Are the laws of physics real, or are they human inventions? This is one of many questions Brian Greene and Sean Carroll explore at the very edge of understanding, where physics meets philosophy. Carroll, a theoretical physicist at Johns Hopkins University, host of the Mindscape podcast, and a bestselling author, joins Greene for a wide-ranging conversation regarding the workings of the world at its deepest level.
Is mathematics discovered or invented? Why is there something rather than nothing? Do we have free will, and could an AI ever be conscious? Carroll makes his case for the Many Worlds theory of quantum mechanics, explains why he believes the other worlds genuinely exist, and defends the dramatic claim that the universe may be fully described by a quantum state in Hilbert space. They close with the surprising mathematical patterns connecting all mammals, and whether artificial intelligence will transform physics research itself.
This program is part of the Rethinking Reality series, supported by the John Templeton Foundation.
This program can be watched here, and on our YouTube channel, starting at 7PM on Friday, July 24.
Brian Greene is a professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University, and is recognized for a number of groundbreaking discoveries in his field of superstring theory. His books, The Elegant Universe, The Fabric of the Cosmos, and The Hidden Reality, have collectively spent 65 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list.
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Sean Carroll is the Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at the Johns Hopkins University, and a Fractal Faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. Prior to that he was a research professor at the Walter …
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