How Poetry Can Enhance Our Knowledge of Cosmology with Joseph Conlon [Ep. 471]

Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

Brian Keating

Science, Physics, Natural Sciences

4.7 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 December 2024

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 How should we communicate big ideas? How do science and poetry differ in their communication of knowledge? And can poetry enhance our understanding of cosmology? Today, I’m joined by the renowned theoretical physicist and author of the thought-provoking book “Origins,” Joseph Conlon. In his book, Joseph reveals the origins of our universe through two long-form poems. With his extensive expertise in cosmology and philosophical thought, he sheds light on how the language of science not only explains the cosmos but also inspires us to reflect on the deeper meanings behind the laws that govern it. We also dive deep into string theory, string theory alternatives, and the current state of physics. Tune in to learn more about the intersection of poetry and science! Key Takeaways: 00:00 Intro 00:50 How science and poetry communicate 04:10 Judging a book by its cover 07:04 How can poetry enhance our understanding of cosmology? 08:26 Why are physicists condescending to art? 10:35 Elements and structures in Origins 15:27 String theory and string theory alternatives 22:27 String theory, extra dimensions, and dark matter 28:12 The philosophy of science and science communication 32:16 How AI is changing education and art 34:30 Whitman or Feynman? 38:40 Joseph’s personal journey with physics and poetry 40:49 Outro Additional resources: ➡️ Learn more about Joseph Conlon: 📱 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-conlon-338aaa23/ 📚 Origins: https://amzn.eu/d/2hybmbq ➡️ Follow me on your fav platforms: ✖️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating 🔔 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1 📝 Join my mailing list: https://briankeating.com/list ✍️ Check out my blog: https://briankeating.com/cosmic-musings/ 🎙️ Follow my podcast: https://briankeating.com/podcast Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known. Make sure to follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Einstein's equations, this is one of the most beautiful single things there has ever been.
0:03.6	It's incredibly beautiful. And it's right and proper that we communicate this beauty and we communicate these concepts to the broader world.
0:10.9	And there's a sense in which poetry is the highest form of language.
0:13.3	In the same way you look at the equations and you say these are incredibly beautiful, then the science deserves attempts to do it in poetry, attempts to do it in verse, because you're
0:22.6	trying to aim for the most beautiful language you can.
0:31.2	Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
0:37.8	Open the pod bay doors, help.
0:40.2	Joseph Conlin, thank you so much for joining us all the way from the United Kingdom, from
0:44.7	snowy Oxford, I believe. Is that right?
0:47.5	A tiny bit of snowy is not proper snow, but...
0:50.3	I want to get your reaction to a statement made by a countryman of yours, a late, great scientist by the name of Paul Adrian Maurice Durac, who said, in science, one tries to tell people in such a way is to be understood by everyone, something that no one ever knew before. But in poetry, it's the exact opposite. What do you make of
1:14.0	this cantankerous statement from a man who was not known for using a language very, very, you know,
1:19.8	excessively? Darax has kind of started in the 1920s, and this is like modernism, so,
1:24.3	and people like T.S. Eliot's starting it. And at some point, you know, Elliot made the statement at some point when he's writing, it says, you know, modern poetry needs to
1:30.0	be difficult. So I think, you know, if you think about what Dirac is reacting against, I mean,
1:34.0	it's, you know, this is modernism, this is the wasteland, this is the whole shift of poetry.
1:40.5	You know, in the way that physicists were discovering quantum mechanics, all the poets were deciding to be deliberately obscure and very difficult to read.
1:47.2	And so I think he must be reacting against that, because that is the same time quantum mechanics happens.
1:51.9	You have the big shift to modernism in poetry.
1:54.2	And even though, you know, Elliot was saying, yeah, poetry needs to be difficult.
1:56.8	That's, of course, not quite right.
1:58.6	But I think that Dirac was sort of a closeted poet, I think, in a lot of ways.
	...

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