WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:02.960 Do you know what real power is? It's knowing you're 2 00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:05.719 on the same rate for energy all day, every day 3 00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:08.640 with a smart all day plan from board Gosh Energy, 4 00:00:08.839 --> 00:00:11.039 save up to eight hundred and eighty euro on dual 5 00:00:11.119 --> 00:00:13.519 fuel plus get A two hundred and thirty five. You're 6 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:17.480 a welcome bonus. Switched today at boardgosh Energy dot ie 7 00:00:17.559 --> 00:00:20.519 board Gosh Energy. Know your power. 8 00:00:20.440 --> 00:00:22.719 Estimating anuel bill A twenty six hundred and twenty nine. Your 9 00:00:22.839 --> 00:00:25.719 new customers only thurship centis Kentov Smart all day electricity 10 00:00:25.800 --> 00:00:28.280 unitrates in twenty nine percent of gas. You see pocush 11 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:29.839 energy dot E for fulltiesncies. 12 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:34.200 Oh hey, it's your old Internet uncle Dad wordmon podcast 13 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:37.799 here with another episode of Ologies Ali word Hi, So 14 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:42.359 do you remember your first real existential crisis? Also, if 15 00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:45.240 you clicked on this and don't know jack or shit 16 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:48.280 about quantum physics, you're in the right place. You're in 17 00:00:48.359 --> 00:00:51.759 good company. Okay, before we spiral into deep deep space 18 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:55.200 and dark matter, let's shine a little light on some business. 19 00:00:55.240 --> 00:00:57.439 So first off, thank you to everyone on patreon dot 20 00:00:57.520 --> 00:01:01.280 com slash ologies for supporting the show sending in your questions. 21 00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:05.040 Thanks to everyone strutting about on Planet Earth and Ologies 22 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:09.480 Merch from ologiesmerch dot com. Also getting a gift getting 23 00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:13.480 something for yourself. We're having a sale this week from 24 00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:17.200 the Friday after Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, fifteen percent off 25 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:20.959 anything and everything at ologiesmerch dot com. Use the code 26 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:25.040 black Friday twenty nineteen. Again ologiesmerch dot Com Code black 27 00:01:25.079 --> 00:01:28.000 Friday twenty nineteen. Shannon and Bonnie put up some wintry 28 00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:30.719 new stuff for y'all. Go to town get a deal. 29 00:01:30.840 --> 00:01:33.480 It's there for you. Also, thanks to everyone who rates 30 00:01:33.480 --> 00:01:36.200 and subscribes and especially reviews the show. You know that 31 00:01:36.280 --> 00:01:38.280 I peruse the reviews and I pick a new one 32 00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:40.959 to read to you each week, such as from Irritated 33 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:43.680 Ebb says that one time I was hiking while listening 34 00:01:43.719 --> 00:01:46.920 to the Pharaoh Echronology episode when I passed a lady 35 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:50.400 riding a non iron horse and they were both listening. 36 00:01:50.519 --> 00:01:52.480 I guess the lady and the horse to the same 37 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:55.920 episode on a speaker. I yelled Ologies, and the lady 38 00:01:55.959 --> 00:01:58.879 fist bumped me and it was magic the end to 39 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:02.519 Irritated Ebb and all of the horses listening to Ologies 40 00:02:02.599 --> 00:02:05.519 right now, well hot damn. Thank you so much. Okay, 41 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:10.439 quantum ontology, so many syllables, what do they mean? Quantum, 42 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:13.840 in terms of physics, deals with matter and energy at 43 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:18.039 its most fundamental level. And quantum comes from the Latin 44 00:02:18.199 --> 00:02:22.599 meaning how much, how far, how great an extent? Already 45 00:02:22.639 --> 00:02:25.800 so many questions just to the definition of this. Also, 46 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:29.879 ontology comes from the root aunt, meaning being, and it 47 00:02:29.960 --> 00:02:33.400 is the branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being. 48 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:37.520 So quantum ontology matter, what the hell is it? What 49 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:40.719 are we made of? What is real? Just tuk a 50 00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:43.280 bib onunder your brain, kiddos, because this week's episode is 51 00:02:43.400 --> 00:02:46.840 just a hearty. It's a feast of information. It's dense, 52 00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:49.840 It's like a bucket of mashed potatoes, and it's filling, 53 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:52.520 like drinking a pint of gravy. It's going to make 54 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:57.759 you question everything about life itself? What is reality? What exists? 55 00:02:57.960 --> 00:03:01.280 Why are we here? But first, will we cover everything 56 00:03:01.479 --> 00:03:02.360 about this topic? 57 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:02.840 Hell no? 58 00:03:03.199 --> 00:03:05.360 Will we have to leave out a bunch? Hell yes, 59 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:09.000 Consider this like a warm welcome and entree into some 60 00:03:09.039 --> 00:03:12.319 of the basic concepts about the hiccups in observing and 61 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:15.680 understanding existence. So this oologist has a ba in philosophy 62 00:03:15.800 --> 00:03:19.319 and in physics from Cornell and a PhD in astrophysics 63 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:22.960 from the University of Michigan. Is a celebrated science writer 64 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:25.639 and the author of the new book What Is Real 65 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:30.039 The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics, which, 66 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:32.800 by the way, the Wall Street Journal calls fascinating, The 67 00:03:32.840 --> 00:03:36.639 New York Times calls a thorough illuminating exploration of the 68 00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:41.439 most consequential controversy raging in modern science. Splendid says, The 69 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:45.719 Washington Post Science magazine calls it riveting. So the book, 70 00:03:45.879 --> 00:03:48.759 it's good. I met this ologist about four years ago 71 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:51.360 at Sycom camp and he handed me his business card, 72 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:54.639 which read freelance Astrophysicist. I was like, I like this guy. 73 00:03:54.919 --> 00:03:57.120 And then the next year he mentioned he was pitching 74 00:03:57.120 --> 00:03:59.199 a book, and then the following year he said he 75 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:01.400 had a book deal and was writing it. And now 76 00:04:01.879 --> 00:04:05.039 here we are his book. It recounts a lot of 77 00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:09.319 the drama in the quantum physics worlds. Boy, howdy, is 78 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:11.159 there some Not only are you going to walk away 79 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:15.000 with an exciting overview of what the hell the universe 80 00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:18.360 may be all about, but you'll also hear about some 81 00:04:18.759 --> 00:04:22.240 academic infighting and why it's exciting that there are so 82 00:04:22.360 --> 00:04:25.240 many mysteries in the universe. So in between seminars and 83 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:27.519 panels at si com camp, we pulled up a couch 84 00:04:27.720 --> 00:04:31.000 we got to talk in, so settle in for philosophical 85 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:34.759 physics fun times, wherein we discuss what matter is made 86 00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:38.439 of and how many universes there could be, and why 87 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:41.759 what we think we know just does not add up, 88 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:44.439 and how someone could say you're wrong, but maybe you're 89 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:48.079 right than everyone realizes. And also how an inbox can 90 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:51.000 be a lot like a crackpot, and how to tackle 91 00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:53.959 your dreams when they seem too big to fathom in 92 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:57.759 Einstein and string theory and gravity and tunneling and wormholes 93 00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:02.399 and cats and more with astrophys assist, author and quantum 94 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:04.959 ontologist doctor Adam Becker. 95 00:05:25.319 --> 00:05:27.720 Although it would be fun, yes, okay, so is this good? 96 00:05:28.160 --> 00:05:29.279 Yeah? Let me check your level? 97 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:30.879 Okay, Hi, how's this? 98 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:33.040 It's great? You have a good radio voice. Let's go 99 00:05:33.160 --> 00:05:35.040 back in time? Yeah, if you will? 100 00:05:35.160 --> 00:05:35.399 Sure? 101 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:37.399 Would it be a wormhole that I could go back 102 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:38.759 in time to ask you about your childhood? 103 00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:40.120 I guess you could. 104 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:42.199 Sure? Why not would a wormhole do it? Or is 105 00:05:42.199 --> 00:05:43.439 it a different type of tunnel? 106 00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:48.720 On time. I mean, there's no there's no known way 107 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:51.519 that would definitely work to go back in time, but 108 00:05:51.639 --> 00:05:55.279 wormholes are one of the you know better theories about 109 00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:56.279 how you could maybe do it. 110 00:05:56.319 --> 00:06:02.079 Okay, so let's go through a wormhole. Now going back. 111 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:06.839 Did you always like physics? Astrophysics? How do you How 112 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:09.759 does someone decide that they're into something so complex? 113 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:15.680 Oh wow, that's a good question. So yeah, see, I 114 00:06:15.720 --> 00:06:17.079 didn't think that I was going to sit on a 115 00:06:17.079 --> 00:06:23.879 couch and talk about my childhood, but yeah, you trap me. Yeah. 116 00:06:23.959 --> 00:06:27.000 So when I was a really little kid, like a 117 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:29.439 lot of other kids, I wanted to be a paleontologist 118 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:36.360 because dinosaurs are awesome. I love dinosaurs. And then I 119 00:06:36.439 --> 00:06:41.120 discovered space and decided, no, no, space is more awesome, 120 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:44.800 and so I got really into space and astronomy and astrophysics, 121 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:48.800 and then sort of slowly slid from astrophysics just to physics. 122 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:51.800 And so by the time I was in high school, 123 00:06:51.800 --> 00:06:54.639 I thought, Okay, yeah, I think physics is the direction 124 00:06:54.680 --> 00:06:57.639 I want to go in. This seems really interesting. And 125 00:06:57.680 --> 00:07:00.360 I read a lot of pop physics books and they 126 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:05.160 said some confusing things, and in particular, they talked about 127 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:09.040 two theories that said really wild and strange things about 128 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:12.639 the world. One of them was Einstein's relativity and the 129 00:07:12.680 --> 00:07:17.319 other one was quantum physics, and you know, really really 130 00:07:17.319 --> 00:07:20.079 weird things in both of those theories. But turns out 131 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:24.759 relativity doesn't require more than like early high school math. Okay, 132 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:27.120 you don't need calculus. You don't even need pre calculus, like, 133 00:07:27.160 --> 00:07:31.480 it's just geometry and algebra. And so I learned relativity 134 00:07:31.560 --> 00:07:33.680 in high school and I thought, oh, all that weird 135 00:07:33.720 --> 00:07:36.199 stuff seems a lot less weird. Now. I bet when 136 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:39.279 I get to college and I learned quantum physics, that's 137 00:07:39.319 --> 00:07:44.439 going to seem less weird too. That is not what happened. Yeah, No, 138 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:46.480 So instead I got to college and I started learning 139 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:50.040 quantum physics, and it didn't get better, it got worse. 140 00:07:50.839 --> 00:07:55.959 And so I was in this class where the professor 141 00:07:56.040 --> 00:07:58.120 was talking about one of the weird things in quantum physics. 142 00:07:58.160 --> 00:07:59.759 I don't remember exactly what because it was a long 143 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:01.879 time would go, but you know, he was saying something 144 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:05.319 about how when you're not looking at things, you can't 145 00:08:05.399 --> 00:08:07.279 talk about what's going on, but then when you look, 146 00:08:07.319 --> 00:08:10.000 things change. And I probably asked something like okay, but 147 00:08:10.040 --> 00:08:12.519 what do you mean by looking? What does that mean? 148 00:08:13.240 --> 00:08:15.639 And we kind of got into it, and I don't 149 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:17.920 remember exactly how the fight went down, but I just 150 00:08:17.959 --> 00:08:21.199 remember that at the end he said, in this like 151 00:08:21.319 --> 00:08:25.959 really haughty, disdainful voice, he said, well, if that's the 152 00:08:26.040 --> 00:08:28.759 kind of question that you're interested in, then why don't 153 00:08:29.160 --> 00:08:35.360 you go to the philosophy department. Burne, Yeah, but but 154 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:38.159 joke was on him. I'd already gone to the philosophy department, 155 00:08:38.519 --> 00:08:41.799 and so I did double major in physics and philosophy. 156 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:44.480 Oh god, A lot of that was trying to wrap 157 00:08:44.519 --> 00:08:46.879 my head around like what the heck is going on 158 00:08:46.919 --> 00:08:50.080 in quantum physics, because like, this is this is a 159 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:54.519 really it's a really weird area, but it's also supposed 160 00:08:54.519 --> 00:08:56.840 to be this really fundamental theory about you know, the 161 00:08:56.840 --> 00:08:59.960 fundamental constituents of the world, right, like the tiniest things, 162 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:02.840 the things that the things that make us up are 163 00:09:02.840 --> 00:09:06.600 made of, right, like sub atomic particles. And yet it 164 00:09:06.679 --> 00:09:09.279 wasn't at all clear what was going on, And so 165 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:11.679 I started digging into that, and the more I dug 166 00:09:11.720 --> 00:09:13.279 into it, the weirder it got. And I just did 167 00:09:13.360 --> 00:09:17.360 that more and more, and eventually thought, you know, I 168 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:19.840 want to write a book about this because this is 169 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:23.519 just so strange and I don't understand why this isn't 170 00:09:23.559 --> 00:09:24.440 more widely known. 171 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:24.919 Am I? 172 00:09:25.559 --> 00:09:27.360 Am I going to feel like I'm on mushrooms? 173 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:30.600 I mean, look at the cover of my book. It 174 00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:34.240 says what is real? And it's got like wavy rainbow lines. Yeah, 175 00:09:34.279 --> 00:09:36.039 so yeah, the answer is probably yes. 176 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:39.240 Okay, don't you feel funny? 177 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:43.159 Well let's go back first and define what is quantum ontology? 178 00:09:43.480 --> 00:09:49.039 Yeah? So quantum I mean, quantum physics is the physics 179 00:09:49.080 --> 00:09:51.840 of the ultra tiny, except that we think that ultra 180 00:09:51.879 --> 00:09:55.559 tiny things make up the world around us. So although 181 00:09:55.559 --> 00:09:58.639 it's the physics of the ultra tiny, there's also reason 182 00:09:58.679 --> 00:10:01.600 to think it's it's just the physics of everything. Ontology 183 00:10:01.720 --> 00:10:04.600 is the study of what there is, of what stuff 184 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:08.279 is in the world, So quantum ontology is the study 185 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:10.840 of Okay, what does quantum physics tell us is in 186 00:10:10.919 --> 00:10:13.639 the world? Or you know the title of my book, right, 187 00:10:13.720 --> 00:10:17.360 what is real? And it is not clear what quantum 188 00:10:17.399 --> 00:10:19.799 physics tells us about the world. It's just not clear 189 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:22.360 at all. Even though it's not a new theory, it's 190 00:10:22.360 --> 00:10:23.960 been around for almost one hundred years. 191 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:27.440 Okay, Well, let's start with a theory relativity which someone 192 00:10:27.480 --> 00:10:31.759 with high school math could understand. Sure, can you give 193 00:10:31.759 --> 00:10:35.840 that to me? Like a nutshell? Sure he sounds unsure, 194 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:37.120 but that's okay. 195 00:10:37.240 --> 00:10:40.320 Right, So here's one way of looking at what the 196 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:44.600 theory of relativity tells us. So we sort of think 197 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:52.320 from our everyday lives that if I'm standing still, or 198 00:10:52.639 --> 00:10:54.600 if I'm in a car going at like twenty miles 199 00:10:54.600 --> 00:10:57.480 an hour, there are some things that just don't change 200 00:10:57.480 --> 00:11:01.759 between those two situations, Like how fat my watch runs 201 00:11:02.039 --> 00:11:05.360 shouldn't change between those two situations, or how far it 202 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:08.639 is between my house and the movie theater down the 203 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:12.399 street that shouldn't change either. It turns out, though, that 204 00:11:12.440 --> 00:11:15.000 these things that we think of as not changing between 205 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:18.840 those two situations, we call those things invariant because they 206 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:24.120 don't vary. The invariance between those two situations aren't what 207 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:27.840 we think they are. It turns out that actually the 208 00:11:27.960 --> 00:11:31.399 rate that my watch runs at does change between those 209 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:34.960 two situations, and the distance between my apartment and the 210 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:37.799 movie theater down the street does change. There are things 211 00:11:37.799 --> 00:11:42.960 that don't change, but those things are not distances or time. 212 00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:46.799 They're a combination of space and time space. 213 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:48.679 Time, okay? Is time the fourth dimension? 214 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:51.519 Sure? Yeah? In relativity it is okay? 215 00:11:51.879 --> 00:11:54.440 And now quantum. 216 00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:56.360 Yes theory yeah, oh oh, you want me to do 217 00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:58.159 the same thing for quantum theory. 218 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:01.720 Just in a nutshell, just let us know what we're 219 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:02.240 working with. 220 00:12:02.440 --> 00:12:09.159 Yeah, So quantum theory says that there is something very 221 00:12:09.320 --> 00:12:14.039 very unusual going on in the world of the very tiny. Really, yes, 222 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:16.960 and we don't know what that is. 223 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:20.039 What happening now? Is this a lot about dark matter? 224 00:12:20.080 --> 00:12:21.759 And it doesn't make sense that there's so much space 225 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:25.879 between atom's Holy shit, I just realized writing this that 226 00:12:25.960 --> 00:12:30.120 Adam's name is Adam. Adam what is life? Also? Real quick? 227 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:32.519 The matter all around you, the stuff that makes up 228 00:12:32.559 --> 00:12:35.559 everything you see and touch and smell and lick. All 229 00:12:35.639 --> 00:12:39.559 that matter in the universe is five percent of what exists. 230 00:12:39.799 --> 00:12:42.799 And according to NASA, dark matter is something that we 231 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:46.639 can calculate but we can't see or detect, and it 232 00:12:46.679 --> 00:12:50.440 interacts with gravity but it doesn't emit or reflect light, 233 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:53.799 hence it's dark, and it makes up about twenty seven 234 00:12:53.799 --> 00:12:57.120 percent of the universe. Something called dark energy makes up 235 00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:00.519 sixty eight percent of the universe, and we know it's strong, 236 00:13:00.759 --> 00:13:03.799 and it's getting stronger, but we don't get what it is. 237 00:13:04.039 --> 00:13:07.919 So just know. The wisest minds alive don't know shit, 238 00:13:08.279 --> 00:13:10.799 and it frustrates them enough to keep getting out of 239 00:13:10.840 --> 00:13:12.240 bed every morning just to figure it out. 240 00:13:12.519 --> 00:13:15.039 Dark matter are sure, we don't really know what's going 241 00:13:15.080 --> 00:13:16.679 on there. We know it's around, but we don't know 242 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:18.679 what it's made of. There is a lot of empty 243 00:13:18.759 --> 00:13:22.960 space inside of atoms, but that's not that's not really 244 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:24.919 what's going on here either. That's not why we don't 245 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:30.360 understand this. What's going on instead is it is hard 246 00:13:30.759 --> 00:13:37.639 to understand the relationship between the mathematics of quantum physics 247 00:13:38.159 --> 00:13:40.360 and the world that we live in. Because the math 248 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:42.279 works really well. We can use it to predict and 249 00:13:42.360 --> 00:13:46.279 explain all kinds of things, but it also doesn't really 250 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:50.519 look like the world around us. And that's fine. You know, 251 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:53.799 things can be weird. It's a big world. There's plenty 252 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:58.559 of room for weirdness. You're weird, thank you, But it's 253 00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:03.159 not should be a story, even if it's a weird story, 254 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:06.240 that quantum physics tells us about the world, and it 255 00:14:06.279 --> 00:14:10.120 needs to be a story that makes internal sense, even 256 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:12.840 if it's a really really weird story. Right, There's a 257 00:14:12.840 --> 00:14:17.240 difference between being bizarre and being internally contradictory. 258 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:20.639 Right, So what he's saying is that the universe kind 259 00:14:20.679 --> 00:14:23.919 of like a huge restaurant tab at a friend's birthday 260 00:14:23.960 --> 00:14:26.919 dinner where no one has accounted for tax or tip? 261 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:30.559 Are there three beverages? Things just don't add up, and 262 00:14:30.600 --> 00:14:32.159 everyone is testy about it. 263 00:14:32.519 --> 00:14:37.440 The weird thing is that the standard way of answering 264 00:14:37.559 --> 00:14:41.120 questions like what does quantum physics tell us about the 265 00:14:41.159 --> 00:14:44.480 world around us? Is to say, shut up, that's a 266 00:14:44.600 --> 00:14:48.720 stupid question. There's actually a saying in physics to summarize 267 00:14:48.840 --> 00:14:52.440 this attitude, shut up and calculate. Oh boy, because no, 268 00:14:52.679 --> 00:14:57.000 no one that that was originally coined by the physicist 269 00:14:57.080 --> 00:15:00.879 David Merman as as like a put like he was 270 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:04.399 describing an attitude that other people have. Right, No one 271 00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:08.120 actually should say that in earnest, but some people do. 272 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:14.000 And yeah, it's it's completely fucking ridiculous. 273 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:17.600 Well where are these logic gaps? Like I know that 274 00:15:17.639 --> 00:15:20.120 it's so bizarre, and at least if you could understand 275 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:23.799 the bizarreness, But what is it that's so contradictory, Like 276 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:26.039 what do we think, what don't we get? 277 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:30.879 Yeah, so so there's this there's this thing in quantum physics, 278 00:15:30.919 --> 00:15:34.799 this sort of fundamental role that the idea of measurement plays. 279 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:37.679 Say that I want to describe I'm holding a pen. 280 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:41.000 Say I want to describe where this pen is, you know, 281 00:15:41.159 --> 00:15:43.720 or where I'm going to find this pen using the 282 00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:46.919 physics that we had before quantum physics, like Isaac Newton's physics. 283 00:15:47.320 --> 00:15:51.879 Okay, quick aside. Newtonian physics is also called classical mechanics, 284 00:15:52.120 --> 00:15:55.080 and it deals with objects that aren't at a tiny, 285 00:15:55.080 --> 00:15:58.279 tiny scale, and how they move and rest and such. 286 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:02.000 So apple's falling on our heads, tossing your socks in 287 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:05.200 a hamper from across the room, the inertia that causes 288 00:16:05.240 --> 00:16:07.759 you to spill hot tea on your crotch in the car, 289 00:16:07.960 --> 00:16:11.039 all of those things exist in space and behave in 290 00:16:11.320 --> 00:16:12.320 predictable ways. 291 00:16:12.559 --> 00:16:14.639 I can do that with three numbers. I can say, Okay, 292 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:17.320 this pen is this height above the ground, and it's 293 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:19.519 this far off to the right, and it's this far 294 00:16:19.559 --> 00:16:21.440 in front of me. That's three numbers. It's all I 295 00:16:21.480 --> 00:16:23.360 need if I want to take all the information I 296 00:16:23.399 --> 00:16:26.840 have about where I'm going to find an electron or 297 00:16:26.919 --> 00:16:30.240 some subatomic particle. In quantum physics, it's not going to 298 00:16:30.279 --> 00:16:33.279 require three numbers. It's going to require an infinity of 299 00:16:33.399 --> 00:16:37.440 numbers scattered across all of space. And this set of 300 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:42.240 numbers is called a wave function. And as the name implies, 301 00:16:42.279 --> 00:16:45.960 it kind of waves. It undulates smoothly, right, And that 302 00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:50.720 wave emotion is described by this very nice, pretty equation 303 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:54.320 called the Schrodinger equation. And the Shroinger equation kind of 304 00:16:54.399 --> 00:16:57.120 smells like a law of physics. Okay, it looks like 305 00:16:57.159 --> 00:16:59.879 a good candidate for a fundamental law of physics, and 306 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:04.400 it says that wave functions, they wave, they move smoothly, 307 00:17:04.839 --> 00:17:09.759 and they move in a completely determined fashion. There's nothing 308 00:17:10.279 --> 00:17:12.319 random or probabilistic about it. 309 00:17:12.599 --> 00:17:15.200 Okay, So when we zoom all the way into an 310 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:18.319 atom or the elements that make up an atom, instead 311 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:22.599 of having three dimensions xyz, we have an infinity of 312 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:27.079 numbers to describe its location, and those infinity of numbers 313 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:30.960 make up a wave. Got it, Look, we understand everything 314 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:33.440 makes sense. We're pretty much quantum physicists. Now all of 315 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:36.559 us just kidding, but we can still celebrate it. 316 00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:41.240 But the standard way of using quantum physics says, okay, 317 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:45.119 wave functions, obay, the Schrodinger equation, except when you look, 318 00:17:45.160 --> 00:17:47.880 when you actually look for the electron, the Schrodinger equation 319 00:17:48.039 --> 00:17:53.559 is temporarily suspended, at which point this entire other law 320 00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:57.079 of physics that is completely different in contradictory comes in. 321 00:17:57.160 --> 00:18:00.400 It's called the Born rule. This is Jason Bourne, Okay. 322 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:04.640 It's actually named for German mathematician and physicist Max Bourne, 323 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:08.599 who helped develop quantum mechanics and was nominated for a 324 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:12.960 Nobel Prize by Einstein himself. But most importantly, Max Bourne 325 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:17.200 is the grandpa of Greece's Olivia Newton John. When I 326 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:21.160 read that, I had chills, like multiplying. But yeah, the 327 00:18:21.240 --> 00:18:26.079 Boorn rule measures probability of a particle's position, and it 328 00:18:26.119 --> 00:18:28.279 came on the quantum scene in nineteen twenty six. 329 00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:31.359 And that says, oh, yeah, that wave function that moves smoothly, 330 00:18:31.400 --> 00:18:34.359 it stops moving smoothly. It goes to zero everywhere except 331 00:18:34.359 --> 00:18:35.799 in the spot where you found the electron. 332 00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:36.079 What. 333 00:18:36.400 --> 00:18:39.720 Yeah, And so this leads to a couple of questions. 334 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:42.039 First of all, that's weird. Yeah, why does that happen? 335 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:45.160 I don't know, Yeah, weirdness though it's fine. The real 336 00:18:45.240 --> 00:18:48.400 problem that the contradiction, right, the gap in logic is, Okay, 337 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:51.039 we have these two rules, they're not the same rule. 338 00:18:51.799 --> 00:18:53.759 When do we apply one and when do we apply 339 00:18:53.880 --> 00:18:56.319 the other? Because we need to know that because they're 340 00:18:56.359 --> 00:18:59.839 not the same rule. The usual answer is, oh, we 341 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:02.880 use the Shrodingir equation when we're not looking, when we're 342 00:19:02.920 --> 00:19:05.680 not making the measurement, and we use the Born rule 343 00:19:05.720 --> 00:19:08.279 when we do the problem is that the idea of 344 00:19:08.359 --> 00:19:12.079 measurement is really really fucking vague, Like is it when 345 00:19:12.119 --> 00:19:15.000 I make a measurement? Does quantum mechanics only apply to me? 346 00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:18.799 Adam Becker? Like that? That can't be right? Right? Does 347 00:19:18.839 --> 00:19:21.839 it work when a dog looks at an electron? 348 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:22.279 Yeah? 349 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:24.799 Right? Or or you know, do you need to be 350 00:19:24.920 --> 00:19:29.200 like better qualified the bananas? It's completely nuts. And the 351 00:19:29.240 --> 00:19:31.480 other thing is, like I said, electrons aren't the only 352 00:19:31.480 --> 00:19:34.000 things that have wave functions. This pen has a wave function. 353 00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:37.599 You have a wave function. I have a wave function. 354 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:39.799 The universe has a wave function. 355 00:19:40.279 --> 00:19:42.480 You get a wave function. Do you get a wave function? 356 00:19:42.839 --> 00:19:46.279 You get a wave function? Quantum ontology. It's like the 357 00:19:46.279 --> 00:19:47.640 opera of the physics world. 358 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:50.599 Was the wave function of the universe just waiting for 359 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:54.400 billions and billions of years for someone to come along 360 00:19:54.599 --> 00:19:58.319 and suddenly collapse it. And you know, have the Shroding 361 00:19:58.319 --> 00:20:02.480 air equation not apply, Like it's just not clear when 362 00:20:02.519 --> 00:20:05.319 one equation applies and one another applies. There are people 363 00:20:05.480 --> 00:20:07.720 who would say that I am wrong about that. These 364 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:09.319 are the same people who tell you to shut up 365 00:20:09.319 --> 00:20:12.039 and calculate if you ask them, if you pin them 366 00:20:12.039 --> 00:20:15.799 down and try to ask them, Okay, fine, hotshot, when 367 00:20:15.799 --> 00:20:17.200 do you use one and when to use the other, 368 00:20:17.759 --> 00:20:21.759 they're going to give you something that's either internally contradictory 369 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:26.160 or that contradicts the idea that quantum physics is more 370 00:20:26.279 --> 00:20:28.799 fundamental than Newton's physics. 371 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:33.480 Okay, yeah, and now oive there's a lot going on. 372 00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:34.480 There's a lot going on. 373 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:38.839 And so the notion of do you remember snuffalop Gus 374 00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:42.319 from obsession? Is there a Snuhalopus rule? 375 00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:48.640 Like he's only there when people who aren't Big Bird 376 00:20:48.960 --> 00:20:54.599 aren't looking. Yeah, oh man, big Bird is definitely not 377 00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:59.119 the the the prime observer of quantum mechanics. I can 378 00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:02.319 tell you that right now. Carol Spinney does not have 379 00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:09.160 like special quantum power. Big Mark it's all right, No. 380 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:12.960 It's not. Just side note, Carol Spinny is the actor 381 00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:16.079 and puppeteer who played Big Bird until his retirement last year, 382 00:21:16.119 --> 00:21:18.440 and also did everyone else know his name? And that 383 00:21:18.519 --> 00:21:22.000 he also voiced Oscar the Grouch? Or do astrophysicists just 384 00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:25.920 have large brain buckets full of trivia? Where were we? Yes? Okay, 385 00:21:26.119 --> 00:21:29.240 So the wave function that describes the place of a 386 00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:32.960 tiny particle collapses to a point when it's observed. This 387 00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:37.759 is wave function collapse. Does observing something make it exist differently? 388 00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:39.960 Okay? 389 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:41.839 So then what does that mean for us? 390 00:21:42.440 --> 00:21:42.519 Like? 391 00:21:42.759 --> 00:21:47.160 If I am a wave function until someone looks at 392 00:21:47.160 --> 00:21:51.200 me and then I'm not? What does that mean for ontology, 393 00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:55.480 for the science and the study of being? What is anyone? 394 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:58.000 Yeah? It means that there's something we don't understand here. 395 00:21:58.039 --> 00:22:01.000 It means that the story's clearly not complete. It means 396 00:22:01.039 --> 00:22:04.480 that shutting up and calculating is good practical advice if 397 00:22:04.519 --> 00:22:07.240 you want to, you know, calculate stuff. But it means 398 00:22:07.240 --> 00:22:09.440 it can't be the real story about the world, Like 399 00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:12.440 it is good to ask these questions because there must 400 00:22:12.480 --> 00:22:18.599 be something else going on. So the problem then is, Okay, 401 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:20.839