Sean Carroll - Layers Of Reality - The Complexity of The Universe 

You gotta love a physicist who can take difficult theories, ideas, etc. and make them so much more accessible to a larger audience. Sean Carroll has earned the right to sit at Feynman's desk.

This guy is really good at explaining things.

Sean is the real deal, someone who asks genuinely deep questions and tries to connect the dots. I gained a lot of respect for him when he defended philosophy against the many nay-sayers in his field who don’t appreciate its importance to certain areas, such as the foundations of the scientific method or political debates, etc. He is one of my favorites to listen to.

He's become my favorite speaker on physics. He doesn't do vague. Loving it.

Did anyone else pause at 8:xx to see if there were sirens near your house?

I respect Sean Carroll, even more after watching him speak from a fire station without missing a beat.

From the thumbnail I thought he might have had a stroke and I am so glad I was wrong.

What a wonderful educator, scientist and honest human being.....

Thanks Dr. Carroll. Whatever academia fears, books and Utube videos have opened up a “public general understanding” for me, and an appreciation for what you guys are up to. Bring it on. More. More. Keep busy. Do it. Learn. Learn. And tell us about it: just as you have done here.

I like this man a lot. I really loved this personal interview and background information about him. I mostly agree with his philosophy and I envy him because he is so lucky in life, haha.

I really enjoyed Sean's book The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself. He's one helluva teacher. I've learned quite a bit not only from his book but, also from his interviews as well. He sits in Richard Feynman's old desk. All respect for that one Sean.

what's with the sirens. am i just really high

Sean is definetly one of my idols. True genii can explain even the most complex theories to anyone and he is a pro!

Dr Carroll is not only brilliant he is an excellent lecturer and communicator. I thoroughly enjoy listening to him.

sean, youve done so much to raise curiousity about physics and science. worthwhile and needed:)

Mr Carrol is not only a very intelligent man, but also a gifted speaker, allowing us to grasp some seriously complicated theories.

Best argument yet for taking your coffee black . (I do) I only wish I could present a clear and simple explanation for both flat earth and miracle (big bang,there has to be a start) people to help them overcome the inability to get past the uncomfortable stage of new thinking and let go of the childish first impressions . I do empathize with the obsession to think (over think) and complicate the simple . Simplification is complexity resolved.

Being a former astroph theorist I can relate a lot to what he says about academia, it's not a pretty place with inbreeding and empires as well as nasty personal conflicts. As to the science, my feeling is that something really big is around the corner as regards to the physical explanation of intelligence, mind and complexity. It will be very different from what the old philosophers claim.

The body is a detailed thought. Dualism of body and mind resolves with the understanding that matter consists of ideas that have been chosen by conscious entities. The fact that ideas can become sense objects is routinely demonstrated to everyone with dreams. All the evidence available to science can be represented in a dream environment, which is constructed through choices of how to divide whole concepts.

Sean's voice is perfect. He should be the next presenter for Through the Wormhole.

I can't watch creamer mix into coffee without thinking of Sean and his entropy lectures. Life ruined.

You are doing a great job Sean. I studied engineering but I got interested in physics and cosmology by listening to you and others in the field. I also enjoy your talks about religion.

I hope that thinking about thinking is productive. And that thinking leads to tinkering with experiments which results in more knowledge which prompts more thinking. I feel humble watching people smarter than I continue this loop here on RU-vid. Thanks for posting this video.

I just have to laugh. I have never seen the degree of calm and refusal to be distracted by the enormous conspiracy of cacophonies which occur in this video, by anyone. It appears you would be nonplussed and unperturbed explaining what is occurring while standing in the middle of Bikini Island on its most eventful day.

Particle theory emerges from field theory, chemistry emerges from particle theory, biology emerges from chemistry, philosophy emerges from biology and God emerges from philosophy, maybe that's the ultimate goal... The Theory Of Emergence!

Sean Carroll is first rate!!!

I just love this man and his mind! Sean Carroll communicates to the common man better than any other physicist without being condescending or dumbing it down (too much).

That thumbnail ....Brains

He is legend, I like Sean more when he is Sean and talk informal directly with ppl

Bringing into question things like the importance of complexity and thought, and how we are to define and approach these notions, is clearly going in the right direction. Reaffirms my suspicion that Terence Mckenna got most of it right.

Sean, thanks for a very interesting and overall comprehensive talk. I have always highly enjoyed listening to lecture on physics and cosmology, and I've always held you, your intelligence and style in high regard. Please carry on!! :)

That siren caused some damage for humanity.

A process of spherical symmetry forming and breaking could form the complexity of the Universe. Spherical 4πr² geometry is fundamental to this process and this is based on Huygens’ Principle of 1670 that says, “Every point on a light wave front has the potential for a new spherical 4πr² light wave". We can think of the point as a photon ∆E=hf electron interaction or coupling. The spherical surface forms a boundary condition or manifold for the uncertainty of this interaction. Light wave radiate out spherically with their interior forming the characteristic of three-dimensional space with the spherical surface forming a probabilistic wave front. The two-dimensional spherical surface forms a manifold or boundary condition for positive and negative charge as the future unfolds. We have to square the radius r² because process is unfolding relative to the surface of the sphere. Therefore we have the speed of light squared c² we have the charge of the electron squared e² and the probability wave function squared Ψ². In the equation for Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle ∆×∆pᵪ≥h/4π we see 4π representing the spherical geometry.

It is a treat to listen to Sean! I like the way he explains things. The words he uses, the pauses, everything make learning from him enjoyable.

Much police action in the back ground. Going for Sean Carroll's theories ? ;-)

I would like to know if Sean is taking seriously the studies and theory of consciousness being developed by Giulio Tononi, the Integrated Information Theory. It’s the first theory that starts making sense and uses a radically new approach. I would also like to congratulate for the clarity of Sean’s explanations which denotes a very deep understanding.

there are few lecturers that talk so slow that they can be understood at 2x speed. But he achieves the unlikely.

Assuming one bullet hit an other bullet. what is the number of bullets and how they are formed.

Sean looks to the right so often when talking, this is not normal. Most people when they access their memory look down to the left. When people look to the right they are accessing their imagination, most people when they are looking to the right are creating a narrative (lying). Not saying you are lying, it is just a thing that happens when that part of the brain is being used. I think you are using your imagination (creativity) more so than other people which may be beneficial for theoretical physics. Very interesting. Anyway, hope I don't make you have a complex now. All the best! edit: at @27:41 he looks to the left and it was an imaginative phrase "probably sometime in the 1950's..." this indicates a proof, that he is somehow reversed with is eye movements.

one of the logical thinkers in the field....real thinker!.

Even though Feynman would slap me for saying this, Carroll is one of my main 'modern personal heroes'.

Mathew Broderick could play Sean Carroll in movie. A good resemblance.

Maybe the discovery of what dark matter and dark energy is all about will not do anything for mankind....but it might result in some great unknown benefit...it's impossible to know now. It seems to me that science is becoming more and more complex....peeling away of the onion layers....but it may be too complex for the human mind ultimately. It is difficult now for any one scientist to hold much of the current scientific knowledge.

I agree with Popper that scientific assertions and claims of authority on a scientific subject should be verifiable or justified by some kind of objective proof. That's what separates science from philosophy and religion. Speculation is just something that can lead eventually to the production of actual science (advancement of knowledge of the workings of the universe).

I had to pause it and see if those sirens were coming from here or there.

Thumbnail looked like he had a stroke

I'd like to hear him discuss M-theory.

Dear Coaster: Only a Troll, but the Exact Quarks aligned in the right way in my universe. Epiphenomena derdag, in 2007, threw a proverbial monkey wrench! What if I Own the Universe for a while? Duane

I like to hear his belief that it is VERY important to engage in public outreach. Science really depends on that. I did not like to hear him yammer about how women somehow get more flack than men, professionally speaking, in science. That's total BS, I have seen just the opposite. Women get catered to and made excuses for, far greater than men. They are overpraised for mediocre work and treated like Queens just for being a woman in a male dominated department. I think Sean is regurgitating the social fashion of the moment, rather than what is really true. The rest of the video is great. -Ken www.LaserGuidedLoogie.com

Very cool guy. When we were lighting fires in ancient times, you don't think someone was dreaming about there being a light source without hunting for wood. The bloke sending a letter via a horse-drawn cart, I bet he'd be thinking about how cool it would be to instantly chat with his family. Imagine looking up at the moon, and wondering if we'd ever walk on it? So much of what we've thought improbable has become probable.

I admire your work...however I. the search for answers to "why" questions, why is Chaos and Order Theory not included in the basic investigations?

What if redshift is "shmutz"? Hubble said this redshift makes it look like stuff is moving away, but it makes no sense and I'm sure when the bigger telescope I've ordered gets here, It will show redshift to be a red herring:) Then we never heard from him again.

It is great thinkers like Sean that brings humanity forward. Not old egocentric, near sighted and obsolete Reality-TV hosts (you know of whom I'm talking)

I love Sean Carroll... for his mind! Just to be clear.

I wish I had Internet fascility like today when I was in school,we grew up knowing science looking at our science teachers who were not so humble like the ones I get to see in youtube today.Probably I could've been one one them who "do physics,more specifically cosmology for living"

Sean Carrol gave me the realization that the quantum universe is really all there is. What we see and live in, the Newtonian physical world is nothing more than an emergent property of the quantum. P.S. the cover image makes it look like he is having a bout o Bells Palsy. Maybe change that🤔.

love sean, but around 20 mins he says that theoretical physics has no practical future applications that will effect our daily lives, which is insanely wrong and naive... quantum computing is a good current example

See the Brouwer-Kakutani Fixed Point Theorem for some insight on the mechanism for the local reduction in entropy. sites.google.com/site/barrykort/home/fixed-point

I see why Sean is the 25% who are accepted in the Scientific echelon, being that he isn't arguing "Old" science but Reinforcing them and testing current scientific theories to give us more data about the information we already have.

Carroll reels in science from the cold depths of scientism so that it is possible to know less and understand more about how science is entangled with consciousness. This allows for philosophy, psychology, biology, and everything else in our human experience combine into being.

Whats those sounds in the background starting around 7:31. They go completely haywire around 8:20... Sounds like an emergency vehicle in distress..

Haha. Terence mckenna spoke of complexity like in the eighties. He didnt understand it He wasnt a phsyicist. Sean mentions complexity and says physicists dont understand it now. One can see the complexity but to explain it?? Lol

How can you say that a scientific theory does not have to be falsifiable? Is that not the exact definition of a scientific theory? A model that makes testable predictions? What is the point of science without testable predictions? Intelligent design? I think that is the logic police in the background.

"Guessing at the ways to see these problems" Not that guessing is a bad thing in scientific inquiry but if the second theory of thermodynamics is true then rather than becoming better guessers, humans are more chaotic in their thinking than ever. Right? Look around you and you dont need to guess the answer to that one.

You know I am an atheist and would love to ask Sean for more clarification, but it seems that his sentiment that causality is in some sense outdated especially when talking about particle physics is in tension with his notion that those who overemphasize consciousness are pushing dualism which does not adequately deal with notions of causation.

He turned down a job from Hawking?? TWICE?? And he's supposed to be smart??😄😄

I want to take a second and refute your claim that thinking about deep philosophysical ideas doesn’t benefit anybody. It does wonders for me.

Play this video, close your eyes, think of James Woods. Now you have James Woods speaking about physics.

the sirens.....

14:18 riggle room? pretty sure he was trying to say wiggle room. i think he says riggle room. And thats with no sirens. He's flawless thru all the talking with sirens doing hilarious noises and then tries to slip a riggle room on us with dead silence in the background.

what the fuck is the outrageous siren wailing going on incessantly, all thru the big goddam bang? pick time point at 18 minutes, for instance--but it happens throughout. krist. pleeze, jigger with the mix, on this pleeeeze.

giving birth is away round entropthy. living forever is never going to work Sean Carols grand kids can start where he,leaves off

I just came here to make sure Sean Caroll wasn't having a stroke. That thumbnail was very concerning.

The first rule of the universe, We don’t talk about the rules of the universe. The second rule of the universe, You don’t talk about the rules of the universe.

May be the power and substance is coming into the universe via stars pulsars and out with black holes, and always have done

I've no doubt that the universe is a singularity, there is a lot of evidence but it's almost impossible to prove it due to the nature of a singularity. However, there is a high potential to make use of it.

Josh Homme has really straightened himself out.

It counts as science but not truth. Because you cannot falsify your claim it prove it true through some objective test.

i swear to christ he does this layers of reality song and dance and nobody knows what the fuck he's talking about and i don't even think he does

Sir please explain about imagination. By the help imagination we can travel future.

Did sean carrol rob a bank?

Yeah, string theory is flexible. TOO flexible. You can't predict anything in string theory. Look up all the supposed "predictions" string theory has made, which turned out to be wrong, but guess what? String theory is so flexible, it can accommodate ANY results.

Anybody catch the thumbnail? His face is frozen at the worst time.

Could it be that the quantum realm has no time and existed before the Big Bang?

26:00 Interesting talk, as always. What if the DE is a geometry problem; like ellipses are to the solar system. What if it is a fractal geometry? An iterating, growing, developing and evolving fractal . I have studied the fractal attractor and have found, by experiment, it may offer a solution to the large scale 'DE' and Hubble expansion and deals with the cosmological principle, inflation expansion and the galaxy distribution. The same geometry, I have found, behaves as light (the EMS) with a constant speed, and log sinusoidal form with wave and particle behaviour (the observation problem). With the fractal I have unified the small with the large; fitting and explaining the problems presented. There's an opportunity for a 'Rheticus' out there because it is only an interest to me, I am not a communicator, at least at the level demanded. Here is a basic presentation of what I have found with respect to cosmology. '(Inverted) Fractal Demonstrating Micro Quantum and Macro Astronomical Observations and Conjectures' ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-NoTEwZ-pTtk.html Show less REPLY

"All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force... We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent Mind. This Mind is the matrix of all matter". Read more at: www.brainyquote.com/quotes/max_planck_211839 I have written a million words it seems. But now it comes to me to say ONLY one sentence: this MIND is what takes its own waves of energy and light and bursts them forth as quarks, spinning itself billions of times a second as 3 points of light, forming itself into protons and neutrons. When the physicist Kenneth Ford wrote the above words in the book "The Quantum World" he added the word "magically" before the word bursts.

Did he give vuvuzelas to his grad students? What's with the sirens?

You are not just another physicist, you are sitting on Prof. Feynman's chair not by coincidence, but by your contribution to science. You're not a physician, you are a brilliant physicist. Carry on 'till some other 'younger' one claims your chair. He has to be real smart!

Loved the video. I think the camera was too close to Sean's face. Also, you can tell this was recorded in 2016 because he doesn't mention Ligo detection of grav waves.

At 10:20 when Sean talks about inflation and how, in our region of space, it ends, where the does the big bang fit in? Lately I've been hearing more and more about a "hot" big bang (as Ethan Siegel refers to it), and from description it sounds like in regions where eternal inflation ends, we get a hot big bang, so does that mean the moment before inflation is NOT a big bang? Or is there more than one big bang being discussed, hence the need to distinguish one from the other by calling it hot?

I suggest complexity arises where energy flows periodically (sunrise, sunset) through a randomly agglomerated system (eg, planet) whose configuration includes many different configurations of matter (rocks, water, gases), many modes of intra-system energy transfer (radiation, convection), and various types of phase changes. In such a situation, one "high-level" system of phase changes can create regions of both high and low entropy with respect to a more malleable subsystem, which can in turn host its own regions of high and low entropy for a sub-subsystem, and so forth. All this must occur over disparate timescales and various orders of magnitude of space configuration changes. You also need some luck. Maybe a lot.

The Title should be 'Meet Sean Carroll' Key Moment: 2:28 (Science): On guessing about all the questions posed here (guessing is where science begins) (and where religions end, just to note). Interesting Word: 3:01 'epi-phenomena' Key Moment: 3:21 (Science): On still-unanswered questions of various origins. Key Moment: 3:39 (Physics): On how complexity and structure arise, and how humans fit into it. Key Moment: 4:04 (Philosophical): On what humans are going to do with their existence) (the nebulousness of his answer revealing that philosophy is still VERY WEAK (enter me) (read my overall life-guiding philosophy). Key Moment: 4:35 (Science): Faux Pas: he emphasized 'being able to predict' which is an ERRONEOUS VIEW of science. Being able to predict is nice, but you can 'predict' without a -complete understanding- which is what you really want. For example, you can predict a rock falling downward from your hand without having a clue as to 'why'. That makes for weak science. Key Statement: 5:33 (Physics): seeking quantitative theories of how the universe works. Key Moment: 6:09 (Physics): on his new interest (using Bayesian statistics as applied to the amount of data and the probability of theories being correct) (at the microscopic level in his case) (me: it seems like a useful tool in quantifiably weeding-out bad speculations, which abound). Key Moment: 7:29 (Physics): On 'emergence' (fundamental laws vs macroscopic laws via cause/effect) (and which seem to be absent in the microscopic world) (and tracing human psychology back to the Big Bang via a cause/effect trail). Key Moment: 9:09 (Cosmology): On what we know now vs. only 25 years ago, and on the difficulty of moving forward. Key Moment: 9:56 (Cosmology): On Inflation. Key Moment 10:58 (Science and Philosophy): On how to treat the Multiverse concept (he doesn't know) (my philosophical answer: you treat them for what they are: speculations, possibilities, and you keep your eye open for any evidence one way or the other). Key Moment: 12:52 (Science and Philosophy): On Karl Popper - the 'falsifiable' concept (if a scientific theory is wrong, then it can be proven wrong, which you cannot do if a theory is right, and which you cannot do with fantasy) and its limits in cosmology (beyond our ability to physically test cosmological theories) (and how certain cosmological theories are not 'science'). Key Moment: 17:07 (Philosophy): On how cosmological theories get us to think about our 'place' in the universe (me: which is weak, rather than mere 'place' we should be thinking of 'survival' as we continue to search for as-yet undiscovered threats and benefits to life). Key Moment: 17:18 (Science): On how some scientists are not honest about their theories being mere 'speculation' (me: though not all speculations are of equal probability - some are more informed that others). Key Moment: 18:39 (Physics): On String Theory's probability of being correct about quantum gravity and the Theory of Everything. Key Moment: 19:59 (Philosophy vs Science): On Descarte's Dualism notion. Key Moment: 22:51 (Physics, Biology): On 'self organization' and 'emergence' as burgeoning fields. Key Moment: 23:32 (Science and Academia and Jobs): On there being more PhD's than job positions for them. Key Moment: 23:52: (Personal): On him and Steven Hawking. Key Moment: 25:23: (Personal): On changing job prospects during his career. Key Moment: 26:56: (Cosmology): On the expanding universe vs. quantum mechanics and gravity. Key Moment: 27:22 (Science, Philosophy): On doing science purely for the sake of discovery (me: this also illustrates how philosophy has been very weak - not having any notion of 'Broader Survival') (see my philosophy), and on reaching out to the general public concerning your discoveries (and how doing so hurts an academic career (and why)) (basically science needs good journalists following it so researchers do not have to take time out to write popular books). Key Moment: 30:29 (Personal) On his current job position. Key Moment: 31:14 (Personal): On what makes him most excited (doing research to discover new laws of physics). Key Moment: 31:41 (Personal): On writing scientific papers vs. writing popular books.

Sean lives in a tough neighborhood.....lotta sirens.

This guy never ever says "uhhh", and it is maddening.

Feynman …….Sagan ……….Carroll

Is it odd in any way that Galaxies have black holes throughout and dark matter also? Both are mysterious.....in my imagination I imagine a black hole like a whirlpool in space and I imagine dark matter coming from them all like a cloud of black ink from a squid.....I wonder if the gravitational strength of dark matter and the number of black holes is related? I mean, if there is a place where the strength of gravity from dark matter in an area with say....twenty black holes could be compared with another area with ten black holes all would have to be within a certain generic mass on average so that twenty represented twice the mass of ten....if the gravity from dark matter related to the number of black holes then you would know.

Is he at Cal Tech or Liberty City??

This dude's a boss. It's the apocalypse outside, and he's just like, "string theory, guys."

I like Sean a lot. This is a really honest and open perspective on present physics and the trials and tribulations of doing work therein. Many never turned down, let alone twice, a job from Hawking (late lamented) and as such Sean is very priveliged. His description of doctoral students having a very small chance of working in a tenured position in physics is spot on. I have had issues in the past with Sean's view of dark energy, which to me, at least, is bunkem. Of the highest order. And his lack of mentioning the accelerating universe, except for a mere couple of times, is warmly welcomed! The supernovae observations (exploding white dwarfs) are much more comfortably represented in other ways, rather than introducing it as a GR lambda (the dark energy). Dirac is my hero therein and wish he were around to correct all the misinformationists on this topic! Anyway. A great, lucid, truthful representation of physics research is what this video represents. Had I been Hawking: I would have called Sean a third time. Where better to live on this planet than Cambridge, England!? I may have asked.

Sean Carroll on Artificial Intelligence Channel posted Jan.2018 - Thank you for a great video! It is fascinating to hear how a physicist functions at work, and how you came to the place you are at present in your field. Some of my fave books were Dr.Mchio Kaku's books years ago, I loved them and shared them with my son , who is a genius (he is a talented illustrative artist). I have seen you on World Science Festival, which I really love! Thank you for sharing the fantastic science with regular people like me, it is generous of you, I am grateful. Best wishes for continued success! Jessi Ferri