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Science Talk

Sean M. Carroll Looks at The Big Picture

Science Talk

Scientific American

Science

4.2644 Ratings

🗓️ 12 May 2016

⏱️ 31 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Caltech theoretical physicist Sean M. Carroll talks about his new book The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself. (Dutton, 2016)   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Ah, Benny's parents, thanks for coming.

0:02.3

Hiya.

0:02.9

So, Benny has really blossomed this term.

0:05.6

You're telling me, he outgrew his bike. We sold it, on eBay.

0:09.5

Oh, that's not quite what I meant.

0:11.1

It's free to sell on there?

0:12.3

Free to sell?

0:13.4

Easy too. Sold Benny's bike, your guitar, my jacket.

0:16.8

You sold my guitar?

0:19.9

Shall we talk about Benny?

0:22.1

When it's this easy to sell for free, you can't help but say when it's eBay.

0:26.7

Things people love.

0:28.0

T's and Cs apply, exclusive vehicles.

0:31.0

Welcome to Scientific American Science Talk posted on May 12th, 2016.

0:36.4

I'm Steve Merski. On this episode, you can be a naturalist and sort of be a hardcore naturalist who says the only thing that is real are elementary particles or the fundamental stuff of nature. I think that tables and chairs are real. And the argument for saying the tables and chairs are real leads you to also

0:54.6

say that things like consciousness and free will are also real. They are useful ways of talking

0:59.0

about the universe. That's Sean M. Carroll. He's a theoretical physicist at Caltech, whose research

1:04.9

interests range from cosmology to the foundations of quantum mechanics, times arrow, and

1:10.5

emergence of complexity. He's also the author of popular mechanics, times arrow, and the emergence of complexity.

1:12.2

He's also the author of popular books such as the particle at the end of the universe,

1:16.3

and for eternity to hear.

1:18.0

In the movie version, Bert Lancaster and Deborah Carr just try to count the number of grains of sand on the beach.

...

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