Scott Aaronson: The Greatest Unsolved Problem in Math

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

Curt Jaimungal

Physics, Philosophy, Society & Culture, Science

4.6 • 606 Ratings

🗓️ 11 December 2023

⏱️ 138 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Scott Aaronson (UT Austin) reveals the P vs NP problem and quantum computing's limits to consciousness The conversation weaves through topics such as Turing universality, the no‑cloning theorem, superdeterminism, and the challenges of defining consciousness.- 00:00:00 - Introduction- 00:02:27 - Turing universality & computational efficiency- 00:12:35 - Prediction and free will- 00:15:16 - Newcomb's paradox- 00:23:05 - Quantum information & no‑cloning- 00:33:42 - Chaos & computational irreducibility- 00:38:33 - Brain duplication, AI & identity- 00:46:43 - Many‑worlds, Copenhagen & Bohm interpretation- 01:03:14 - Penrose on quantum gravity & consciousness- 01:14:46 - Superposition explained- 01:21:33 - Wolfram physics critique- 01:31:37 - P vs NP explained- 01:53:40 - Classical vs quantum computation- 02:03:25 - The "pretty hard" problem of consciousnessSPONSORS:- Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal (early access to ad‑free audio episodes!)- Crypto: https://tinyurl.com/cryptoTOE- PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/paypalTOE- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt- Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs- iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/better-left-unsaid-with-curt-jaimungal/id1521758802- Pandora: https://pdora.co/33b9lfP- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e- Subreddit r/TheoriesOfEverything: https://reddit.com/r/theoriesofeverything- TOE Merch: https://tinyurl.com/TOEmerchRESOURCES:- YouTube link: https://youtu.be/1ZpGCQoL2Rk- Scott's Blog: https://scottaaronson.blog/- Newcomb's Paradox (Scott's Blog Post): https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=30- A New Kind of Science (Stephen Wolfram): https://amzn.to/47BTiaf- Jonathan Gorard's Papers: https://arxiv.org/search/gr-qc?searchtype=author&query=Gorard,+J- Boson Sampling (Alex Arkhipov and Scott Aaronson): https://arxiv.org/abs/1011.3245- Podcast w/ Tim Maudlin on TOE (Solo): https://youtu.be/fU1bs5o3nss- Podcast w/ Tim Palmer on TOE: https://youtu.be/883R3JlZHXE Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal features long-form, technically detailed interviews with leading researchers in physics, mathematics, consciousness, and philosophy, exploring topics at the level of active research. For academics, graduate students, and anyone seeking depth beyond popular science. SPONSOR: I personally subscribe to The Economist. TOE listeners get 35% off the annual subscription. No other podcast has this! https://economist.com/TOE FOLLOW: Substack | Spotify | YouTube | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you by Shopify. With Shopify, 2026 is the year you make it happen. It gives you the tools to build your dream store, online and in person. Plus with marketing built in, it'll help you reach exactly who you need to. Join the millions who've already made the leap, like Jim Shark and all birds, and ring in the new year with Shopify.
0:23.4	Sign up for your £1 per month trial at shopify.com.uk.org slash Spotify.
0:29.7	Is there always a clever shortcut for every problem where we can efficiently recognize a correct answer?
0:36.1	And I think it's now recognized as one of the central unsolved problems in all of mathematics.
0:43.3	Scott Aronson is a professor of theoretical computer science at UT Austin,
0:47.9	particularly known for his work on quantum computing and complexity theory.
0:52.0	Today we talk about free will, we talk about consciousness, complexity
0:55.3	classes, super determinism, and even quantum computing. That last one in particular, we talk about
1:00.8	what quantum supremacy actually means rather than how it's promulgated by people like Michiokaku
1:05.8	and other popularizers of science. Scott explores and teaches these ideas with extreme simplicity, as well as joy,
1:13.1	which is a rare combination. Welcome to this channel. My name's Kurt Jaimungle, and for those of you
1:17.6	who are unfamiliar, this is theories of everything, where we delve into the topics of mathematics,
1:22.3	physics, artificial intelligence, and consciousness with depth and rigor. This commitment
1:26.8	stems from a recognition that popular science articles often peddle superficial
1:31.2	falsehoods, leaving a discerning audience, like yourself, yearning for technical accuracy
1:36.0	and substantive discourse.
1:37.8	In other words, the audience of Toll is the audience that's willing to invest the extra time
1:41.8	to understand the nature of reality and not be stuck in
1:44.8	the mysticism that characterizes, say, Neil deGrasse Tyson, explaining that, whoa, quantum
1:49.5	mechanics is both a wave and a particle. Cool, bro. Like, what does that mean? In order to understand
1:54.8	how that's misleading, one needs to know what a complex linear combination is, and so we'd rather
1:59.3	explain that than broadcast that of particles
	...

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