Sean Carroll: Quanta, Fields, and the Philosophy of Quantum Physics | Robinson's Podcast

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7

Sean Carroll is Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University and fractal faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. He is also the host of Sean Carroll’s Mindscape, a podcast about science, society, philosophy, culture, arts, and ideas. This is Sean’s fourth appearance on the show. He appeared with David Albert of Columbia University on episode 106, which covers the Many-Worlds theory of quantum mechanics, Boltzmann Brains, and the fine-tuned universe. He was also on episode 118 with Slavoj Žižek on quantum physics, the multiverse, time travel, and a whole lot more, and then episode 200 with Daniel Dennett and Steven Pinker on AI, parapsychology, and consciousness. This episode is coming out in advance of Sean’s next book, Quanta and Fields: The Biggest Ideas in the Universe (Penguin, 2024), which will be released on May 14, 2024. Sean and Robinson discuss many of the topics and themes of Quanta and Fields, including the books’ namesake subjects, as well as more decides, like scientific realism, free will, the simulation hypothesis, and the end of physics. If you’re interested in the foundations of physics—which you absolutely should be—then please check out the JBI, which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. Any donations are immensely helpful at this early stage in the institute’s life.

Sean’s Website: ⁠https://www.preposterousuniverse.com⁠

Sean’s Twitter:   / seanmcarroll  

Quanta and Fields (The Biggest Ideas in the Universe): ⁠https://a.co/d/gfMDLQo⁠

The John Bell Institute: https://www.johnbellinstitute.org

OUTLINE
00:00 Introduction
5:00 The Biggest Ideas in the Universe
15:51 What Is the Role of Philosophers in Physics?
20:24 Scientific Realism and the Standard Model of Particle Physics
25:11 What Is the Wave Function?
34:46 What Is Quantum Field Theory?
41:01 What Is the Standard Model of Particle Physics?
49:38 What Are the Weaknesses of the Standard Model of Particle Physics?
54:41 Will We Ever Find a Theory of Everything?
01:00:18 Is Quantum Gravity the End of Progress in Physics?
01:10:24 On the Philosophy of Mathematics
01:19:08 On Naturalizing Morality
01:29:53 Is There Only One Electron?
01:36:51 Are We Living in a Simulation?
01:41:59 The Mysteries of Quantum Mechanics

Robinson’s Website: ⁠http://robinsonerhardt.com⁠

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, and everyone in-between.