Our Universe Is A Math Problem! Max Tegmark’s Brilliant Theory of Reality [Ep. 465]

Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

Brian Keating

Science, Physics, Natural Sciences

4.7 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 11 November 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 💥 Is reality fundamentally mathematical? Is our universe just one of many? And will we ever discover extraterrestrial life? This week on Into the Impossible, I sit down with renowned physicist and machine learning expert Max Tegmark to discuss some of the most fundamental questions of our time! Tegmark has dedicated his career to uncovering the mathematical fabric of reality, proposing that our universe itself might be a vast mathematical structure and that we could be living in a multiverse of endless possibilities. His work goes beyond physics to tackle the transformative power and ethical challenges of artificial intelligence, an area where he believes humanity must tread carefully. In the first part of this mind-bending interview, we discuss his mathematical universe hypothesis, the search for extraterrestrial life, and AI’s role in science. Tune in! Key Takeaways: 00:00 Intro 00:49 The multiverse and mathematical structures 02:33 Theory of inflation and the multiverse 06:52 Levels of multiverses and mathematical structures 11:19 Quantum mechanics and classical mechanics 14:21 The relationship between theory and experiment 21:48 The search for extraterrestrial life 37:15 UFOs and military surveillance technology 41:19 Outro Additional resources: 📚 Our Mathematical Universe by Max Tegmark: https://a.co/d/03qjhLD ➡️ 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	There are all sorts of useful approximations we can do to whatever the true physics is.
0:04.0	Every single physics equation I've ever taught at MIT is also just an approximation of whatever the true equations are
0:11.0	because we don't know what the true equations are, but we know that we haven't found them yet
0:15.0	because the equations of quantum mechanics and the equations of general relativity, they don't talk to each other.
0:31.4	Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
0:42.0	Open the pod bay doors, Hal. Max Tegmart. Thank you for accepting my guilt-laden offer to join me on my birthday for this episode, Into the Impossible.
0:42.6	It's such a pleasure, and happy birthday again.
0:45.2	I wish you all the best for a very successful new orbit around our sun.
0:49.7	I think it's been about 10 years since your very first book came out, Our Mathematical Universe.
0:55.4	And I love this book for many reasons, not the least of which, because my PhD thesis experiment is featured prominently therein.
1:02.8	But I want to actually do what you're not supposed to do, which is to judge a book by its cover.
1:07.4	We've always done that on this podcast in recent years.
1:12.0	And that's to take people through the idea, the title, the subtitle, and the cover art. Talk about the title of the book and how it
1:17.7	came to you, our mathematical universe, and then I have a provocative question based on this.
1:22.5	My quest for the ultimate nature of reality. How'd you come up with that? First of all,
1:26.6	I actually do have a little copy handy here.
1:29.2	And so here you will recognize, of course, our universes. We will probably discuss
1:35.3	shortly. And our universe, rather than the universe, is a subtle hint that I think there are also other universes and we shouldn't be so arrogant
1:46.7	and it's just refer to our own one as the universe just like we don't refer to the spinning ball
1:51.9	in space we live on as like the planet it's our planet and then the mathematical there is
1:57.0	kind of the real kicker because I'm making this very radical argument in the book
2:03.7	that our universe is in fact very mathematical, in fact completely mathematical
	...

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