The Laws of Nature Are Ugly. Do We Have to Accept This?

In which I wonder whether we will just have to accept that the laws of nature are ugly

Quantum Physics Can Change the Past, Physicists Show

Quantum physics works extremely well. It predicts experiments with absurd accuracy… but conceptually it’s a disaster. Here’s one example – in a recently published paper, physicists have come up with a quantum physics paradox that seems to show that we can change the past with quantum physics. Let’s take a look.

Surprise: Free Will Needs Quantum Physics to Fail, Physicists Show

Some physicists believe that human consciousness is somehow linked to the indeterministic element of quantum physics. But according to a surprising new argument that just appeared on the arXiv, a world where everything is ruled by quantum physics is incompatible with the idea of free will. Let’s take a look.

What is time, really?

What is time? That question is hard to answer because it’s really asking a bunch of different questions, like “Why does it feel like time passes?”; “What separates now from the future and past?”; “Where does time come from?” and “What do we even mean by time?” Today I have a look at all those questions and what physics has taught us about them.

Where does everything come from?

The universe is full of an unending number of different things, from plants and animals to gas giants and supernovae. But where did all of this stuff (for lack of a better word) come from? Let’s take a look.

Physicists Prove That Universe is not a Simulation

The Simulation Hypothesis is the idea that our universe is actually an algorithm being run on a mysterious supercomputer. In a recent paper, a group of physicists say they’ve disproved this theory by using Goedel’s theorem. Let’s take a look.

These Mathematicians Don’t Believe Large Numbers Exist. I’m Serious.

In our current understanding of mathematics, space and time extend infinitely and are made of infinitely many points of size zero. But according to a small group of physicists and mathematicians, this reliance on infinities has led us astray, forcing researchers to create strange concepts like multiverses or cosmological constants in order to explain away unwanted infinities. This sounds a bit kooky, but there might be something to it. Let’s take a look.

He Just Wants You To Survive: Bryan Johnson's Strange New Philosophy

In today's video I have a look at Bryan Johnson's quest for longevity and his philosophy of life. It's much stranger than you might think and is all about what comes after the artificial intelligence revolution. I am broadly speaking sympathetic to his ideas though I do have a few reservations.

There’s Another Way to See Reality. It’s Just as True.

Can two different theories of physics both accurately explain the same phenomenon? The answer in some cases is yes. In physics, this is called a duality, and it raises the question of why we choose one theory over another. What even is reality if we can use multiple different theories to describe it? Let’s take a look.

The Hidden Link Between Time, Space, and Mass

Units make the difference between maths and reality, between platonic ideals and physical quantities. But what are units, really? This is one of the most underrated questions in the foundations of physics – let’s take a look.

Does AI Already Have Free Will?

AI is becoming an increasingly important decision maker in our society whether you like it or not. But can an AI have free will? And should it be made responsible for its decisions? Philosophers are arguing both sides of the issue – let’s take a look.

This changed my life

how I learned to copy with knowing that my life is predetermined

Gravity Proves That We Live In A Simulation, Physicist Claims

Some people seem obsessed with the idea that we live in some sort of computer simulation. One physicist has gone as far as publishing a paper pushing that idea, claiming that the existence of gravity might prove that the simulation theory is indeed correct. Let’s take a look.

Origin of consciousness located with new test

The rise of AI has made us humans increasingly question what consciousness really is. In a recent study, researchers pitted two competing theories of consciousness against one another, the controversial Integrated Information Theory versus Global Neuronal Workspace Theory. Let’s take a look at what they found.

Does the future determine the present?

Teleology is the idea that the present is the way it is because it's shaped by a future purpose. In this video, I have a look at some theories in physics that reflect this idea and see if they make sense.

The Andromeda Paradox Even Confuses Physicists

The Andromeda Paradox, originally from Roger Penrose, is a brain-melting thought experiment that brings up the question of whether the future is still open or already fixed in Einstein's theory of relativity As I recently noticed, it's even got multiple physicists' brains tied into knots at this point. Let's take a look.

Researchers find major clue to consciousness

We still don’t know what “consciousness” actually means. But in a new study, researchers have used the equations of quantum mechanics to determine a brain’s “criticality,” a measure which allows them to separate waking brains from sleeping ones. I think they’re onto something. Let’s take a look.

No, Matt, this is no crisis

This is a comment on a recent video by Matt O'Dowd.

I find it extremely distressing that we are still discussing this even though it's abundantly clear that naturalness arguments have historically worked extremely badly. It's a pseudo-scientific method that physicists need to stop using.

Time Can Run In Two Directions, Physicists Find

Why time passes is one of the biggest mysteries in physics, as the fundamental laws of nature don’t reflect a difference between moving forward and backward in time. In a new paper, researchers have shown that time might actually be able to run in two directions, meaning we might have a twin universe where time runs opposite our universe’s. Let’s take a look.



This video comes with a quiz which you can take here:

I Believe The Universe Might Be Able To Think.

In my second book, Existential Physics", I wrote about the possibility that the universe might be able to think. You might think I’m joking, or gone off the deep end, or both – but hear me out.