:05:59.780 when he's ready to ask these questions.

00:06:02.280 And also watching the process

00:06:04.280 of how he constructed his world,

00:06:07.080 making basic distinctions

00:06:09.340 between self and not self

00:06:11.320 and getting the idea

00:06:13.780 that the world is organized

00:06:14.960 into a three-dimensional space

00:06:17.000 with objects that have

00:06:18.180 some kind of permanence

00:06:19.320 and regularity.

00:06:21.260 These very basic things

00:06:22.620 we learn about the world

00:06:25.380 that get us by very well.

00:06:28.700 And yet I reflected

00:06:29.920 that the scientific view

00:06:32.900 that is revealed

00:06:35.040 to our most accurate experiments

00:06:36.840 and critical thinking

00:06:37.900 once we use telescopes

00:06:39.420 and microscopes

00:06:40.600 and spectrometers

00:06:41.520 and accelerometers

00:06:43.260 and all the other kinds of things

00:06:45.360 that allow us

00:06:46.360 to get more accurate perceptions

00:06:48.660 and also to think critically about them.

00:06:53.360 It's a different world.

00:06:54.960 And I like to say

00:06:56.680 you have to be born again

00:06:57.840 to come to terms with reality.

00:06:59.740 You have to not only learn some things,

00:07:02.820 but also unlearn some rules of thumb

00:07:05.260 that you construct for yourself

00:07:07.020 as a child.

00:07:07.740 Yeah, well, I would like to

00:07:10.460 try to recapitulate that journey

00:07:13.320 for our audience here

00:07:15.600 and really start with the minimum set

00:07:18.540 of assumptions

00:07:19.460 and overturn some of the assumptions

00:07:23.080 that make it difficult

00:07:24.720 to think scientifically.

00:07:26.180 I'm struck with how

00:07:28.120 unintuitive many of the tools

00:07:31.940 of scientific thinking are.

00:07:35.100 And they're hard to make intuitive.

00:07:36.360 Some may we kind of bootstrap ourselves

00:07:39.160 to new intuitions

00:07:40.760 on the basis of others

00:07:42.240 that are almost defied

00:07:44.160 by where we land.

00:07:47.340 Before we jump into

00:07:48.740 the physics of things,

00:07:51.120 maybe we can start

00:07:52.500 by differentiating science

00:07:55.260 from non-science.

00:07:57.540 And I guess one way to do that,

00:07:59.800 and this is actually something

00:08:00.540 you mentioned early in the book,

00:08:02.920 is to describe why

00:08:05.320 something like astrology

00:08:06.940 isn't science.

00:08:09.740 How do you make,

00:08:10.380 how do you demarcate science

00:08:12.200 from non-science

00:08:13.180 as just a conceptual endeavor?

00:08:15.900 Yes.

00:08:15.980 It's actually a complex question.

00:08:19.360 And the short answer

00:08:20.720 is that science works

00:08:24.060 and non-science doesn't work.

00:08:26.140 So it could have been

00:08:28.320 that you could have been

00:08:30.880 that you could make

00:08:31.620 successful predictions

00:08:32.700 for people's personalities,

00:08:35.480 for their destiny,

00:08:37.520 based on the positions

00:08:39.260 of things in the sky

00:08:41.440 when they were born.

00:08:43.040 But over centuries

00:08:44.920 of trying to refine

00:08:46.160 that possibility

00:08:48.000 into an actual tool

00:08:50.040 for making useful predictions,

00:08:52.520 it hasn't been very successful.

00:08:54.520 whereas a very different

00:08:57.240 interpretation

00:08:58.200 of what the things

00:09:00.440 we meet out in the sky mean

00:09:02.300 and the forces they exert

00:09:04.680 and what kinds of influences

00:09:06.840 they could possibly have

00:09:09.080 back here on Earth

00:09:10.640 has been much more successful.

00:09:13.040 It's kind of led to

00:09:14.160 one successful prediction

00:09:15.660 after another.

00:09:16.780 And nowadays,

00:09:17.620 we can put men in space

00:09:19.280 and really do many impressive things

00:09:22.200 with the GPS system

00:09:23.320 and look back to the Big Bang

00:09:25.920 and make predictions

00:09:26.780 about how distant galaxies

00:09:28.980 are going to look

00:09:29.940 and how the microwave background

00:09:32.100 is put together

00:09:32.860 and many, many other things

00:09:34.480 that work.

00:09:36.040 So we have, on the one hand,

00:09:37.540 a coherent body

00:09:39.000 of explanations

00:09:41.340 that's built on patient investigation

00:09:47.040 with the most accurate instruments

00:09:49.020 we can find

00:09:50.100 and demanding

00:09:51.860 very high standards of proof.

00:09:54.060 You know,

00:09:54.240 they're trying to push things

00:09:56.020 as hard as possible,

00:09:57.040 make them quantitative,

00:09:58.120 make them precise,

00:09:59.440 worrying when things

00:10:00.500 don't quite agree

00:10:01.420 instead of trying

00:10:02.160 to explain it away.

00:10:04.100 And that's been so,

00:10:06.160 you know,

00:10:06.680 you can compare and contrast

00:10:08.200 and you know it

00:10:09.920 when you see it.

00:10:10.500 One of them is scientific,

00:10:11.680 the other is not scientific.

00:10:13.740 I think that's the difference.

00:10:15.760 So it's not even

00:10:18.240 the subject matter

00:10:19.220 so much as the approach

00:10:21.080 and whether it's critical,

00:10:25.300 whether it takes correction

00:10:27.040 and whether it works.

00:10:29.680 Those are the defining criteria

00:10:31.940 of whether it's scientific.

00:10:33.460 If we could put the final nail

00:10:35.240 in the coffin of astrology,

00:10:37.120 it seems to me

00:10:37.940 obviously disprovable

00:10:40.540 in at least two ways

00:10:43.400 or one and a half ways.

00:10:45.140 One way to see

00:10:46.840 that it's almost certainly

00:10:48.540 not true

00:10:49.560 in its basic assumptions

00:10:50.700 is to recognize

00:10:51.780 that this idea

00:10:53.260 that the position

00:10:54.560 of the stars and planets

00:10:56.620 must affect

00:10:57.940 the life course

00:10:59.180 of a person born

00:11:01.180 based on the time

00:11:02.820 and place of their birth,

00:11:04.400 that's belied by the fact

00:11:05.920 that a doctor or nurse

00:11:08.300 walking by in the hall

00:11:09.680 exerts more of nature's forces

00:11:12.460 on the child

00:11:13.520 than anything

00:11:14.160 up in the heavens.

00:11:15.240 Yes.

00:11:15.680 If you take seriously

00:11:17.320 the successful description

00:11:19.160 of the world,

00:11:20.600 there's no room in it

00:11:21.820 for such astrological influences.

00:11:24.040 That's true.

00:11:25.780 And on the other hand,

00:11:27.160 we have a lot

00:11:28.620 of circumstantial evidence

00:11:30.060 that it's...

00:11:31.060 I mean,

00:11:31.340 we have a lot of

00:11:32.140 more than circumstantial evidence

00:11:34.160 that the principles

00:11:35.340 of that description

00:11:36.200 are remarkably complete.

00:11:37.560 And so the fact

00:11:38.520 that there's no room

00:11:39.480 for it

00:11:40.020 for astrological influences

00:11:42.160 means there are

00:11:43.460 no astrological influences.

00:11:45.280 I think that's fair.

00:11:46.720 And even short of that,

00:11:47.660 even if we didn't

00:11:48.700 accept physics yet,

00:11:50.380 you could still

00:11:51.120 run the experiment

00:11:52.180 of finding

00:11:53.100 two babies

00:11:54.820 born at the same moment

00:11:56.380 in the same hospital,

00:11:57.780 you know,

00:11:58.140 mere feet apart,

00:11:59.100 and you just have to find

00:12:00.320 two such babies

00:12:01.300 that have importantly

00:12:02.140 different lives.

00:12:03.480 Well, famously,

00:12:04.320 people talked about,

00:12:06.060 I think,

00:12:07.340 going back to St. Augustine,

00:12:08.640 if not earlier,

00:12:09.520 because St. Augustine

00:12:10.500 didn't like astrology either.

00:12:12.600 And he argued

00:12:14.380 about identical twins

00:12:15.540 having very different fates.

00:12:17.660 And you might say,

00:12:18.400 they're well,

00:12:18.760 they're not quite

00:12:19.420 at the same time.

00:12:20.700 But if your predictions

00:12:22.240 depend so sensitively

00:12:24.020 on the exact time,

00:12:26.580 they're almost impossible

00:12:28.520 to make in practice.

00:12:29.960 So it becomes empty, right?

00:12:31.900 Yeah.

00:12:32.280 Okay.

00:12:32.560 Well, now we've pissed off

00:12:33.400 the astrologers.

00:12:34.860 We can move on to...

00:12:35.620 Well, you can have fun with it

00:12:39.300 if you have a sense of humor

00:12:40.960 and it gives some people...

00:12:42.160 It gives people a thing

00:12:43.420 to talk about

00:12:44.180 and break the ice sometimes

00:12:46.440 on dates or whatever.

00:12:48.320 But no,

00:12:48.960 as a serious enterprise

00:12:52.200 for predicting the future

00:12:54.000 or predicting someone's personality,

00:12:57.060 I don't think it's serious at all.

00:12:59.020 Well, the fun you should have with it

00:13:01.140 is to give everyone

00:13:02.260 Charles Manson's astrological chart

00:13:04.420 and notice that virtually

00:13:05.480 everyone finds something

00:13:06.600 resonant in it

00:13:07.660 with their own personality

00:13:09.060 until they find out

00:13:10.120 whose chart it is.

00:13:11.800 So,

00:13:12.380 then let's start with this

00:13:14.420 issue of intuition

00:13:15.940 and how we use it

00:13:17.440 in reason generally

00:13:20.100 and in science specifically.

00:13:22.400 And many of the intuitions

00:13:23.340 we need to use in science

00:13:25.680 are mathematical

00:13:28.100 and they get pushed

00:13:30.360 into areas

00:13:31.140 where most people's intuitions

00:13:34.220 reliably fail.

00:13:35.560 I guess I'm wondering if...

00:13:37.060 I think everybody's.

00:13:39.620 But the only way

00:13:41.960 to build up intuition

00:13:43.020 is to sort of

00:13:44.280 work with nature

00:13:46.280 and think about examples

00:13:47.960 and think about

00:13:48.700 very simple examples

00:13:49.680 and get to more complicated ones

00:13:51.420 and figure out

00:13:52.100 what the equations

00:13:52.960 and experiments

00:13:53.800 are telling you.

00:13:54.460 So here's a very simple one

00:13:56.420 which boggles the minds

00:13:58.340 of most people.

00:13:59.280 I'm wondering if you

00:14:00.220 as a physicist

00:14:01.660 and mathematician

00:14:03.080 ever really get

00:14:04.960 your intuitions

00:14:06.080 around this.

00:14:06.860 You take something like

00:14:07.600 the validity

00:14:09.120 of exponentiation,

00:14:11.360 a very simple way

00:14:13.060 to illustrate its powers.

00:14:15.140 You ask someone

00:14:16.300 what would happen

00:14:17.400 if you could

00:14:17.980 take a very large sheet

00:14:19.480 of newsprint

00:14:20.360 and fold it

00:14:21.840 upon itself

00:14:22.820 a hundred times

00:14:23.820 in a row, right?

00:14:25.000 And since people

00:14:25.560 imagine doing this

00:14:26.980 and they may sense

00:14:29.100 that there's some trick

00:14:29.980 in the offing here

00:14:31.060 but when you ask them

00:14:32.280 how thick

00:14:33.160 the resulting object

00:14:34.440 would be

00:14:35.060 many people suggest

00:14:36.660 something like

00:14:37.360 the size of a brick

00:14:38.440 or they get...

00:14:39.740 they sort of see

00:14:40.260 how the trick is done

00:14:41.060 and they think

00:14:41.420 well maybe it could

00:14:42.420 be ten feet tall

00:14:43.540 if you could fold

00:14:45.180 a piece of paper

00:14:46.460 that many times

00:14:47.520 but of course

00:14:48.380 it's light years across.

00:14:49.820 I mean it's galaxy size

00:14:51.380 if you could do such a thing.

00:14:53.680 If you could keep...

00:14:54.280 Right.

00:14:54.860 Now do you actually

00:14:55.600 have an intuition

00:14:56.300 for that

00:14:57.140 or do you just know

00:14:58.500 that powers of two

00:15:00.080 have those consequences?

00:15:01.540 Well I do in the sense

00:15:02.740 that I can very quickly

00:15:04.800 figure out

00:15:05.320 what the answer is

00:15:06.220 and I'm not shocked by it.

00:15:08.660 So that's...

00:15:09.460 and that's...

00:15:10.460 I guess that'll...

00:15:11.740 if you want to call

00:15:12.880 that intuition

00:15:13.720 I guess yes

00:15:15.360 and I also...

00:15:16.040 you know I'm also

00:15:17.020 alert to the fact

00:15:18.660 that this kind

00:15:20.160 of question

00:15:20.640 is taking me out

00:15:21.660 of the realm

00:15:22.260 of familiar experience

00:15:24.260 very rapidly.

00:15:25.860 So that's what I meant

00:15:27.120 by building up intuition.

00:15:28.240 You build up intuition

00:15:29.380 by thinking about

00:15:30.380 hard examples

00:15:31.380 and thinking them through

00:15:32.600 and really digesting them

00:15:34.020 and then you can have

00:15:35.820 intuition

00:15:36.400 that's

00:15:37.440 correct

00:15:38.300 and useful

00:15:39.660 about things

00:15:40.440 that you didn't have

00:15:41.360 intuition about before

00:15:42.640 or where you had

00:15:43.800 incorrect intuitions.

00:15:46.120 That's

00:15:46.680 a small

00:15:48.120 example

00:15:48.760 of this process

00:15:49.660 I love to call

00:15:50.880 being born again

00:15:51.680 that

00:15:52.480 you have to go back

00:15:54.240 and really

00:15:54.820 open yourself

00:15:55.660 up

00:15:56.120 to reality

00:15:57.460 and

00:15:58.700 take it as it comes

00:16:00.280 and speak

00:16:00.800 its language

00:16:02.500 in order to

00:16:04.200 get the most

00:16:05.360 out of it.

00:16:07.020 Okay well let's see

00:16:07.520 if we can baptize

00:16:08.460 everyone

00:16:08.880 with the

00:16:09.420 vision

00:16:10.000 of science here.

00:16:11.540 So here's the

00:16:12.900 starting point

00:16:13.900 for

00:16:14.400 apes

00:16:15.380 like ourselves

00:16:16.120 with our

00:16:17.200 open eyes

00:16:17.860 and outstretched

00:16:19.000 hands

00:16:19.480 we interrogate

00:16:21.000 the world

00:16:21.740 around us

00:16:22.400 we as you

00:16:23.200 point out

00:16:23.880 at a certain

00:16:24.980 point

00:16:25.300 differentiate

00:16:26.120 ourselves

00:16:26.760 from the world

00:16:27.860 and we begin

00:16:28.900 to act

00:16:29.460 in it

00:16:29.920 and upon it

00:16:30.680 and

00:16:31.140 we develop

00:16:32.900 intuitions

00:16:34.220 about

00:16:34.740 space

00:16:35.900 and time

00:16:36.840 as the

00:16:37.800 context

00:16:38.380 of our

00:16:38.980 adventures

00:16:40.000 here

00:16:40.480 and we

00:16:41.260 have a

00:16:41.760 sense

00:16:42.080 of

00:16:42.520 events

00:16:43.600 that

00:16:44.260 happen

00:16:44.700 in

00:16:45.200 space

00:16:45.540 and

00:16:45.720 time

00:16:46.040 right

00:16:46.340 so

00:16:46.440 things

00:16:46.720 seem

00:16:47.000 to

00:16:47.180 happen

00:16:47.520 yes

00:16:48.100 and

00:16:48.720 we

00:16:49.180 have

00:16:49.480 a

00:16:49.900 thirst

00:16:51.400 for

00:16:51.960 at a

00:16:53.280 certain

00:16:53.440 point

00:16:53.680 we have

00:16:53.920 a thirst

00:16:54.280 for a

00:16:54.640 causal

00:16:55.080 explanation

00:16:55.880 for

00:16:56.980 why

00:16:57.900 and how

00:16:58.300 things

00:16:58.620 happen

00:16:59.060 and

00:16:59.720 and

00:17:01.060 we have

00:17:01.440 some

00:17:01.680 sense

00:17:01.980 that

00:17:02.260 with

00:17:02.560 an

00:17:02.680 explanation

00:17:03.140 we will

00:17:03.620 be able

00:17:03.980 to be

00:17:04.420 less

00:17:04.780 surprised

00:17:05.400 in the

00:17:05.780 future

00:17:06.100 by future

00:17:06.820 happenings

00:17:07.420 let's

00:17:08.200 start

00:17:08.320 with

00:17:08.480 time

00:17:08.900 and

00:17:09.520 obviously

00:17:10.100 we're

00:17:10.320 going

00:17:10.520 to

00:17:10.720 land

00:17:11.600 in

00:17:12.600 space

00:17:13.020 time

00:17:13.340 eventually

00:17:13.780 and

00:17:14.420 have

00:17:14.980 a

00:17:15.080 more

00:17:15.260 sophisticated

00:17:15.680 description

00:17:16.300 of

00:17:16.500 things

00:17:16.720 but

00:17:16.960 how

00:17:17.760 do

00:17:17.920 physicists

00:17:18.280 think

00:17:19.280 about

00:17:19.700 time

00:17:20.320 well

00:17:21.380 there's

00:17:21.640 a lot

00:17:21.940 to be

00:17:22.200 said

00:17:22.360 about

00:17:22.620 time

00:17:23.040 in

00:17:23.960 fact

00:17:24.300 the

00:17:24.760 accurate

00:17:25.400 measurement

00:17:25.840 of

00:17:26.140 time

00:17:26.560 using

00:17:27.560 atomic

00:17:28.020 clocks

00:17:28.520 is

00:17:29.060 one

00:17:29.280 of

00:17:29.400 the

00:17:29.520 great

00:17:29.740 frontiers

00:17:30.280 of

00:17:30.460 physics

00:17:30.820 now

00:17:31.420 we

00:17:32.440 can

00:17:32.640 synthesize

00:17:34.260 clocks

00:17:34.980 that

00:17:35.400 lose

00:17:36.160 or gain

00:17:37.000 time

00:17:37.360 relative

00:17:37.760 to

00:17:38.220 one

00:17:38.400 another

00:17:38.740 at

00:17:39.760 the

00:17:39.920 level

00:17:40.160 of

00:17:40.360 one

00:17:40.640 second

00:17:41.060 over

00:17:41.340 the

00:17:41.500 lifetime

00:17:41.860 of

00:17:42.100 the

00:17:42.200 universe

00:17:42.700 and

00:17:43.620 accurate

00:17:44.760 clocks

00:17:45.320 are

00:17:45.940 a

00:17:47.180 central

00:17:47.740 feature

00:17:48.480 of

00:17:48.740 the

00:17:48.880 GPS

00:17:49.240 system

00:17:49.920 and

00:17:50.600 all

00:17:51.220 kinds

00:17:51.540 of

00:17:51.680 things

00:17:51.980 so

00:17:52.820 we

00:17:53.780 have

00:17:54.260 successful

00:17:55.520 ways

00:17:56.960 of

00:17:57.360 measuring

00:17:57.800 time

00:17:58.500 and

00:18:00.480 of course

00:18:01.760 our whole

00:18:02.280 apparatus

00:18:03.000 of

00:18:03.840 predicting

00:18:04.560 what's

00:18:05.060 going to

00:18:05.420 happen

00:18:05.800 in the

00:18:06.820 future

00:18:07.120 is based

00:18:07.740 on

00:18:08.000 using

00:18:08.500 equations

00:18:09.620 that

00:18:09.980 contain

00:18:10.460 a

00:18:10.660 variable

00:18:11.040 called

00:18:11.480 t

00:18:11.820 that's

00:18:12.220 time

00:18:12.700 that

00:18:13.600 is

00:18:14.920 what is

00:18:17.860 the

00:18:18.060 basis

00:18:18.400 of our

00:18:18.920 intuitive

00:18:19.240 notion

00:18:19.660 of time

00:18:20.160 I don't

00:18:20.440 think

00:18:20.620 there's a

00:18:20.920 separate

00:18:21.240 thing

00:18:22.220 that's

00:18:22.520 our

00:18:22.660 intuitive

00:18:22.960 notion

00:18:23.340 of time

00:18:23.740 but our

00:18:24.060 intuition

00:18:24.480 is

00:18:25.060 a

00:18:25.780 handy

00:18:27.520 description

00:18:28.120 of the

00:18:29.380 underlying

00:18:29.860 physical

00:18:30.320 reality

00:18:30.900 that

00:18:31.900 people

00:18:32.500 have

00:18:32.920 captured

00:18:35.180 in

00:18:35.740 the

00:18:36.520 equations

00:18:37.060 and the

00:18:37.400 basic

00:18:37.680 equations

00:18:38.260 that

00:18:38.500 describe

00:18:38.920 how

00:18:39.160 the

00:18:39.340 world

00:18:39.520 works

00:18:39.980 and

00:18:41.080 it's

00:18:41.320 very

00:18:41.540 remarkable

00:18:42.080 because

00:18:42.700 there's

00:18:43.340 well

00:18:44.160 the

00:18:45.120 deepest

00:18:45.480 facts

00:18:45.960 about

00:18:46.240 time

00:18:46.660 or

00:18:46.840 it's

00:18:47.040 that

00:18:47.240 it's

00:18:47.440 a

00:18:47.560 one

00:18:47.800 dimensional

00:18:48.300 manifold

00:18:48.980 and

00:18:49.800 that

00:18:50.680 there's

00:18:51.360 only

00:18:51.560 one

00:18:51.920 time

00:18:52.340 everybody

00:18:52.920 and

00:18:54.060 everything

00:18:54.400 in the

00:18:54.780 universe

00:18:55.180 marches

00:18:55.780 to the

00:18:56.100 same

00:18:56.400 beat

00:18:57.060 it's

00:18:58.020 an

00:18:58.140 amazing

00:18:58.480 thing

00:18:58.860 if you

00:18:59.100 think

00:18:59.300 about

00:18:59.580 it

00:18:59.760 didn't

00:19:00.200 have

00:19:00.420 to be

00:19:00.660 that

00:19:00.900 way

00:19:01.220 computers

00:19:02.120 don't

00:19:02.920 necessarily

00:19:03.420 work

00:19:03.800 that

00:19:04.060 way

00:19:04.300 you

00:19:04.500 can

00:19:04.700 ship

00:19:04.960 things

00:19:05.280 off

00:19:05.520 to

00:19:05.680 another

00:19:05.940 module

00:19:06.480 that

00:19:06.700 runs

00:19:06.940 at a

00:19:07.140 different

00:19:07.380 speed

00:19:07.800 and

00:19:08.020 so

00:19:08.200 forth

00:19:08.500 our

00:19:09.420 memories

00:19:09.920 and

00:19:10.160 psychology

00:19:10.780 certainly

00:19:11.240 don't

00:19:11.480 work

00:19:11.700 that

00:19:11.920 way

00:19:12.140 we

00:19:12.300 can

00:19:12.480 loop

00:19:12.740 back

00:19:13.180 we

00:19:13.380 can

00:19:13.620 leap

00:19:14.100 into

00:19:14.340 the

00:19:14.500 future

00:19:14.860 but

00:19:15.660 the

00:19:15.860 physical

00:19:16.140 world

00:19:16.640 seems

00:19:17.440 to

00:19:17.780 have

00:19:19.700 only

00:19:20.060 one

00:19:20.360 time

00:19:20.700 that

00:19:20.920 everybody

00:19:21.420 agrees

00:19:22.360 on

00:19:22.780 and

00:19:23.580 we

00:19:24.440 humans

00:19:25.480 sort

00:19:25.700 of

00:19:25.800 experience

00:19:26.200 that

00:19:26.620 in

00:19:26.800 music

00:19:27.120 and

00:19:27.460 dance

00:19:27.900 when

00:19:28.200 we

00:19:28.420 can

00:19:28.640 keep

00:19:29.540 time

00:19:29.860 with

00:19:30.040 ourselves

00:19:30.480 and

00:19:30.760 also

00:19:31.040 with

00:19:31.260 others

00:19:31.620 and

00:19:32.180 not

00:19:32.860 run

00:19:33.080 into

00:19:33.260 inconsistencies

00:19:34.220 but

00:19:34.660 the

00:19:34.800 time

00:19:35.160 of

00:19:35.380 intuition

00:19:35.960 is

00:19:36.640 a

00:19:36.840 measure

00:19:37.140 of

00:19:37.460 change

00:19:38.180 right

00:19:38.400 we

00:19:38.540 have

00:19:38.680 things

00:19:39.220 in

00:19:39.900 the

00:19:40.060 world

00:19:40.340 that

00:19:40.560 change

00:19:41.080 with

00:19:41.480 a

00:19:41.700 certain

00:19:42.260 frequency

00:19:42.860 and

00:19:43.440 these

00:19:43.980 things

00:19:44.320 are

00:19:44.720 clocks

00:19:45.600 this is

00:19:46.800 something

00:19:46.960 you point

00:19:47.280 out

00:19:47.400 in your

00:19:47.580 book

00:19:47.800 that

00:19:48.000 we

00:19:48.540 make

00:19:48.840 a

00:19:49.000 lot

00:19:49.160 of

00:19:49.280 this

00:19:49.480 but

00:19:49.740 certain

00:19:50.100 things

00:19:50.320 are

00:19:50.440 reliable

00:19:50.860 clocks

00:19:51.300 but

00:19:51.580 really

00:19:52.380 everything

00:19:52.700 is

00:19:52.860 a

00:19:52.960 clock

00:19:53.200 your

00:19:53.420 aging

00:19:53.740 body

00:19:54.160 is

00:19:54.340 a

00:19:54.460 clock

00:19:54.760 everything

00:19:55.360 is

00:19:55.600 a

00:19:55.700 clock

00:19:55.900 that's

00:19:56.440 right

00:19:56.620 I like

00:19:56.960 to say

00:19:57.220 everything

00:19:57.980 is

00:19:58.220 a

00:19:58.340 clock

00:19:58.580 some

00:19:58.860 of

00:19:58.960 them

00:19:59.080 are

00:19:59.200 harder

00:19:59.420 to

00:19:59.640 read

00:19:59.900 than

00:20:00.080 others

00:20:00.400 but

00:20:01.240 the

00:20:01.480 precise

00:20:01.960 meaning

00:20:02.280 of

00:20:02.480 that

00:20:02.680 if

00:20:02.840 you

00:20:02.940 think

00:20:03.140 about

00:20:03.420 it

00:20:03.580 is

00:20:03.800 that

00:20:04.080 when

00:20:04.720 you

00:20:04.860 write

00:20:05.180 down

00:20:05.720 the

00:20:06.400 equations

00:20:07.180 that

00:20:07.660 describe

00:20:08.200 change

00:20:08.900 there's

00:20:10.260 a

00:20:10.740 quantity

00:20:11.760 in those

00:20:12.220 equations

00:20:12.700 called

00:20:13.080 t

00:20:13.400 and as

00:20:13.980 I said

00:20:14.240 there's

00:20:14.420 only

00:20:14.600 one

00:20:14.980 such

00:20:15.280 quantity

00:20:15.760 that

00:20:16.520 seems

00:20:17.060 to work

00:20:21.580 if

00:20:21.820 you

00:20:21.940 measure

00:20:22.280 the

00:20:22.460 change

00:20:22.880 you

00:20:23.040 can

00:20:23.220 infer

00:20:23.680 how

00:20:26.580 much

00:20:26.840 t

00:20:27.060 has

00:20:27.260 changed

00:20:27.700 and

00:20:27.980 everything

00:20:28.860 is

00:20:29.100 a

00:20:29.200 clock

00:20:29.500 in a

00:20:29.760 broad

00:20:29.980 sense

00:20:30.320 but

00:20:30.540 of

00:20:30.700 course

00:20:30.940 we

00:20:31.800 want

00:20:32.160 to

00:20:32.380 have

00:20:32.940 clocks

00:20:33.380 that

00:20:33.640 are

00:20:33.840 portable

00:20:34.760 and

00:20:36.020 reusable

00:20:37.860 so you

00:20:38.600 can

00:20:38.740 keep

00:20:38.980 measuring

00:20:39.340 an

00:20:39.520 interval

00:20:39.800 of

00:20:40.060 time

00:20:40.340 accurately

00:20:40.840 the

00:20:41.120 same

00:20:41.320 time

00:20:41.620 over

00:20:41.820 and

00:20:41.940 over

00:20:42.140 again

00:20:42.420 and

00:20:42.960 things

00:20:43.200 like

00:20:43.400 that

00:20:43.580 so

00:20:43.720 when

00:20:43.880 we

00:20:44.040 think

00:20:44.560 of

00:20:44.760 clocks

00:20:45.720 as

00:20:46.320 the

00:20:46.880 instruments

00:20:47.380 of

00:20:47.660 time

00:20:48.040 it's

00:20:48.520 a

00:20:48.920 special

00:20:49.280 case

00:20:49.800 where

00:20:50.140 they

00:20:50.780 are

00:20:50.920 specially

00:20:51.400 adapted

00:20:52.000 to

00:20:52.920 make

00:20:53.240 the

00:20:53.520 readout

00:20:54.640 of

00:20:54.920 time

00:20:55.320 easy

00:20:56.020 but

00:20:56.340 in

00:20:57.200 a

00:20:57.600 larger

00:20:57.960 sense

00:20:58.480 everything

00:20:59.480 that

00:20:59.740 changes

00:21:00.060 is

00:21:00.280 a

00:21:00.400 clock

00:21:00.760 I

00:21:01.080 think

00:21:01.300 that's

00:21:01.820 correct

00:21:02.140 I

00:21:02.300 mean

00:21:02.400 human

00:21:02.920 beings

00:21:03.280 are

00:21:03.460 clocks

00:21:03.800 they

00:21:04.020 age

00:21:04.460 right

00:21:05.040 so

00:21:05.280 in

00:21:05.700 principle

00:21:06.060 if

00:21:06.400 you

00:21:06.580 could

00:21:07.200 study

00:21:08.280 the

00:21:08.520 cellular

00:21:09.320 processes

00:21:09.900 really

00:21:10.340 accurately

00:21:10.860 you

00:21:11.200 might

00:21:11.440 be

00:21:11.620 able

00:21:11.760 to

00:21:11.940 use

00:21:12.580 a

00:21:12.700 human

00:21:12.880 as

00:21:13.120 an

00:21:13.260 actual

00:21:13.540 clock

00:21:13.980 but

00:21:14.200 if

00:21:14.380 we

00:21:14.480 can

00:21:14.600 all

00:21:14.760 do

00:21:15.080 that

00:21:15.340 roughly

00:21:15.760 we

00:21:15.980 can

00:21:16.180 estimate

00:21:16.620 people's

00:21:17.120 age

00:21:17.420 and

00:21:17.580 so

00:21:17.740 forth

00:21:20.920 in

00:21:21.080 the

00:21:21.180 morning

00:21:21.420 I

00:21:21.720 know

00:21:22.160 what

00:21:22.320 time

00:21:22.560 it

00:21:22.680 is

00:21:22.840 it's

00:21:23.020 later

00:21:23.360 but

00:21:25.180 what

00:21:25.320 do

00:21:25.380 we

00:21:25.480 make

00:21:25.660 of

00:21:25.760 this

00:21:25.900 intuition

00:21:26.300 that

00:21:26.580 time

00:21:27.240 itself

00:21:28.400 flows

00:21:29.580 or

00:21:30.020 moves

00:21:30.520 because

00:21:30.820 what

00:21:31.240 we're

00:21:31.700 talking

00:21:31.960 about

00:21:32.140 is

00:21:32.240 a

00:21:32.440 measure

00:21:32.780 of

00:21:33.240 change

00:21:34.100 and

00:21:35.280 against

00:21:36.160 what

00:21:36.520 could

00:21:36.700 we

00:21:36.860 say

00:21:37.120 time

00:21:37.740 is

00:21:38.400 changing

00:21:38.860 or

00:21:39.160 moving

00:21:39.440 that

00:21:39.620 seems

00:21:39.900 like

00:21:40.540 a

00:21:40.740 contradiction

00:21:41.600 time

00:21:42.580 itself

00:21:43.120 time

00:21:44.220 itself

00:21:44.620 I'm

00:21:45.340 afraid

00:21:45.980 I

00:21:46.220 won't

00:21:46.400 be

00:21:46.540 able

00:21:46.640 to

00:21:46.780 give

00:21:46.940 you

00:21:47.040 a

00:21:47.220 really

00:21:47.500 satisfying

00:21:48.300 answer

00:21:48.880 because

00:21:49.800 in

00:21:50.840 the

00:21:51.060 current

00:21:51.400 formulation

00:21:52.020 of

00:21:52.300 physics

00:21:52.720 the

00:21:53.580 fact

00:21:54.380 or

00:21:54.840 the

00:21:55.080 axiom

00:21:57.640 I guess

00:21:58.120 the

00:21:58.300 assumption

00:21:58.700 that

00:22:00.100 time

00:22:00.920 is a

00:22:01.920 one

00:22:02.120 dimensional

00:22:02.620 continuum

00:22:03.500 is

00:22:04.600 rock

00:22:04.880 bottom

00:22:05.220 we

00:22:05.680 don't

00:22:05.960 know

00:22:06.100 how

00:22:06.280 to

00:22:06.420 explain

00:22:06.800 it

00:22:06.960 in

00:22:07.160 terms

00:22:07.380 of

00:22:07.560 anything

00:22:07.840 simpler

00:22:08.360 at

00:22:08.800 least

00:22:08.960 I

00:22:09.420 certainly

00:22:09.760 don't

00:22:10.100 and

00:22:10.200 I

00:22:10.300 haven't

00:22:10.560 seen

00:22:10.840 anyone

00:22:11.240 else

00:22:11.580 do

00:22:12.240 that

00:22:12.540 either

00:22:12.860 so

00:22:13.660 in

00:22:14.480 fact

00:22:14.700 what's

00:22:15.400 truly

00:22:15.820 amazing

00:22:16.260 to

00:22:16.500 me

00:22:16.780 is

00:22:17.860 that

00:22:18.520 and

00:22:19.580 I

00:22:19.700 don't

00:22:19.920 understand

00:22:20.340 it

00:22:20.500 and

00:22:20.600 I

00:22:20.740 don't

00:22:21.060 like

00:22:21.440 it

00:22:21.580 in

00:22:21.720 some

00:22:21.940 sense

00:22:22.280 is

00:22:23.040 that

00:22:23.380 the

00:22:24.360 concept

00:22:25.420 of

00:22:25.680 continuum

00:22:26.280 that

00:22:27.500 was

00:22:28.160 developed

00:22:28.560 by the

00:22:29.000 ancient

00:22:29.320 Greeks 0.98

00:22:29.780 and

00:22:30.060 in

00:22:30.540 Euclidean

00:22:31.060 geometry

00:22:31.540 for

00:22:31.800 instance

00:22:32.100 that

00:22:32.440 you

00:22:32.600 have

00:22:32.800 this

00:22:33.080 infinitely

00:22:34.040 divisible

00:22:35.100 uniform

00:22:35.820 essence

00:22:37.640 is what

00:22:39.160 we use

00:22:39.560 for time

00:22:40.140 in the

00:22:40.900 basic

00:22:41.200 equations

00:22:41.740 of

00:22:41.940 physics

00:22:42.320 even

00:22:43.100 though

00:22:43.520 we

00:22:43.800 know

00:22:44.180 that

00:22:44.580 in

00:22:44.820 reality

00:22:45.320 things

00:22:46.320 really

00:22:46.620 change

00:22:47.180 when you

00:22:47.500 get to

00:22:47.860 short

00:22:48.120 distances

00:22:48.640 and

00:22:48.980 short

00:22:49.240 times

00:22:49.700 you

00:22:49.880 have

00:22:50.020 to

00:22:50.160 bring

00:22:50.380 in

00:22:50.580 quantum

00:22:50.940 mechanics

00:22:51.440 and

00:22:51.900 things

00:22:52.640 have

00:22:53.560 irreducible

00:22:54.340 jiggle

00:22:54.880 and

00:22:55.240 fluctuations

00:22:55.900 and wave

00:22:56.560 functions

00:22:57.020 it's

00:22:57.400 completely

00:22:58.420 different

00:22:58.960 world

00:22:59.420 in many

00:23:00.380 ways

00:23:00.820 and yet

00:23:01.600 there's

00:23:02.800 still

00:23:03.180 in the

00:23:03.660 equations

00:23:04.180 there's

00:23:04.920 this

00:23:05.340 one

00:23:05.900 dimensional

00:23:06.360 continuum

00:23:07.080 that's

00:23:07.740 time

00:23:08.180 that

00:23:08.460 Euclid

00:23:08.800 would have

00:23:09.100 recognized

00:23:09.560 in what

00:23:11.500 sense

00:23:11.820 might

00:23:12.220 time

00:23:12.840 be an

00:23:13.660 illusion

00:23:14.040 is that

00:23:14.680 or just

00:23:15.500 a mere

00:23:15.920 construct

00:23:16.520 that

00:23:16.880 is

00:23:17.080 useful

00:23:17.440 for

00:23:17.900 modeling

00:23:19.160 the

00:23:19.740 change

00:23:20.040 we

00:23:20.160 see

00:23:20.300 in

00:23:20.400 the

00:23:20.480 world

00:23:20.720 but

00:23:21.220 what

00:23:22.140 happened

00:23:22.580 to

00:23:22.680 the

00:23:22.800 concept

00:23:23.080 of

00:23:23.260 a

00:23:23.420 block

00:23:23.800 universe

00:23:24.200 in

00:23:24.940 physics

00:23:25.360 there

00:23:26.000 might

00:23:26.340 be

00:23:26.680 deeper

00:23:28.720 levels

00:23:29.100 of

00:23:29.280 description

00:23:29.760 not

00:23:30.200 yet

00:23:30.480 constructed

00:23:31.100 so

00:23:31.580 it's

00:23:32.040 hard

00:23:32.180 to

00:23:32.340 talk

00:23:32.540 about

00:23:32.820 what

00:23:33.020 they

00:23:33.200 are

00:23:33.460 with

00:23:34.280 any

00:23:34.460 precision

00:23:34.880 but

00:23:35.260 I

00:23:36.020 can't

00:23:36.340 preclude

00:23:36.660 the

00:23:36.840 possibility

00:23:37.420 I'm

00:23:38.140 very

00:23:38.340 sympathetic

00:23:38.720 to

00:23:39.100 the

00:23:39.240 possibility

00:23:39.780 that

00:23:40.860 there

00:23:41.060 would

00:23:41.180 be

00:23:41.340 deeper

00:23:41.640 levels

00:23:42.020 of

00:23:42.220 description

00:23:42.760 in

00:23:43.720 which

00:23:44.100 these

00:23:45.160 Euclidean

00:23:45.720 concepts

00:23:46.340 of

00:23:46.600 continuum

00:23:47.060 run out

00:23:47.720 of

00:23:47.860 steam

00:23:48.180 and

00:23:48.820 we

00:23:49.100 have

00:23:49.260 to

00:23:49.400 be

00:23:49.680 replaced

00:23:50.160 by

00:23:50.440 something

00:23:50.840 else

00:23:51.260 but

00:23:52.120 so

00:23:52.980 the

00:23:53.720 idea

00:23:54.000 that

00:23:54.180 there

00:23:54.320 are

00:23:54.440 atoms

00:23:54.780 of

00:23:55.040 time

00:23:55.500 that

00:23:56.640 time

00:23:57.220 is

00:23:57.500 fundamentally

00:23:58.100 discrete

00:23:58.840 I think

00:23:59.740 if they're

00:24:00.500 going to be

00:24:00.760 atoms

00:24:01.060 they probably

00:24:01.520 have to be

00:24:01.900 atoms

00:24:02.180 of

00:24:02.380 space

00:24:02.700 time

00:24:03.020 we'll

00:24:03.220 come

00:24:03.380 to

00:24:03.540 that

00:24:03.740 but

00:24:03.960 the

00:24:04.440 fact

00:24:06.040 that

00:24:06.320 the

00:24:07.080 continuum

00:24:07.560 has to

00:24:08.240 be

00:24:08.400 replaced

00:24:08.780 by

00:24:09.020 something

00:24:09.380 else

00:24:09.800 I

00:24:10.480 think

00:24:10.820 is

00:24:11.280 a

00:24:11.720 very

00:24:11.960 appealing

00:24:12.360 thought

00:24:12.820 because

00:24:13.640 continuum

00:24:14.940 is a

00:24:15.420 very

00:24:15.640 very

00:24:15.820 complicated

00:24:16.480 concept

00:24:17.240 if you

00:24:17.680 try to

00:24:18.180 define it

00:24:19.220 precisely

00:24:19.760 and

00:24:20.020 axiomatically

00:24:20.760 the

00:24:21.000 ancient

00:24:21.300 Greeks 0.98

00:24:21.620 really

00:24:21.960 struggled

00:24:22.320 with

00:24:22.600 it

00:24:22.780 and

00:24:23.580 it's

00:24:23.740 really

00:24:23.980 only

00:24:24.260 in

00:24:24.440 the

00:24:24.560 19th

00:24:25.120 and

00:24:25.220 20th

00:24:25.640 century

00:24:25.980 that

00:24:26.260 mathematicians

00:24:27.160 got to

00:24:28.380 a

00:24:28.560 satisfactory

00:24:29.160 description

00:24:29.760 but

00:24:30.040 it's

00:24:30.240 really

00:24:30.640 complicated

00:24:31.260 it's

00:24:31.620 not

00:24:31.820 it's

00:24:32.100 not

00:24:32.340 simple

00:24:32.840 and

00:24:33.100 it's

00:24:34.180 not

00:24:34.380 the

00:24:34.560 sort

00:24:34.740 of

00:24:34.860 thing

00:24:35.100 that

00:24:35.320 I

00:24:35.540 would

00:24:35.700 like

00:24:35.940 to

00:24:36.140 have

00:24:36.740 as

00:24:36.940 rock

00:24:37.260 bottom

00:24:37.620 in

00:24:37.780 our

00:24:37.920 description

00:24:38.300 of

00:24:38.560 reality

00:24:39.300 I'm

00:24:41.020 tempted

00:24:41.260 to

00:24:41.580 open

00:24:42.040 that

00:24:42.280 door

00:24:42.480 and

00:24:42.620 find

00:24:42.840 out

00:24:43.020 why

00:24:43.360 continuum

00:24:44.640 axiom

00:24:45.740 is

00:24:45.940 imponderable

00:24:46.920 but

00:24:47.100 maybe we'll

00:24:48.080 get to

00:24:48.320 that

00:24:48.460 I just

00:24:48.680 want to

00:24:49.060 linger on

00:24:49.440 time

00:24:49.700 for a

00:24:49.940 second

00:24:50.080 what's

00:24:50.960 happened

00:24:51.280 to this

00:24:51.740 concept

00:24:52.080 of a

00:24:52.380 block

00:24:52.660 universe

00:24:53.020 that was

00:24:53.560 a

00:24:53.780 maybe

00:24:54.380 a

00:24:54.560 hundred

00:24:54.760 year old

00:24:55.240 notion

00:24:55.720 in

00:24:56.880 physics

00:24:57.380 the idea

00:24:57.880 that

00:24:58.200 past

00:24:59.160 and

00:24:59.360 present

00:24:59.660 and

00:24:59.860 future

00:25:00.200 might

00:25:00.620 all

00:25:01.140 exist

00:25:01.620 simultaneously

00:25:02.860 despite

00:25:03.620 the fact

00:25:04.040 that we

00:25:04.460 seem

00:25:05.140 to

00:25:05.400 perceive

00:25:06.320 it

00:25:06.500 through

00:25:06.640 a

00:25:06.800 keyhole

00:25:07.280 of a

00:25:07.840 seemingly

00:25:08.600 moving

00:25:09.140 present

00:25:09.760 yes

00:25:10.840 well

00:25:11.760 that's

00:25:12.720 more

00:25:13.020 an

00:25:13.200 attitude

00:25:13.580 I would

00:25:14.040 say

00:25:14.320 than

00:25:14.700 a

00:25:16.260 strict

00:25:18.040 a

00:25:19.780 distinct

00:25:20.280 statement

00:25:21.400 about

00:25:21.700 the

00:25:21.880 universe

00:25:22.240 I mean

00:25:22.640 mathematically

00:25:23.660 if you

00:25:24.740 have

00:25:25.260 a

00:25:25.700 one

00:25:26.000 dimensional

00:25:26.480 continuum

00:25:27.120 of

00:25:27.460 time

00:25:27.900 and

00:25:28.840 then

00:25:28.960 you

00:25:29.060 have

00:25:29.200 space

00:25:29.660 and

00:25:29.840 events

00:25:30.180 inside

00:25:30.560 you

00:25:31.440 can

00:25:31.760 describe

00:25:32.840 three

00:25:33.220 dimensional

00:25:33.620 space

00:25:34.220 plus

00:25:34.580 one

00:25:35.140 dimensional

00:25:35.500 time

00:25:35.980 as a

00:25:36.400 three

00:25:36.620 plus

00:25:36.920 one

00:25:37.220 or

00:25:37.360 four

00:25:37.600 dimensional

00:25:37.980 space

00:25:38.640 and

00:25:38.840 then

00:25:38.980 it's

00:25:39.160 just

00:25:39.420 a

00:25:39.580 space

00:25:39.960 and

00:25:40.760 but

00:25:41.300 the

00:25:41.860 I guess

00:25:42.480 the

00:25:42.840 and

00:25:43.540 that's

00:25:43.880 a

00:25:44.600 very

00:25:44.940 legitimate

00:25:45.800 object

00:25:46.340 of

00:25:46.600 contemplation

00:25:47.420 and

00:25:47.880 sort

00:25:48.120 of

00:25:48.280 that's

00:25:48.700 the

00:25:48.860 if

00:25:49.320 you

00:25:49.700 like

00:25:49.900 a

00:25:50.060 god's

00:25:50.440 eye

00:25:50.600 view

00:25:50.860 you

00:25:51.080 can

00:25:51.260 see

00:25:51.480 everything

00:25:51.960 that's

00:25:52.220 ever

00:25:52.360 going

00:25:52.520 to

00:25:52.620 happen

00:25:52.880 or

00:25:53.080 did

00:25:53.660 happen

00:25:54.100 all

00:25:54.660 at

00:25:54.820 once

00:25:55.140 if

00:25:55.360 you

00:25:55.480 could

00:25:55.640 stand

00:25:56.000 outside

00:25:56.380 this

00:25:56.780 four

00:25:56.980 dimensional

00:25:57.280 space

00:25:57.720 and

00:25:57.880 just

00:25:58.060 look

00:25:58.260 at

00:25:58.460 it

00:25:58.580 although

00:25:58.820 in

00:25:59.220 some

00:25:59.440 sense

00:25:59.660 it

00:25:59.820 it

00:26:00.220 didn't

00:26:00.480 happen

00:26:00.900 in

00:26:01.240 that

00:26:01.420 case

00:26:01.640 right

00:26:01.780 then

00:26:02.000 the

00:26:02.320 notion

00:26:02.540 of

00:26:02.700 an

00:26:02.800 event

00:26:03.220 is

00:26:04.220 an

00:26:04.840 epiphenomenon

00:26:05.680 of

00:26:05.820 just

00:26:06.040 how

00:26:06.340 we're

00:26:06.700 how

00:26:07.040 limited

00:26:07.580 our

00:26:07.800 perception

00:26:08.180 is

00:26:08.480 but

00:26:08.640 in

00:26:08.860 some

00:26:09.060 sense

00:26:09.420 and

00:26:10.180 also

00:26:10.380 the

00:26:10.580 notion

00:26:10.980 of

00:26:11.140 possibility

00:26:11.760 I mean

00:26:12.000 we live

00:26:12.340 in this

00:26:12.700 in this

00:26:13.500 space

00:26:13.900 of

00:26:14.180 time

00:26:15.280 and

00:26:15.560 space

00:26:16.220 and

00:26:16.380 space

00:26:16.640 time

00:26:16.880 where

00:26:17.140 there

00:26:17.340 are

00:26:17.500 events

00:26:17.960 which

00:26:18.340 we

00:26:18.660 think

00:26:19.240 could

00:26:20.220 have

00:26:20.460 not

00:26:20.820 happened

00:26:21.240 or

00:26:21.560 happened

00:26:21.900 differently

00:26:22.360 and

00:26:23.120 possibility

00:26:23.600 is a

00:26:24.140 thing

00:26:24.460 but

00:26:24.660 in a

00:26:24.940 block

00:26:25.240 universe

00:26:25.720 there's

00:26:26.500 no

00:26:26.600 such

00:26:26.760 thing

00:26:26.980 as

00:26:27.160 the

00:26:27.600 possible

00:26:27.960 there's

00:26:28.240 only

00:26:28.480 the

00:26:28.680 actual

00:26:29.060 and

00:26:29.460 it's

00:26:29.720 just

00:26:30.060 it's

00:26:30.500 not

00:26:30.720 even

00:26:31.060 it's

00:26:31.780 certainly

00:26:31.920 not

00:26:32.120 punctate

00:26:33.160 in the

00:26:33.900 way that

00:26:34.540 an

00:26:34.680 event

00:26:34.960 is

00:26:35.260 so

00:26:35.440 to

00:26:35.640 talk

00:26:35.960 about

00:26:36.180 there's

00:26:36.360 no

00:26:36.480 process

00:26:36.940 there's

00:26:37.400 just

00:26:37.680 there's

00:26:38.460 no

00:26:38.620 verbs

00:26:39.060 really

00:26:39.340 there's

00:26:39.540 just

00:26:39.680 this

00:26:39.860 single

00:26:40.180 noun

00:26:40.620 of

00:26:41.640 the

00:26:41.860 actual

00:26:42.260 and

00:26:43.340 it

00:26:44.200 does

00:26:44.400 make

00:26:44.580 a

00:26:44.720 mockery

00:26:45.100 of

00:26:45.540 time

00:26:46.500 and

00:26:46.680 events

00:26:47.040 and

00:26:47.500 possibility

00:26:48.460 yeah

00:26:50.780 well

00:26:50.980 that's

00:26:51.660 the

00:26:51.820 god's

00:26:52.140 eye

00:26:52.300 view

00:26:52.540 and

00:26:52.880 yes

00:26:53.120 you

00:26:53.300 can

00:26:53.640 imagine

00:26:55.440 a

00:26:56.120 consciousness

00:26:56.720 I

00:26:57.140 suppose

00:26:57.540 that

00:26:57.960 just

00:26:58.280 knows

00:26:58.680 all

00:26:59.080 and

00:26:59.360 sees

00:27:00.240 it

00:27:00.400 all

00:27:00.560 at

00:27:00.720 once

00:27:01.100 although

00:27:02.040 you

00:27:03.160 might

00:27:03.440 ask

00:27:03.760 how

00:27:04.000 is

00:27:04.160 that

00:27:04.460 entity

00:27:05.280 thinking

00:27:05.820 how

00:27:06.520 does

00:27:07.340 it

00:27:07.480 implement

00:27:07.900 logical

00:27:08.520 operations

00:27:09.160 or

00:27:09.460 information

00:27:09.980 processing

00:27:10.560 and

00:27:11.500 I

00:27:11.700 don't

00:27:11.880 know

00:27:12.020 that

00:27:12.240 that's

00:27:13.340 I

00:27:14.040 think

00:27:14.240 that

00:27:14.440 leads

00:27:14.740 to

00:27:14.940 madness

00:27:15.320 but

00:27:15.920 what

00:27:16.160 I

00:27:16.620 was

00:27:16.800 going

00:27:16.960 to

00:27:17.080 say

00:27:17.320 is

00:27:17.720 I

00:27:18.500 think

00:27:18.720 the

00:27:18.960 thing

00:27:19.440 that

00:27:19.640 can

00:27:19.980 be

00:27:20.180 said

00:27:20.360 about

00:27:20.620 this

00:27:20.900 question

00:27:21.460 is

00:27:22.500 that

00:27:22.800 the

00:27:23.060 laws

00:27:23.360 of

00:27:23.580 physics

00:27:23.960 as

00:27:24.360 we

00:27:24.540 have

00:27:24.860 them

00:27:25.100 now

00:27:25.600 are

00:27:26.940 not

00:27:27.420 directly

00:27:29.260 statements

00:27:30.080 about

00:27:30.720 this

00:27:31.340 block

00:27:31.760 world

00:27:32.100 they're

00:27:32.520 not

00:27:32.800 directly

00:27:33.380 statements

00:27:34.000 about

00:27:34.540 all

00:27:36.080 of

00:27:36.220 space

00:27:36.520 time

00:27:36.820 they

00:27:37.820 are

00:27:38.140 statements

00:27:38.700 about

00:27:39.120 if

00:27:39.900 you

00:27:40.040 take

00:27:40.460 a

00:27:41.740 slice

00:27:42.300 at

00:27:43.060 any

00:27:43.280 particular

00:27:43.700 time

00:27:44.280 you

00:27:45.220 can

00:27:45.640 know

00:27:45.980 the

00:27:46.240 state

00:27:46.660 of

00:27:47.600 the

00:27:47.740 universe

00:27:48.120 know

00:27:48.380 what

00:27:48.880 all

00:27:49.080 the

00:27:49.260 particles

00:27:49.700 in

00:27:49.880 it

00:27:50.020 are

00:27:50.120 doing

00:27:50.460 and

00:27:50.740 in

00:27:51.280 a

00:27:51.400 quantum

00:27:51.660 mechanical

00:27:52.120 description

00:27:52.560 what

00:27:52.880 the

00:27:53.020 wave

00:27:53.260 function

00:27:53.600 of

00:27:53.800 everything

00:27:54.120 is

00:27:54.540 so

00:27:54.700 this

00:27:54.880 is

00:27:55.060 far

00:27:55.320 beyond

00:27:55.660 what

00:27:55.840 you

00:27:55.920 can

00:27:56.060 actually

00:27:56.280 know

00:27:56.500 but

00:27:56.680 if

00:27:56.800 you

00:27:56.900 did

00:27:57.180 in

00:27:57.940 principle

00:27:58.360 you

00:27:59.160 could

00:27:59.540 calculate

00:28:00.500 what's

00:28:00.800 going to

00:28:00.980 happen

00:28:01.180 in

00:28:01.320 the

00:28:01.420 future

00:28:01.660 and

00:28:01.880 what's

00:28:02.080 going

00:28:02.180 to

00:28:02.260 happen

00:28:02.460 in

00:28:02.600 the

00:28:02.700 past

00:28:03.080 but

00:28:04.020 it

00:28:04.620 does

00:28:04.980 have

00:28:05.260 this

00:28:05.480 natural

00:28:05.980 division

00:28:06.540 into

00:28:07.640 slices

00:28:09.540 and

00:28:10.260 you

00:28:10.400 have to

00:28:10.680 start

00:28:11.640 somewhere

00:28:12.060 in order

00:28:12.580 to

00:28:12.820 reconstruct

00:28:13.200 the

00:28:13.520 whole

00:28:13.680 thing

00:28:13.900 so

00:28:14.040 the

00:28:14.200 laws

00:28:14.440 don't

00:28:14.840 naturally

00:28:15.360 describe

00:28:16.080 the

00:28:17.440 whole

00:28:17.640 thing

00:28:17.960 they

00:28:18.560 describe

00:28:19.120 how

00:28:19.480 things

00:28:19.880 develop

00:28:20.320 in

00:28:20.620 time

00:28:21.000 at

00:28:21.240 least

00:28:21.500 at

00:28:21.940 least

00:28:22.100 the

00:28:22.260 laws

00:28:22.480 we

00:28:22.660 have

00:28:22.880 now

00:28:23.120 have

00:28:23.780 that

00:28:24.020 character

00:28:24.480 and

00:28:25.080 then

00:28:25.240 of

00:28:25.420 course

00:28:25.640 the

00:28:25.900 other

00:28:26.100 question

00:28:26.460 is

00:28:26.800 that

00:28:27.120 what

00:28:27.720 is

00:28:27.920 this

00:28:28.200 description

00:28:28.640 for

00:28:29.120 who

00:28:29.380 is

00:28:29.540 this

00:28:29.740 description

00:28:30.200 for

00:28:30.680 if

00:28:31.500 it

00:28:31.600 were

00:28:31.720 for

00:28:31.920 God

00:28:32.340 well

00:28:33.140 then

00:28:34.040 the

00:28:34.660 block

00:28:34.900 description

00:28:35.340 might

00:28:35.640 be

00:28:35.800 appropriate

00:28:36.180 but

00:28:36.940 for

00:28:37.140 us

00:28:37.320 poor

00:28:37.580 mortals

00:28:38.100 who

00:28:38.300 are

00:28:38.420 moving

00:28:38.700 along

00:28:39.080 world

00:28:39.420 lines

00:28:39.820 in

00:28:40.020 space

00:28:40.320 time

00:28:40.680 it's

00:28:41.340 very

00:28:41.540 useful

00:28:41.880 to

00:28:42.080 have

00:28:42.280 a

00:28:42.400 description

00:28:42.820 that's

00:28:43.320 not

00:28:43.500 the

00:28:43.680 block

00:28:43.920 universe

00:28:44.340 that

00:28:44.740 tells us

00:28:45.840 how the

00:28:46.140 different

00:28:46.420 snapshots

00:28:47.080 get put

00:28:47.500 together

00:28:47.940 and so

00:28:48.380 forth

00:28:48.640 let's

00:28:49.300 step

00:28:49.620 back

00:28:49.920 from

00:28:50.100 the

00:28:50.260 God's

00:28:50.600 eye

00:28:50.740 view

00:28:50.980 and

00:28:51.260 get

00:28:51.780 into

00:28:52.380 space

00:28:53.200 time

00:28:53.620 and

00:28:54.200 acknowledge

00:28:54.860 the

00:28:55.300 reality

00:28:56.220 of

00:28:56.500 events

00:28:57.080 but

00:28:58.000 even

00:28:58.480 in

00:28:58.660 this

00:28:58.840 context

00:28:59.440 you

00:28:59.780 have

00:29:00.580 quantum

00:29:01.340 mechanics

00:29:01.840 now

00:29:02.140 governing

00:29:02.540 our

00:29:02.920 understanding

00:29:03.840 of

00:29:04.160 how

00:29:04.680 things

00:29:05.140 happen

00:29:05.920 at

00:29:06.540 the

00:29:06.680 smallest

00:29:07.020 scale

00:29:07.460 that

00:29:08.200 seems

00:29:08.600 to

00:29:09.300 give

00:29:10.340 us

00:29:10.560 a

00:29:10.800 probabilistic

00:29:12.160 picture

00:29:12.880 of

00:29:13.280 what's

00:29:14.100 going

00:29:14.280 to

00:29:14.460 happen

00:29:14.840 in

00:29:15.500 the

00:29:15.640 future

00:29:15.980 and

00:29:16.760 I'm

00:29:17.400 wondering

00:29:17.640 if

00:29:17.820 even

00:29:18.120 within

00:29:18.800 that

00:29:19.140 frame

00:29:19.720 if

00:29:20.660 it's

00:29:20.860 possible

00:29:21.280 this

00:29:21.620 will

00:29:22.080 sound

00:29:22.420 paradoxical

00:29:23.040 but

00:29:23.240 if

00:29:23.560 it's

00:29:24.000 possible

00:29:24.460 that

00:29:24.920 the

00:29:25.560 idea

00:29:26.020 of

00:29:26.560 the

00:29:26.860 possible

00:29:27.400 is

00:29:28.940 mistaken

00:29:29.980 given

00:29:30.640 that

00:29:30.940 there

00:29:31.180 is

00:29:31.560 simply

00:29:32.000 what

00:29:32.720 happens

00:29:33.280 how

00:29:33.840 can

00:29:34.020 you

00:29:34.200 justify

00:29:34.780 the

00:29:35.000 possible

00:29:35.380 I

00:29:35.820 think

00:29:36.040 that

00:29:36.220 question

00:29:36.600 is

00:29:36.800 very

00:29:36.980 much

00:29:37.320 an

00:29:39.460 open

00:29:40.120 question

00:29:40.560 there

00:29:40.920 are

00:29:42.240 aspects

00:29:42.660 of

00:29:42.860 quantum

00:29:43.140 mechanics

00:29:43.560 that

00:29:43.780 are

00:29:43.920 deeply

00:29:44.200 mysterious

00:29:44.700 and

00:29:45.820 I

00:29:46.060 think

00:29:46.260 subject

00:29:46.640 to

00:29:46.900 change

00:29:47.280 in

00:29:47.420 the

00:29:47.540 future

00:29:47.840 if

00:29:48.020 we

00:29:48.140 understand

00:29:48.460 things

00:29:48.860 better

00:29:49.160 we

00:29:49.520 may

00:29:49.740 or

00:29:49.840 may

00:29:49.940 not

00:29:50.160 need

00:29:50.380 to

00:29:50.800 change

00:29:52.180 the

00:29:52.360 equations

00:29:52.760 but

00:29:53.080 for

00:29:53.400 sure

00:29:53.640 I

00:29:53.860 think

00:29:54.020 we

00:29:54.160 need

00:29:54.300 a

00:29:54.460 deeper

00:29:54.680 understanding

00:29:55.380 quantum

00:29:55.960 mechanics

00:29:56.400 is

00:29:56.760 less

00:29:57.940 than

00:29:58.120 100

00:29:58.400 years

00:29:58.740 old

00:29:59.100 and

00:29:59.240 it's

00:29:59.400 a

00:29:59.560 profound

00:30:00.220 modification

00:30:01.860 of how

00:30:02.300 we

00:30:02.460 understand

00:30:02.840 the

00:30:03.060 world

00:30:03.240 it's

00:30:03.460 going

00:30:03.560 to

00:30:03.660 take

00:30:03.840 a

00:30:03.980 while

00:30:04.200 to

00:30:04.400 really

00:30:04.660 absorb

00:30:05.080 but

00:30:05.880 if

00:30:06.520 you

00:30:06.660 study

00:30:07.080 if

00:30:07.420 you

00:30:07.520 take

00:30:07.780 a

00:30:07.920 look

00:30:08.060 at

00:30:08.180 how

00:30:08.340 the

00:30:08.480 equations

00:30:08.980 are

00:30:09.900 actually

00:30:10.240 formulated

00:30:10.840 they

00:30:11.620 are

00:30:11.860 deterministic

00:30:12.940 equations

00:30:13.640 but

00:30:15.180 they

00:30:15.420 are

00:30:15.560 deterministic

00:30:16.300 equations

00:30:19.780 for

00:30:20.040 something

00:30:20.320 called

00:30:20.580 a

00:30:20.720 wave

00:30:20.920 function

00:30:21.320 so

00:30:22.440 if

00:30:22.920 you

00:30:23.080 know

00:30:23.440 the

00:30:23.760 wave

00:30:24.040 function

00:30:24.460 at

00:30:24.940 one

00:30:25.240 time

00:30:25.700 then

00:30:26.860 in

00:30:27.140 principle

00:30:27.600 you

00:30:28.740 can

00:30:28.980 solve

00:30:29.340 the

00:30:29.500 equations

00:30:30.000 to

00:30:30.580 figure

00:30:31.300 out

00:30:31.720 what

00:30:32.480 the

00:30:32.900 wave

00:30:33.160 function

00:30:33.580 and

00:30:33.920 therefore

00:30:34.240 the

00:30:35.180 universe

00:30:35.480 is

00:30:36.020 going

00:30:36.240 to

00:30:36.400 be

00:30:36.580 at

00:30:36.720 the

00:30:36.820 next

00:30:37.020 time

00:30:37.400 or

00:30:37.980 what

00:30:38.280 it

00:30:38.380 was

00:30:38.560 at

00:30:38.660 the

00:30:38.780 past

00:30:39.020 time

00:30:39.260 for

00:30:39.380 that

00:30:39.560 matter

00:30:39.760 you

00:30:39.880 can

00:30:39.980 always

00:30:40.480 run

00:30:40.740 them

00:30:40.900 backwards

00:30:41.340 however

00:30:42.580 and

00:30:43.480 this

00:30:43.680 is

00:30:43.980 what's

00:30:44.860 really

00:30:45.100 weird

00:30:45.480 you

00:30:46.100 can't

00:30:46.420 know

00:30:46.560 the

00:30:46.680 wave

00:30:46.860 function

00:30:47.260 completely

00:30:48.040 so

00:30:48.800 the

00:30:48.960 equation

00:30:49.300 wants

00:30:49.640 you

00:30:50.120 to

00:30:50.260 tell

00:30:50.440 it

00:30:50.580 the

00:30:50.700 wave

00:30:50.900 function

00:30:51.300 but

00:30:51.560 you

00:30:51.700 don't

00:30:52.500 know

00:30:55.700 even

00:30:56.260 in

00:30:56.920 principle

00:30:57.260 you

00:30:57.500 don't

00:30:57.680 know

00:30:57.860 the

00:30:57.960 wave

00:30:58.180 function

00:30:58.500 because

00:30:59.020 you

00:31:00.000 have

00:31:00.280 to

00:31:00.440 make

00:31:00.700 incompatible

00:31:01.920 process

00:31:02.680 you

00:31:03.000 have

00:31:03.180 to

00:31:03.300 do

00:31:03.460 incompatible

00:31:04.260 processing

00:31:04.860 on it

00:31:05.480 to

00:31:05.840 extract

00:31:06.580 all

00:31:06.880 its

00:31:07.040 information

00:31:07.620 putting

00:31:08.540 it

00:31:08.740 roughly

00:31:09.720 but

00:31:10.020 precise

00:31:10.460 but

00:31:10.760 there

00:31:11.300 is

00:31:11.700 a

00:31:11.840 precise

00:31:12.180 formulation

00:31:12.780 so

00:31:13.480 for

00:31:13.740 instance

00:31:14.100 the

00:31:14.300 Heisenberg

00:31:14.800 uncertainty

00:31:15.260 principle

00:31:15.740 tells

00:31:16.140 you

00:31:16.320 that

00:31:16.880 even

00:31:17.260 though

00:31:17.680 you

00:31:18.380 have

00:31:18.920 a

00:31:19.380 perfectly

00:31:19.760 definite

00:31:20.260 wave

00:31:20.680 function

00:31:21.080 if

00:31:22.300 you

00:31:22.500 want

00:31:22.880 to

00:31:23.060 answer

00:31:23.420 questions

00:31:24.120 about

00:31:24.580 position

00:31:25.260 of

00:31:25.480 a

00:31:25.620 particle

00:31:25.980 you 0.75

00:31:26.880 have

00:31:27.120 to

00:31:27.280 process

00:31:27.660 it

00:31:27.880 in

00:31:28.020 one

00:31:28.260 way

00:31:28.620 if

00:31:29.160 you

00:31:29.260 want

00:31:30.160 to

00:31:30.260 answer

00:31:30.460 questions

00:31:30.940 about

00:31:31.340 its

00:31:31.800 momentum

00:31:32.500 you

00:31:32.880 have

00:31:33.080 to

00:31:33.240 process

00:31:33.680 it

00:31:33.900 in

00:31:34.140 a

00:31:34.280 different

00:31:34.540 way

00:31:34.860 and

00:31:35.600 those

00:31:35.880 two

00:31:36.100 ways

00:31:36.380 of

00:31:36.540 processing

00:31:36.980 are

00:31:37.360 mutually

00:31:37.760 incompatible

00:31:38.600 so

00:31:38.840 you

00:31:39.040 can't

00:31:39.760 actually

00:31:40.300 predict

00:31:41.180 either

00:31:41.540 one

00:31:41.900 because

00:31:42.180 you

00:31:42.400 have

00:31:42.620 incomplete

00:31:43.080 knowledge

00:31:44.160 so

00:31:44.780 that's

00:31:45.340 the

00:31:45.540 situation

00:31:46.160 we

00:31:46.640 have

00:31:47.440 equations

00:31:48.100 that

00:31:48.460 are

00:31:48.600 perfectly

00:31:49.000 definite

00:31:49.440 that

00:31:50.320 would

00:31:50.460 be

00:31:50.620 perfectly

00:31:50.940 definite

00:31:51.400 to

00:31:51.940 an

00:31:52.560 observer

00:31:52.940 who

00:31:53.220 knew

00:31:53.360 the

00:31:53.520 wave

00:31:53.760 function

00:31:54.200 completely

00:31:55.300 but

00:31:56.280 we're

00:31:56.540 not

00:31:56.740 that

00:31:57.180 and

00:31:58.300 we

00:31:59.460 have

00:31:59.740 to

00:32:00.100 deal

00:32:00.900 with

00:32:01.300 what

00:32:02.320 are

00:32:02.460 the

00:32:02.600 consequences

00:32:03.400 we

00:32:03.860 can

00:32:04.060 draw

00:32:04.440 from

00:32:05.560 the

00:32:05.820 limited

00:32:06.160 information

00:32:06.980 that

00:32:07.940 we

00:32:08.160 have

00:32:08.680 including

00:32:09.760 well

00:32:10.660 let's

00:32:10.980 assume

00:32:11.520 the

00:32:11.700 equations

00:32:12.060 are

00:32:12.280 correct

00:32:12.680 but

00:32:13.100 we

00:32:13.340 don't

00:32:13.620 know

00:32:13.880 exactly

00:32:14.360 what

00:32:14.680 they're

00:32:15.020 acting

00:32:15.460 upon

00:32:15.900 so

00:32:17.260 we

00:32:17.700 only

00:32:17.960 get

00:32:18.140 probabilistic

00:32:18.920 predictions

00:32:19.520 but

00:32:20.480 it's

00:32:20.740 deeper

00:32:21.060 than

00:32:21.360 a

00:32:21.680 methodological

00:32:23.120 limitation

00:32:24.160 right

00:32:24.780 it's

00:32:25.060 deeper

00:32:25.380 than

00:32:25.580 a

00:32:25.700 methodological

00:32:26.280 implication

00:32:26.800 because

00:32:27.280 in

00:32:27.500 principle

00:32:27.960 because

00:32:28.480 even

00:32:28.820 in

00:32:29.000 principle

00:32:29.280 you

00:32:29.500 can't

00:32:31.300 pin

00:32:31.580 down

00:32:31.860 the

00:32:32.000 wave

00:32:32.180 function

00:32:32.620 sort

00:32:33.500 of

00:32:33.620 in

00:32:33.820 trying

00:32:34.320 to

00:32:34.540 pin

00:32:35.280 down

00:32:35.680 some

00:32:36.360 of

00:32:36.460 the

00:32:36.560 information

00:32:37.040 you

00:32:37.280 destroy

00:32:37.760 other

00:32:38.100 parts

00:32:38.460 of

00:32:38.600 it

00:32:38.760 right

00:32:39.160 there's

00:32:39.580 no

00:32:39.740 way

00:32:39.920 of

00:32:40.060 doing

00:32:40.240 it

00:32:40.400 non

00:32:40.640 invasively

00:32:41.280 but

00:32:41.480 I

00:32:41.640 guess

00:32:41.920 my

00:32:42.420 question

00:32:42.740 here

00:32:43.080 and

00:32:43.480 admittedly

00:32:44.280 it's

00:32:44.500 a

00:32:44.700 philosophical

00:32:45.900 one

00:32:46.420 more

00:32:47.080 than

00:32:47.260 a

00:32:47.580 scientific

00:32:48.080 one

00:32:48.420 I

00:32:48.560 think

00:32:48.780 is

00:32:49.540 given

00:32:50.220 this

00:32:51.080 state

00:32:51.320 of

00:32:51.420 affairs

00:32:51.820 and

00:32:52.500 the

00:32:53.040 disposition

00:32:53.440 here

00:32:53.920 is

00:32:54.120 to

00:32:54.300 say

00:32:54.720 that

00:32:55.140 certain

00:32:56.340 things

00:32:56.620 are

00:32:56.760 possible

00:32:57.340 and

00:32:58.040 we

00:32:58.220 understand

00:32:58.760 a

00:32:58.960 kind

00:32:59.120 of

00:32:59.220 probability

00:32:59.980 we

00:33:00.740 summarize

00:33:01.080 this

00:33:01.400 possibility

00:33:01.920 with

00:33:02.160 a

00:33:02.340 probability

00:33:03.440 distribution

00:33:04.580 of

00:33:05.280 some

00:33:05.460 sort

00:33:05.820 but

00:33:06.560 is

00:33:07.160 it

00:33:07.320 scientifically

00:33:07.760 wrong

00:33:08.520 to

00:33:09.080 say

00:33:09.560 that

00:33:10.740 we

00:33:11.620 don't

00:33:12.060 in

00:33:12.580 fact

00:33:12.860 know

00:33:13.200 that

00:33:13.620 and

00:33:14.260 it

00:33:14.920 is

00:33:15.100 possible

00:33:15.580 again

00:33:15.920 this

00:33:16.120 sounds

00:33:16.340 paradoxical

00:33:17.000 but

00:33:17.300 perhaps

00:33:17.780 isn't

00:33:18.380 it's

00:33:18.640 possible

00:33:19.020 that

00:33:19.300 possibility

00:33:19.960 isn't

00:33:20.600 even

00:33:20.900 a

00:33:21.140 thing

00:33:21.520 and

00:33:21.820 there

00:33:21.960 really

00:33:22.180 is

00:33:22.360 only

00:33:22.780 the

00:33:23.020 actual

00:33:23.440 there

00:33:23.960 is

00:33:24.100 simply

00:33:24.360 what

00:33:24.600 happens

00:33:25.040 and

00:33:25.640 then

00:33:25.740 we

00:33:25.840 have

00:33:25.960 a

00:33:26.120 story

00:33:26.520 about

00:33:26.880 what

00:33:27.140 might

00:33:27.380 have

00:33:27.500 happened

00:33:27.840 that

00:33:28.300 we're

00:33:28.480 adding

00:33:28.800 to

00:33:29.060 that

00:33:29.260 picture

00:33:29.640 is

00:33:30.100 there

00:33:30.180 some

00:33:30.320 place

00:33:30.500 to

00:33:30.660 stand

00:33:30.980 within

00:33:31.200 physics

00:33:31.680 to

00:33:32.020 rule

00:33:32.420 that

00:33:32.600 out

00:33:32.840 no

00:33:33.840 I

00:33:33.980 don't

00:33:34.140 think

00:33:34.340 so

00:33:34.620 I

00:33:35.420 think

00:33:35.760 the

00:33:36.460 wave

00:33:36.740 fun

00:33:36.900 these

00:33:37.780 quantum

00:33:38.120 mechanical

00:33:44.260 wave

00:33:44.940 function

00:33:45.300 and

00:33:45.540 you're

00:33:45.760 contained

00:33:46.120 in

00:33:46.280 a

00:33:46.420 quantum

00:33:46.640 mechanical

00:33:46.980 wave

00:33:47.320 function

00:33:47.620 in

00:33:47.800 fact

00:33:48.080 we're

00:33:48.300 contained

00:33:49.300 in

00:33:49.580 the

00:33:49.700 same

00:33:49.940 quantum

00:33:50.200 mechanical

00:33:50.600 wave

00:33:50.960 function

00:33:51.280 that

00:33:51.560 describes

00:33:52.000 the

00:33:52.200 universe

00:33:52.540 as

00:33:52.840 a

00:33:52.960 whole

00:33:53.220 and

00:33:54.540 different

00:33:55.700 parts

00:33:57.360 of that

00:33:58.160 wave

00:33:58.500 function

00:33:58.900 which

00:33:59.380 as I

00:33:59.860 mentioned

00:34:00.260 we don't

00:34:00.680 know

00:34:00.840 completely

00:34:01.340 and in

00:34:01.880 practice

00:34:02.280 we only

00:34:03.320 know

00:34:03.560 very

00:34:03.820 little

00:34:04.120 about

00:34:04.480 it

00:34:04.700 compared

00:34:05.340 to

00:34:05.700 what's

00:34:06.560 its

00:34:06.780 full

00:34:07.000 content

00:34:07.580 allows

00:34:08.560 us

00:34:08.800 to

00:34:08.960 make

00:34:09.180 only

00:34:09.600 probabilistic

00:34:10.560 predictions

00:34:11.060 because

00:34:11.600 there's

00:34:12.040 a lot

00:34:12.280 we don't

00:34:13.220 know

00:34:13.560 that

00:34:13.780 we

00:34:14.260 need

00:34:14.380 to

00:34:14.500 know

00:34:14.700 in

00:34:14.860 order

00:34:14.980 to

00:34:15.120 make

00:34:15.280 definite

00:34:15.620 predictions

00:34:16.080 so

00:34:17.180 it's

00:34:17.760 relative

00:34:18.220 to

00:34:18.580 our

00:34:18.800 knowledge

00:34:19.320 which

00:34:20.180 includes

00:34:21.080 everything

00:34:22.120 that we

00:34:22.600 know

00:34:22.840 all the

00:34:23.640 measurements

00:34:23.980 that we

00:34:24.340 made

00:34:24.660 all the

00:34:25.060 laws

00:34:25.360 that we

00:34:25.760 think

00:34:26.480 we

00:34:26.680 know

00:34:27.000 all the

00:34:28.180 experience

00:34:28.700 that we've

00:34:29.160 had

00:34:29.500 relative

00:34:30.380 to our

00:34:30.880 knowledge

00:34:31.340 our

00:34:31.600 predictions

00:34:32.140 about

00:34:33.000 the future

00:34:33.860 are

00:34:34.200 probabilistic

00:34:35.020 relative

00:34:36.300 to some

00:34:36.900 unattainable

00:34:37.980 even in

00:34:39.200 principle

00:34:39.560 knowledge

00:34:40.660 some

00:34:40.960 God's

00:34:41.460 eye

00:34:41.660 view

00:34:41.880 of the

00:34:42.180 world

00:34:42.560 maybe

00:34:43.460 the equations

00:34:44.700 are perfectly

00:34:45.180 definite

00:34:45.540 so if

00:34:46.180 that

00:34:46.380 somehow

00:34:48.180 means

00:34:48.740 something

00:34:49.100 to you

00:34:49.680 that's

00:34:50.540 also

00:34:50.740 true

00:34:51.080 but

00:34:51.460 in

00:34:52.020 practice

00:34:52.500 it

00:34:53.340 doesn't

00:34:53.860 change

00:34:54.160 things

00:34:54.380 very

00:34:54.580 much

00:34:54.860 so

00:34:55.800 it's

00:34:56.060 kind of

00:34:56.540 philosophical

00:34:57.240 determinism

00:34:58.140 but practical

00:34:58.980 not

00:35:00.040 determinism

00:35:00.860 okay

00:35:01.980 okay so

00:35:02.140 let's

00:35:02.280 go back

00:35:02.760 to the

00:35:03.180 point of

00:35:03.780 view

00:35:03.940 of

00:35:04.260 the

00:35:04.720 mere

00:35:04.920 ape

00:35:05.280 trying

00:35:06.000 to

00:35:06.180 find

00:35:06.520 his

00:35:07.280 or

00:35:07.400 her

00:35:07.500 way

00:35:07.700 in

00:35:07.800 the

00:35:07.900 world

00:35:08.120 so we

00:35:09.020 have

00:35:09.220 this

00:35:09.540 intuition

00:35:10.300 that we

00:35:11.500 exist

00:35:12.000 in a

00:35:12.680 space

00:35:13.460 of

00:35:13.780 three

00:35:14.100 dimensions

00:35:14.580 and

00:35:14.960 it's

00:35:15.300 that

00:35:16.140 intuition

00:35:16.520 is

00:35:16.840 is born

00:35:18.200 of this

00:35:18.660 experience

00:35:19.200 that we

00:35:19.540 we really

00:35:20.300 can't

00:35:21.000 figure out

00:35:21.680 any other

00:35:22.140 direction

00:35:22.680 to point

00:35:23.980 than

00:35:24.380 just some

00:35:25.340 combination

00:35:25.920 of

00:35:26.260 backwards

00:35:26.780 forwards

00:35:27.200 left and

00:35:27.700 right

00:35:27.900 and up

00:35:28.140 and down

00:35:28.580 right

00:35:29.480 that's a

00:35:29.920 pretty

00:35:30.080 solid

00:35:30.480 empirical

00:35:30.960 fact

00:35:31.460 I would

00:35:31.740 say

00:35:31.980 there's

00:35:32.360 certainly

00:35:32.580 only

00:35:32.840 three

00:35:33.120 large

00:35:33.580 dimensions

00:35:34.080 if there

00:35:34.760 are other

00:35:35.020 dimensions

00:35:35.460 they have

00:35:35.800 a very

00:35:36.080 different

00:35:36.400 character

00:35:36.740 right

00:35:37.100 right

00:35:37.700 so

00:35:38.300 and we

00:35:39.120 do

00:35:39.340 sense

00:35:39.760 that

00:35:40.160 time

00:35:41.560 is

00:35:42.260 distinct

00:35:43.440 from

00:35:44.080 space

00:35:45.020 and yet

00:35:46.100 now

00:35:46.540 physics

00:35:47.100 has given

00:35:47.640 us a

00:35:48.220 unified

00:35:49.400 picture

00:35:49.920 of

00:35:50.440 space

00:35:51.080 time

00:35:51.480 which is

00:35:52.280 well

00:35:52.780 you tell

00:35:53.500 me

00:35:53.700 how do

00:35:54.060 we get

00:35:54.860 this

00:35:55.160 well

00:35:55.340 it doesn't

00:35:55.640 make them

00:35:55.980 the same

00:35:57.400 thing

00:35:57.760 no

00:35:58.040 but it's

00:35:59.360 important

00:35:59.820 in

00:36:01.220 understanding

00:36:01.860 the world

00:36:02.280 to treat

00:36:02.760 them

00:36:03.180 together

00:36:04.100 so

00:36:04.760 the idea

00:36:06.000 that you

00:36:06.420 can

00:36:06.680 just

00:36:07.540 stack

00:36:07.980 up

00:36:08.340 a bunch

00:36:09.740 of copies

00:36:10.280 of

00:36:10.560 three

00:36:10.740 dimensional

00:36:11.080 space

00:36:11.760 and

00:36:12.220 this is

00:36:13.260 a time

00:36:14.060 t0

00:36:14.520 then time

00:36:15.040 t1

00:36:15.440 and so

00:36:15.740 forth

00:36:15.960 that's

00:36:16.800 not

00:36:17.000 wrong

00:36:17.700 but it

00:36:18.300 doesn't

00:36:18.740 do

00:36:18.980 justice

00:36:19.480 to

00:36:20.180 our

00:36:21.100 understanding

00:36:21.780 because

00:36:22.840 for one

00:36:23.800 thing

00:36:23.980 the theory

00:36:24.400 of relativity

00:36:25.060 tells you

00:36:26.780 that

00:36:27.640 let's

00:36:28.520 just

00:36:28.680 take

00:36:28.860 the

00:36:29.000 special

00:36:29.280 theory

00:36:29.560 of

00:36:29.680 relativity

00:36:30.040 which is

00:36:30.480 the

00:36:30.680 first

00:36:31.160 and

00:36:31.360 simpler

00:36:31.680 version

00:36:32.100 is

00:36:33.080 that

00:36:33.440 you

00:36:34.200 can

00:36:34.400 also

00:36:34.680 slice

00:36:35.120 things

00:36:35.400 up

00:36:35.620 in

00:36:35.760 different

00:36:36.020 ways

00:36:36.460 you

00:36:36.740 can

00:36:36.920 take

00:36:37.260 and

00:36:38.180 this

00:36:39.400 would

00:36:39.940 happen

00:36:40.580 naturally

00:36:41.140 if

00:36:41.660 one

00:36:43.080 set of

00:36:43.980 observers

00:36:44.440 sets up

00:36:45.040 things

00:36:45.440 a division

00:36:47.020 into

00:36:47.300 space

00:36:47.600 and time

00:36:48.000 and then

00:36:48.280 you have

00:36:48.580 other

00:36:48.900 observers

00:36:49.340 that are

00:36:49.700 moving

00:36:50.020 with respect

00:36:51.100 to those

00:36:51.580 at a

00:36:51.840 constant

00:36:52.160 velocity

00:36:52.680 it

00:36:53.520 would

00:36:53.700 be

00:36:53.900 natural

00:36:54.340 for

00:36:54.580 them

00:36:54.980 to

00:36:55.700 divide

00:36:56.280 space

00:36:56.780 and

00:36:56.960 time

00:36:57.260 in

00:36:57.420 a

00:36:57.520 different

00:36:57.760 way

00:36:58.080 to

00:36:58.320 have

00:36:58.520 different

00:36:58.880 slicings

00:36:59.500 that

00:36:59.960 sort

00:37:00.300 of

00:37:00.660 mix

00:37:01.000 up

00:37:01.320 the

00:37:01.740 original

00:37:02.060 space

00:37:02.500 and

00:37:02.660 time

00:37:03.000 and

00:37:04.140 the

00:37:04.400 remarkable

00:37:04.840 thing

00:37:05.260 that

00:37:05.460 relativity

00:37:05.940 says

00:37:06.980 is that

00:37:08.020 they

00:37:08.540 will

00:37:08.860 arrive

00:37:09.280 at

00:37:09.580 the

00:37:09.780 same

00:37:10.060 equations

00:37:10.560 so

00:37:11.700 it

00:37:12.040 kind

00:37:12.280 of

00:37:12.460 destabilizes

00:37:13.580 the

00:37:13.940 notion

00:37:14.260 of

00:37:14.480 time

00:37:14.940 as

00:37:15.840 a

00:37:16.040 separate

00:37:16.280 entity

00:37:16.640 from

00:37:16.900 space

00:37:17.400 because

00:37:17.740 it

00:37:17.920 says

00:37:18.100 there

00:37:18.280 are

00:37:18.980 other

00:37:19.240 just

00:37:19.640 as

00:37:19.840 good

00:37:20.060 times

00:37:20.640 at

00:37:20.900 least

00:37:21.060 from

00:37:21.220 the

00:37:51.200 point of view of the fundamental equation of physics as any one time. There are alternative times that are just as good. Now, that's about the fundamental equations. It's not about the world we actually experience, of course, because there is a preferred time, namely the time that points back to the Big Bang and the uniform space. But you're saying that in a different frame of reference, one set of observers could say that A preceded B, but another set of observers could say that A preceded B, but another set of observers,

00:37:51.220 moving with respect to A preceded B, but another set could say that A preceded A. Yes, right. And that falls out of Einstein's special theory of relativity. Yes. So there is that possibility. But on the other hand, observers can also agree that some events definitely precede others. So there's kind of another world, which is called the space-like region, but there's also a time-like region where you can order things linearly. Anyway, I mean,

00:38:20.640 the special relativity is a fascinating theory. And we could discuss it easily for several hours. But for present purposes, it made the traditional separation into a unique time and space unstable. Now, there are other versions of time that mix in some space and have,

00:38:48.520 but are just as good, but are just as good as far as the fundamental equations are concerned.

00:38:53.200 Well, does the fact that there's a preferred frame, at least defined with respect to the Big Bang, give us a notion of simultaneity that is valid? I mean, is there some place from which I can say now?

00:39:08.440 In cosmology, yeah. In cosmology, we commonly use that language. When we say, for instance, that a given star was formed ump-dity-ump seconds after the Big Bang, we can say that about distant stars.

00:39:28.300 And there's a unique definition, because there's this preferred frame in which the universe, the distribution of galaxies looks uniform.

00:39:38.160 If you move relative to that frame, then it won't look uniform. There may be some distortion, and the colors won't be quite uniform either. And so there is a preferred frame.

00:39:52.300 And so there's a preferred rest frame, and you commonly in cosmology use that as a way of synchronizing times across distant galaxies.

00:40:05.900 So, but in everyday life, as opposed to cosmology, the different frames are more or less equivalent. If you cancel out the astrological influence of distant galaxies, so to speak, what's left allows you freedom in the definition of time. There are many times that are equally good.

00:40:27.360 Okay. Okay, so we have a space-time continuum of some kind, which is a, it is a kind of medium, right? I mean, it is the kind of...

00:40:37.980 Oh, that's the other thing, right. That's the other thing, is that when you go to the more advanced parts of physics, from special relativity to general relativity in particular, then you find that it's very, very convenient and really unavoidable,

00:40:55.620 unless you are satisfied with extremely ugly equations. It's very, very convenient to treat the three dimensions of space and one dimension of time as a unified structure, because the equations display tremendous symmetry between space and time.

00:41:16.480 There are still distinctions, but there's also tremendous symmetry between space and time, and there, you can only separate them at the cost of making the equations very unnatural.

00:41:30.420 Right, but also we have, you know, further phenomenon like gravity, which seem best explained in terms of space-time itself being the sort of thing that can bend, right?

00:41:42.820 Exactly, right. That's the leading idea of the general theory of relativity. And as I said, it's very difficult to formulate the bending equations in an elegant way without explicitly bringing in the idea of space and time as a uniform,

00:41:59.800 as a coherent, integrated, three-plus-one-dimensional entity.

00:42:04.400 Okay, so we have this context of our experience. We have this condition of space-time, which now, disconcertingly, we've learned is not just a mere context in which the things that exist can happen. Rather, it is a kind of thing itself, right?

00:42:27.460 That's right. It's not a void. That notion was something that famously Aristotle rejected, and most thinkers rejected until Newtonian physics, which works very, very well with space being just sort of an empty platform or stage through which particles move.

00:42:55.840 But in modern physics, we've reinstated space-time as a substance, I would say.

00:43:03.360 It has a life of its own in many ways. The primary entities we use to describe the world are all core fields, and actually quantum fields, but they're space-filling entities that vibrate.

00:43:17.560 And the things that we call particles are excitations within these fields, but they fill all space and all time, and the elegant description of how they work uses that description.

00:43:30.460 And most dramatically, space-time itself is like an elastic medium that can bend and warp, and in the general theory of relativity, the kinds of distortions of motion we call gravity are ascribed to that bending and warping of space-time in very successful equations.

00:43:51.120 And we also, in very recent years, have learned that so-called empty space actually weighs something.

00:43:59.220 This is called the dark energy. Einstein called it the cosmological constant.

00:44:04.480 But basically what it is, is that space-time itself has an intrinsic density.

00:44:10.780 So, you know, it's a substance by a, it's a very respectable substance by any reasonable definition.

00:44:19.300 It's not, it's not a void.

00:44:21.300 Okay, so again, we'll see if we can somehow conserve our intuitions, or at least notice when we're violating them here in building up this picture.

00:44:29.920 So we have this, people are listening to us, let's assume their eyes are open, or they can open their eyes,

00:44:37.280 and, you know, they see the space in front of them, occupied by, you know, the objects on their desk, and perhaps their hands.

00:44:46.160 If they wave their hands in front of them, they can feel the air, right, which is yet more stuff in this, what once seemed like a void-like condition.

00:44:55.240 But what we're now being told, that this condition, the only place in which they experience their own being,

00:45:04.120 has all kinds of structure that is not apparent, and which is really only fully captured in the mathematical devices and discoveries we've used to tease out this structure.

00:45:18.560 I guess, but before we jump further into the constituents of things, do you have any thought as to why mathematics works here?

00:45:27.380 I remember that Eugene Wigner wrote a paper, I think in 1960 or so, about the, what he called the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in the natural sciences.

00:45:39.660 I mean, it just seems a very strange accident that apes like ourselves have enough linguistic ability, or at least some of us do,

00:45:49.520 to develop a symbol system that produces not only an uncannily powerful description of what we can understand,

00:46:01.020 but actually has predictive value.

00:46:03.760 It points into the darkness of nature and suggests what we might find there, and then lo and behold, we find those things,

00:46:12.140 whether it's, you know, the absurd energy in the center of an atom, or more of the electromagnetic spectrum that we can't see with our unaided eyes.

00:46:22.300 Why does any of this work?

00:46:25.180 It's a gift.

00:46:26.460 I don't know.

00:46:27.860 It's rock bottom, and it doesn't have, it didn't have to be that way.

00:46:30.960 I mean, it's, it's, I think, I think, I think it's been a continue, a continuous revelation and surprise and gift as science has developed.

00:46:43.780 Certainly, you know, since, since the 17th century, a sort of modern science where we make extreme demands of accuracy and, and test things very hard and so forth.

00:46:53.820 It's been, it's been, it's been, the program is to try to understand things fully and deeply and probe with all the accuracy we can muster and get, at the same time, try to boil down what we find into as compact a description as possible.

00:47:18.180 Even if the description has to be kind of an unusual language, which we call mathematics, that's very different from what we hear at cradles.

00:47:27.820 And it's worked.

00:47:30.320 And, and, and, and surprise after surprise, more and more layers, you know, Newton's theory of gravity, and then Maxwell's electrodynamics, and then quantum mechanics, and relativity, and quantum chromodynamics.

00:47:43.760 And the equations get more structured in some ways, but I think there's a tendency that they've actually gotten more beautiful and certainly more comprehensible, and more comprehensive, less comprehensible, maybe more comprehensive.

00:47:59.300 So that now, I think we've gotten very close, if not to the rock bottom foundation of understanding how ordinary matter works.

00:48:11.360 So sufficient for biology, chemistry, and all forms of engineering.

00:48:17.360 And we can summarize it in a few equations.

00:48:19.980 And it didn't have to be that way.

00:48:21.700 That's what, that's why I say it's, it's a gift.

00:48:24.020 For instance, and, and, and I think there's an important thought experiment, you can imagine, and people have imagined, and people, you know, even have gone off the deep end on this, but, but you can imagine that someday, artificial intelligences will be fully embodied, and general intelligences within computers.

00:48:49.160 And you could even imagine that these artificial intelligences were not sensing the same world that we're sensing, that they, they would be sensing electronic inputs that were designed by some programmer.

00:49:03.440 So this would be, these would be worlds in which intelligent design is actually true.

00:49:07.640 Right, right.

00:49:09.000 But, but the laws wouldn't have to have this character.

00:49:13.020 The laws would be whatever the designer or the programmer imposed.

00:49:19.160 And they wouldn't have to have the character of deep simplicity and mathematical coherence that we find in our world.

00:49:29.040 So it's a gift.

00:49:30.060 And I don't know any way to explain it other than to say that's, that's the way it is.

00:49:36.760 It's a wonderful gift.

00:49:38.100 I mean, following that argument, couldn't we be in a simulation wherein we're no more in touch with the base layer of reality, but it's just our simulation is consistent in all the mathematically satisfying ways, or at least seems to be thus far?

00:49:53.080 It could be, but it would be very, very wasteful programming practice to sort of hide so much complexity inside useless things that, that don't directly support the, presumably the interesting thoughts that are going on or the interesting games.

00:50:11.360 If you think about a super Mario world or something, if I were programming super Mario, I wouldn't make the bricks out of quantum mechanical atoms.

00:50:20.320 It's just, it's just, it's just an awful waste to do that.

00:50:24.600 And, and, and also you're, you know, you, you really could make a lot of creative use out of having more than one version of time, for instance.

00:50:34.000 I mean, you could have astrology being true.

00:50:35.980 You could have people moving back and forth doing time travel.

00:50:39.540 You could have all kinds of things once, once you free yourself of constraints that we seem to have in our actual physical reality, but that doesn't seem to be the world we live in for better or worse.

00:50:55.200 Okay.

00:50:55.300 So back to the world we live in or seem to live in.

00:51:00.440 Yeah.

00:51:00.740 Because, you know, intelligent design.

00:51:02.960 So I'm sort of joking, but not really.

00:51:06.660 That's what intel, I think intelligent design is maybe the future, but I just don't see much evidence for it in the world we actually experience.

00:51:17.400 Yeah.

00:51:17.980 This.

00:51:18.400 Yeah.

00:51:18.800 Yeah.

00:51:19.840 If, in other words, if they're going to be intelligent designers, it's going to be humans or their successors.

00:51:25.300 Yeah.

00:51:26.160 Well, but you've, you've, you've heard the simulation argument that I think is originates with.

00:51:30.520 Oh yes.

00:51:30.980 I've heard it.

00:51:31.720 I've heard it.

00:51:32.180 And I've thought about it.

00:51:33.380 And then I think, oh, no, I, I mean, I, that, that kind of idea is very old.

00:51:39.140 Right.

00:51:39.260 But the, the added wrinkle here that I think it's the, the wrinkle he's introduced, which

00:51:44.000 is there's just a couple of minimal assumptions you need to get what seems to be the, the following

00:51:51.720 probabilistic conclusion.

00:51:53.380 If you assume that, leaving aside the possibility of intelligent aliens that we know nothing

00:52:01.380 about that have computers that might be running simulated worlds, if you just imagine that

00:52:06.640 our species doesn't annihilate itself and we continue to get better at building computers,

00:52:12.920 at a certain point we will build simulated worlds on our computers, complete with, with

00:52:19.720 conscious entities like ourselves and seemingly by definition, simulated worlds will outnumber

00:52:27.060 real worlds because there's just, they'll just be functionally infinite number of, of

00:52:32.920 worlds that you could create.

00:52:34.540 So then just as a matter of probability, you should assume you're in a simulated world rather

00:52:39.120 than a, a real one.

00:52:40.380 Right.

00:52:41.380 Well, you know, probabilities are always relative to priors and, and there, we have an alternative

00:52:49.540 scientific framework in which things are what they seem more or less that the world, the

00:52:55.740 universe follows the laws of physics as, as more or less as we know them.

00:53:00.440 And there was a big bang and there has, it just hasn't been time for those developments to

00:53:06.300 take place if they're ever going to take place.

00:53:09.780 And if you just look at the internal evidence, as we discussed, our world, I don't think it,

00:53:16.900 how should I say?

00:53:18.220 Our world doesn't look like it's a programmed world.

00:53:21.200 It just doesn't.

00:53:22.740 And so if it, if it's programmed, if there is an intelligent design to it, it's very non-intuitive.

00:53:30.700 And, and, and, and let me put it as a challenge, I guess, to Nick Bostrom or whoever wants to

00:53:38.380 propound that kind of idea, tell me something about the world that I can understand better

00:53:43.880 on the basis of this picture than on the conventional, you know, the now conventional framework of

00:53:51.900 physical science.

00:53:53.520 I, I, I don't know of any such example and I don't think there is one.

00:54:00.700 Actually on that point of intuition, which is, uh, it's interesting to me, our, our intuitions

00:54:06.920 obviously have evolved in, uh, entirely in a context that has left us blind both perceptually

00:54:15.860 and intuitively to the domain we're talking about, the very small, the very large, the

00:54:22.440 very old, the very fast, right?

00:54:24.380 We have, we have intuitions for, for how, you know, thrown objects can behave local to

00:54:31.560 the forces that a, that a human body can participate in.

00:54:35.480 All the experiments we do as babies.

00:54:37.500 Exactly.

00:54:38.400 And mostly as adults, unless we decide to study science.

00:54:42.540 Right.

00:54:42.840 But when you're talking about moving fast enough so that, you know, you're approaching the speed

00:54:46.760 of light and time slows down or you become increasingly massive or the energy that, that exists internal

00:54:54.740 to the nucleus of an atom or the fact that atoms are as small as they are, but, and nevertheless

00:55:00.380 mostly empty space, like all of these facts that we understand in physics are not facts

00:55:06.200 that we should have any intuitions for.

00:55:09.620 So the, so one punchline seems to fall out of, out of this, and this is actually something

00:55:14.640 that I've discussed with Max Tegmark before, who, uh, you must know him.

00:55:18.680 He's, you're, you're both at MIT, right?

00:55:20.260 Oh yes, I've, I've even written papers with him.

00:55:22.120 Yeah, yeah.

00:55:22.620 So Max is a great guy.

00:55:24.740 I mean, his, his claim is that we should absolutely expect the right answer, you know, written at

00:55:30.040 the back of the book of nature to be deeply non-intuitive, given that our intuitions, I mean, just

00:55:37.180 give, if we're going to take evolution and evolutionary logic seriously, we should be

00:55:42.900 suspicious of any answer that is at all commonsensical to us or, or that is, fits comfortably within

00:55:51.620 our apish intuitions.

00:55:53.920 Well, that's the way it's worked out.

00:55:55.440 Yes.

00:55:55.900 I mean, we, how should I say, but it's not even, it's not an open question anymore.

00:56:00.460 We, we know, we know a lot, maybe it's not the final language, but we know the language

00:56:05.740 of nature and we know what the operating system is, maybe not in all details and, but, but

00:56:12.580 for most practical purposes, we, we, we know what the operating system is and surely it is

00:56:18.780 not comprehensible or in terms, in the, in the terms that we use, we use in everyday life

00:56:27.040 to get around.

00:56:27.780 That's, that's, that's, that's really what I try to capture in this notion of being born again.

00:56:32.560 You have to, you have to learn a new way of thinking that's mind expanding, requires you to

00:56:40.060 revisit things that you thought you knew and Matt and use an enormous imagination to come to grips

00:56:46.800 with what accurate observations and critical thinking we feel.

00:56:52.320 But the good news is that it can be understood.

00:56:57.260 And that's the amazing thing, which, which I guess, you know, this unreasonable success

00:57:01.180 like is that it can be understood.

00:57:05.560 That's, and I've tried to convey this in a slim book, which of course doesn't contain the

00:57:12.380 equations or, but does I think contain the essential concepts and the kinds of philosophical

00:57:20.140 questions that they settle or, or certainly address in, with deep illumination.

00:57:27.980 So yes, they are surprising.

00:57:31.260 They're very surprising.

00:57:32.780 If that's, if that's the claim, I fully agree with it.

00:57:37.080 Okay.

00:57:37.160 So, so back to what exists here, because I last left our listeners with hands outstretched,

00:57:43.640 waving them around in what they imagined was three-dimensional space and feeling the air.

00:57:52.780 And we've established that space-time itself is not merely the void context of the things

00:58:01.800 that happen.

00:58:02.520 It is itself a kind of object.

00:58:05.840 It's a kind of medium that the bending of which explains gravity, among other things.

00:58:12.180 What, so let's introduce into this space or into this condition, the minimal ingredients

00:58:19.280 for the universe as we know it.

00:58:22.220 What is there in front of us and as us?

00:58:25.740 What is the matter that gets introduced here?

00:58:28.360 So for most purposes of engineering, of biology, of chemistry, and most of it, astrophysics,

00:58:38.400 it's one of the things that we need to do, and not do our ingredients.

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Making Sense - Sam Harris - February 23, 2021

#238 — How to Build a Universe

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