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Donald Hoffman
The Death of SpaceTime & Birth of Conscious Agents
Spacetime is doomed. It, and its particles, cannot be fundamental in physical theory, but must emerge from a more fundamental theory. I review the converging evidence for this claim from physics and evolution, and then propose a new way to think of spacetime: as a data-compressing and error-correcting channel for information about fitness. I propose that a theory of conscious agents is a good candidate for the more fundamental theory to replace spacetime. Spacetime then appears as one kind of interface for communication between conscious agents.
String Theory and the End of Space and Time
With Robbert Dijkgraaf
In the framework of the largest string theory conference in the world, Strings 2019, Science and Cocktails organized a special event at Flagey in Brussels. We were sipping cocktails in the art-deco building with string theorist and science superstar Robbert Dijkgraaf as he told us all about the fundamental laws of Nature.
afterward, cellist and composer Benjamin Glorieux performed a musical piece together with invited guests especially commissioned for the occasion, while live-video artist Klaas Verpoest accompanied them with his visual magic. What is string theory? What happens to stuff that falls inside a black hole? What are the fundamental building blocks of space and time? Did Nature have any choice in picking the fundamental laws of physics? What is the role of mathematics in physics?
his talk by professor Robbert Dijkgraaf was recorded on 13 July 2019 at Flagey in Brussels.
The holographic model allows us to conceptualize phenomena that have remained on the fringes of science -- synchronicities, psychic experiences, UFOs, poltergeists, spiritual experiences, states of higher consciousness. In part one of this two part program Michael Talbot discusses the holographic model of brain functioning and the "implicate order" model of quantum physics. He proposes that these two models combined explain many unsolved mysteries in both brain functioning (such as memory and vision) and quantum physics (such as the problem of hidden variables and quantum interconnectedness).
Ruth Kastner, PhD, is a philosopher exploring the foundations of physics. She is on the faculty of the physics department at the State University of New York at Albany. She is also a research associate at the University of Maryland. She is author of The Transactional Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics: The Reality of Possibility and also Understanding Our Unseen World: Solving Quantum Riddles. Here she describes Plato’s famous cave allegory, and suggests that it is relevant to our understanding of quantum mechanics. Specifically, she suggests that the higher dimensional mathematical formalisms, although not empirically observable, point toward very real levels of existence. To buttress her argument, she also describes the nineteenth century parable of Flatland. In quantum theory, there are the probability clouds described by the Shrödinger psi equation. At another, more subtle, but still ontologically real level, are virtual particles.
Ruth Kastner, PhD, is a philosopher exploring the foundations of physics. She is on the faculty of the physics department at the State University of New York at Albany. She is also a research associate at the University of Maryland. She is author of The Transactional Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics: The Reality of Possibility and also Understanding Our Unseen World: Solving Quantum Riddles. Here she points out that there are several interpretations of quantum mechanics that are very different from each other. She notes that there are many disagreements about the interpretation of the interpretations. She reviews the perspectives of great physicists such as Neils Bohr, Max Born, Ludwig Boltzmann, and David Bohm. She briefly describes the lesser known “transactional interpretation”. Then she focuses on the philosophical status of the crucial distinction between empirical and sub-empirical reality
Computer giants are racing to build the first quantum computer, a device with millions of times more processing strength than all the computers currently on Earth combined. This technology will harness the unusual laws of quantum mechanics to bring unimaginable advances in fields like materials science and medicine, but could also pose the greatest threat to cybersecurity yet. VICE's Taylor Wilson meets the scientists at the cutting edge of this new age of computing.
from the move: "What the Bleep: Down the Rabbit Hole"
How does a robin know to fly south? The answer might be weirder than you think: Quantum physics may be involved.
Jim Al-Khalili rounds up the extremely new, extremely strange world of quantum biology, where something Einstein once called “spooky action at a distance” helps birds navigate, and quantum effects might explain the origin of life itself.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment, and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more.