Donald Hoffman, Priya Natarajan, and Hilary Lawson discuss whether the idea of an ultimate reality is a profound mistake.
Is our search for a theory of everything hopeless?
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Most of us assume reality is made up of physical matter. In line with this, scientists have built ever larger machines to identify the ultimate particles. Instead of getting closer to the most elementary bits in the universe, the particle zoo has got ever more complex and seemingly less like material stuff at all. Is there a danger that the very idea of an ultimate foundation to reality is a profound mistake? Some have proposed that instead of material, the ultimate foundation is to be found in consciousness, information, or even mathematics. But such proposals are no closer to identifying ultimate elements than particle physicists.
Should we give up the attempt to uncover an ultimate foundation to the universe? Is our inability to find an ultimate foundation a limitation of language, or of our capacity to make sense of the world, or is it to do with the nature of reality itself? Or is it just possible that if we hold in there, one day we will crack the ultimate puzzle?
#physics #astrophysics #theoryofeverything
Priya Natarajan is a Professor of Astrophysics at Yale University and has been named as one of Time Magazine’s top 100 most influential people in 2024 for her groundbreaking work in the field.
Donald Hoffman is a renowned anti-reality theorist and Professor of Cognitive Sciences at the University of California, Irvine.
Hilary Lawson is a philosopher best known for his theory ‘Closure’, a post-analytic return to metaphysics, and an outspoken critic of philosophical realism.
Hosted by Jack Symes, public philosopher and writer. He is the producer of The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast and editor of the Bloomsbury series Talking about Philosophy.
The Institute of Art and Ideas features videos and articles from cutting edge thinkers discussing the ideas that are shaping the world, from metaphysics to string theory, technology to democracy, aesthetics to genetics. Subscribe today!
00:00 Introduction
00:17 Is the idea of an ultimate reality a profound mistake?
00:35 Hilary Lawson
03:58 Priya Natarajan
07:16 Donald Hoffman
10:29 Priya responds
11:49 Hilary challenges Donald
13:40 Donald defends his position
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