I love listening to Edward. His intellect is so vast i feel he operates on a level beyond us normal people. He speaks in such a gentle tone laced with knowledge, authority and joy. Its like he has worked life out and is at peace.
As a *much lesser being in* mathematical physics, I feel he (and much of academia, google phrase "ivory tower" though im not accusing him of all that) is able to distance himself from reality, not escape it thru pure thought, like Pascal and Plato dreamed of doing (and like Hilbert dreamed of solving all of math, using math....Gödels 2 incompleteness theorems PROVED we can never do that 😅) Definitely he operates on another level than almost every single mind alive rn. But im saying, don't go ask him his predictions about the 2028 elections 😂 its not like QFT helps you with that (and he says almost this exact thing, in his interview!)
@@forgetfulfunctor1 This is one annoying character flaw I sometimes see in mathematicians and physicists: they overestimate the power of pure intelligence without adequate knowledge and effort.
I am so jealous of Dr. Witten and people like him. I am a semi-retired engineer but I've struggled (believe it or not given my career) with understanding math all my life. I'm not talking about plugging numbers into formulas, that's cookie cutter stuff and easy. I'm talking about understanding completely every formula including proof and including how to change its form to suit the problem you're solving. Or how to use raw data and measurements to "curve fit" into an equation that you create from the data. My skills in those areas are extremely limited. I'd never make it as a researcher. People with a talent for math can basically choose ANY career in the physical sciences or engineering and breeze through them because the math is the basic tool used and if you find that easy then the rest is just memorizing things. But I understand how Dr. Witten sees math as "Truth and Beauty" because its easy for him. Any when you have equations to completely describe something, you're DONE. No more is needed. Its clean and concise and exact.
State 1 line as a metaphor that psychology be analogically grounded in string theory like a metaphor for strings interacting according to the forces as a metaphor. Just one line and do it In the realm of psychology, the intricate interplay of human thoughts, emotions, and behaviors can be metaphorically likened to the harmonious vibrations of strings in a grand cosmic orchestra, responding to the forces of our experiences. ChatGPT ♥️🌹
Very smart indeed. But I disagree on the philosophy brought iin this video. It looks like mathematics is driving the models of Universes that are then brought forward. I would prefer that the modelization be built first based on facts and logic from a first principle. And btw, we do need a tabula raza at the moment to get out of the mystery of the fundalental forces as there is a hint that we assumed the wrong thing at the bases of our theories. Indeed this situation resulted to the actual state of mysteries in physics). Once the model is found, then meet it up with mathematics. Mathematics is a tools to help calculate trajectories, it is not a tool to find a model. The model should be found first and the best tool to do this is the human mind but stripped of the wrong assumptions. We do not need more mathematicians at the moment for that field, we need more Einsteins and his type of imagination to find the right model.
Why DiMeglio CLEARLY tops Newton AND Einstein: The game is over. F=ma AND E=mc2 BOTH apply to AND describe WHAT IS THE SUN. The SPEED OF LIGHT (c) is a POINT. Gravity/acceleration involves BALANCED inertia/INERTIAL RESISTANCE, AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. ACCORDINGLY, GRAVITATIONAL force/energy IS proportional to (or BALANCED with/as) inertia/INERTIAL RESISTANCE; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM ENERGY IS GRAVITY. "Mass"/ENERGY involves BALANCED inertia/INERTIAL RESISTANCE consistent with/as what is BALANCED ELECTROMAGNETIC/GRAVITATIONAL FORCE/ENERGY, AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. ACCORDINGLY, a given PLANET (INCLUDING WHAT IS THE EARTH) sweeps out equal areas in equal times; AND this is THEN CLEARLY consistent WITH/AS F=ma, E=mc2, AND what is perpetual motion; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. Gravity/acceleration involves BALANCED inertia/INERTIAL RESISTANCE, AS GRAVITY IS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY. (THEREFORE, the rotation of the Moon MATCHES it's revolution.) SO, ALL of SPACE is NECESSARILY ELECTROMAGNETIC/GRAVITATIONAL (IN BALANCE); AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. GREAT !!! Indeed, a PHOTON may be placed at the center of THE SUN (as a POINT, of course); as the reduction of SPACE is offset by (or BALANCED with) the SPEED OF LIGHT; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. Energy has/involves GRAVITY, AND ENERGY has/involves inertia/INERTIAL RESISTANCE. Gravity IS ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy. ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. It is proven. ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. This is proven by BOTH F=ma AND E=mc2. This NECESSARILY represents, INVOLVES, and describes what is possible/potential AND actual IN BALANCE. Consider THE MAN who is standing on the FULLY VISIBLE EARTH/ground in what is NECESSARILY the BALANCED, ELECTROMAGNETIC/GRAVITATIONAL, MIDDLE DISTANCE in/of SPACE. The ability to thought to DESCRIBE OR RECONFIGURE sensory experience is ULTIMATELY dependent upon the extent to which thought is SIMILAR to sensory experience. THINK invisible/VISIBLE SPACE in balance. GREAT. Game over. (Thoughts are invisible.) There is your complete and perfect correspondence. Philosophy and physics TOGETHER in victory !!! Balance and completeness go hand in hand. It ALL makes perfect sense. DONE. E=mc2 is DIRECTLY AND FUNDAMENTALLY DERIVED FROM F=ma. ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. GAME OVER. VERY IMPORTANTLY, outer "space" involves full inertia; AND it is FULLY INVISIBLE AND black. The ULTIMATE unification of physics/physical experience combines, BALANCES, and includes opposites. Indeed, the INTEGRATED EXTENSIVENESS of thought (AND description) is improved in the truly superior mind. That is top down thinking. The PROOF is absolutely CLEAR. I have surpassed Newton and Einstein. FACT. IT ALL MAKES PERFECT SENSE. Dream experience is/involves true/real QUANTUM GRAVITY. Dreams balance being AND EXPERIENCE. THE EYE IS THE BODY. In the dream, BODILY/VISUAL experience is invisible AND VISIBLE IN BALANCE; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. ACCORDINGLY, we are in the BALANCED MIDDLE DISTANCE in/of SPACE that is BETWEEN what is THE SUN and what is the SPEED OF LIGHT (c, a POINT). SO, "mass"/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. ALL of SPACE is NECESSARILY ELECTROMAGNETIC/GRAVITATIONAL (IN BALANCE), AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. By Frank DiMeglio
I don't think that at all. He just understands this reality far better than most people, I'd even say that that makes him a lot more present in this reality than other people are.
@@kristijanmirceta460there's a bio of Feynman on yourube (who I think was..a genius but also very full of himself lol) He says something about biology like, "Some ppl think science neuters subjects, subtracts from their value, their human origin", or something like that. And then "Just because I can imagine the kinds of molecular processes and stuff that the plant is doing.... That only enhances my view of the beauty. It doesn't subtract." Basically nobody NEEDS to feel like some jilted teenager when faced with new discovery Anyway thats the point you're basically getting at also, right?
I really enjoyed hearing Edward Witten's thoughts on the questions you put to him. He is such a calm and eloquent speaker. I feel like he expresses himself with a certain economy of words that make incredibly clear points without any waffle or hyperbole. A very impressive man.
Robert Lawrence Kuhn, who is a great interviewer and host, as well as a great mind in his own rights, seems like a child asking an adult questions in this interview. Edward Witten is just a next level mind.
How I wish humans like Witten would be alive for a very very long time to do more for science. He is humble as usual, like all those truly intelligent people.
Why would intelligent people be arrogant. Intelligent people allow themselves to make mistakes to learn from them. I haven't heard of a truly intelligent person who is arrogant in the slightest. Also, the more you are intelligent the more you understand how limited you are.
@@SilvertortoisePiano You know Trump is not a physicist. But if he HAD been, he would have been the BEST physicist of them all, with the POSSIBLE exceptions of Newton and Einstein...
I imagine that any math that looks complex for the rest of us (non-math proficient people) being beautiful for the mathematician is similar to (only) looking at the sheet music of a beautiful musical piece and not be able to see the beauty in the complex notation. All those symbols that mean nothing to the unfamiliar or untrained person in the practice of solfege or music notation, at least not until listening to the music. But once the music comes to life, then one can perceive the beauty by listening to it. But there are other kinds of beauty in music. Take the one that can only be experimented by a musician performing what's written in the music sheet, and some times especially if the execution requires extreme proficiency and skill.
I liked this example a lot. I will consider using it in the future. Indeed not knowing the symbols it's hard to grasp beautiful music until it's translated to something sensory that we can understand without prior training. When I say sensory it could be directly the music itself played with a particular instrument (here we see the notion of abstract beauty in patterns as good music sounds good regardless of the instrument) or it could be a visual dance choreography that goes with it or a blend and movement of colors that reflect the rhythm and contrasts of the song. In the same way it's easier to appreciate math when it's translated to something you can see or hear which can be physics or a visual video animation like on some math channels on RUclips.
@@heywrandom8924 You can get a sense that the 5th is beautiful just by listening to it even without understanding it. You can never get the beauty of maths without being trained in it. This analogy is wrong.
@@robertx8733 if someone has better genetics for strength, but never trains, his physical capabilities will still be weaker than those of a less gifted but trained athlete. The same goes for IQ: it doesn't guarantee your actual superiority in reasoning when compared to highly trained people.
People learn words and numbers before they learn to think, so when the conceptual learning develops and questions like "what does this actually mean? Where did this actually come from?" get applied to their own knowledge. People forget mommy and daddy spent years teaching them words and numbers, so it is like they just suddenly woke up one day as an adult filled with concepts and wonder how they came to know the difference between dogs and cats and tables and chairs and 3 and 7. Not thinking about it too much they assume it's almost like magic.
My father was an artist (old fashion style like Michelangelo and Rembrandt) but I decided to study math. Math and art are connected so much it was a revelation to me. There are so much beauty in math and I used artistic type of creativity to search for solution. In art I used geometry I studied at uni (perspective and shade projection and calculations) to create beautiful and realistic paintings. For example, texture of robe is revealed by shape of shade it lays on the robe, more then by robe itself.
I wish I would have known math can help explain our reality as a kid. I might have not hated my math classes as much. They just tell you have to take math classes nd never explain why its important.
My university ruined calculus for me. Explained nothing, gave us tons of assignments and told us to solve it. I had to re learn calculus because I want to be a theoretical physicist. Even now I am struggling with some integration...
Exactly. Was always my least favorite subject and I always just tried to do the minimum effort to pass the exams. As I got older my curiosity about different topics led me to see how crucial mathematics are to understanding the deepest aspects of reality, from biology, to chemistry, to physics, the origin of the universe, the nature of matter, evolution, etc. Math turns up everywhere you look. In school they would assign us abstract or trivial word problems that seemed useless. No passion, no deep explanation, no awakening of curiosity, no connection to nature. Even simple algebra and arithmetic are important to understanding deep aspects of reality, wish I realized this sooner.
I really now believe that children need to be taught a kind of history of science right up to superstring theory. Because as Einstein knew and probably EW, children are fascinated rather than fazed by 10 and 26 dimensions. Such ideas really buzz their imaginations. Well - some anyway. I’m an artist of sorts and I’m EXTREMELY taken with he ideas of physicists and the beautiful machines and experiments they manufacture. Instead we leave all this magic somewhat hidden and only the lucky few can engage with it at eg University studying physics etc Or like me they’ll catch a good tv program and buy a book pop science book (I’m currently rereading Hyperspace by Michio Kaku - who discusses some of EWs ideas). Yes - I think kids really love “WOW” subjects. And although actually doing the physics takes years of learning and understanding I’m sure the great stories of science (right back to Euclid) could be told wonderfully- especially with all our modern graphics technology. Actually- doesn’t it seem a bit mean NOT to let them in on it all (?) 👍
You can tell with a lot of brilliant people that their mind is still. Watch how he sits so relaxed and doesn't move. I would have to assume that this stillness of body and mind contributes to their great intellect.
What a rare treat to watch a sit down with Ed Witten. I understand he is the best mind to date since Albert Einstein. I would love to see him give a discussion on what we have learned since Einstein, the current state of theoretical physics, and what discoveries we hope to learn in the near future. In short, are we any closer to understanding a theory of everything?
No disrespect to Ed Whitten, a true genius among geniuses, but there are plenty of other candidates for best mind since Einstein. Von Neumann for one. Not all of them work in the field of physics.
It's only because I have no natural aptitude for math that I'm not able to like math (much less love it). And that's a shame. Even so, I don't doubt that mathematics does demonstrate truth and beauty. And I don't doubt that even if music can't demonstrate truth, it certainly can demonstrate beauty. (Not that I'm certain it doesn't demonstrate truth. It's just that I don't understand the concept of truth well enough to be sure about that.)
This is absolutely not a reason to not pursue mathematics. You can still become an extremely proficient mathematician if you just put some time into it. Far too many people write themselves off as "not natural mathematicians" because they weren't one of the kids who excelled in school at it. You don't need a special superhuman brain to understand mathematics, the whole point is that it is entirely logical and self-consistent. Music and mathematics also tend to go hand in hand, you are definitely selling yourself short and so is anyone who thinks they "can't" understand maths.
Plato once said the reason we find things beautiful is because they reveal to us ideas which are true. Give math a little time, you don't need to be that good for mathematical physics. But it does take pain staking work. If you want to go into pure math good luck, that's some hard stuff.
TL Pricescope - silly comment, Ed and everyone else are the precursors to evolution - Ed is good at maths which does not make him any more special than you - you need to adjust your scope
@@KadruH - you need to stop generalizing as say why Ed may be special at what? being special at maths does not make you special than all of us and many of us are more special at many other things over Ed
he's just way more intelligent than us mate lol, can't really explain it to you more. People with an extra intelligence helps the world grow, that's how everything we know was discovered and that's why we aint stuck in the stone age anymore. so yes, he's special and we should be grateful.@@majorrgeek
Neither beauty nor truth of the mathematics is necessarily connected to the physical reality. Nature may be described by mathematics (very curious and mysterious thing in itself that has no real explanation) but converse may not always be true. He may be the most brilliant theoretical physicist who will NEVER win the Nobel because for the last thirty years as the de facto leader of string and supersymmetry cult, he has NEVER offered ANY predictions that make contacts with testable, physical reality.
So we laud people like EW -- mainly because he's such a unicorn in a world of math ignorance and darkness. K-12 math is typically taught like circus trainers teaching animals tricks, rats learning mazes. To really do math right you have to build it up carefully from logic. Sal Khan's TED talk about teaching for mastery was so amazing because he posited the idea that far greater percentages of the population could reach mastery if we really taught math right.
@@momolams _Discrete Mathematics with Applications_ 5th Edition by Susanna S. Epp is a great way to see what is loosely called "higher math" but at an advanced high school/college freshman level. Discrete math is typically taught to comp-sci undergrads, but it's really just a grab-bag of higher math, i.e., post-calc. We need to get past the whole "see this, do this" conditioned training. Also good would be a truly Euclidean geometry book where you learn how math is built up from axioms into theorems. And math history goes a long way in that it shows us how real people first figured stuff out. HTH.
But that guy focusses on exam prep rather than maths. Number theory, basics of probability, counting (all discrete Maths) can be taught without calculus. So, I am not sure how you say Discrete maths is post calculus. Nice book suggestion. Thanks for that.
He seems to proceed in his teaching by knowing where to start with his conversation. A good foundation makes the next construction proceed more effectively.
Strange that he made the statement that any advanced civilization would invent calculus… It made me appreciate the intricacies of human nature and it relationships to its environments. Our species always in a state of struggle, competition, and desire. Evolving into a more intelligent being to resolve those issues.
I find his argument for believing math is discovered instead of invented a bit strange; if we use it as a tool for describing reality....seems obvious that we and aliens share the same math because we share the same physical universe and our brains are built on the same physical rules, not because there is a platonic world of math
We and aliens can share a different world. You can imagine that in a parallel universe laws of gravity (physical reality in general) works differently. But 2 + 2 can not be anything else than 4.
It has been repeatedly demonstrated that most animals (including birds) have an understanding of basic Maths, which supports Prof Witten's claim that Maths always existed and is continually discovered, not invented.
The fact that their are several different 'string theories', suggests string theorists are grasping at straws - however so much in a brilliantly creative way.
Math is a tool. It helps us describe nature ever so accurately in shorter version. The number 42 sometimes described everything about the universe and sometimes it doesn't. I would not get too carry away with math. Like the last time we extrapolate Einstein field equation to the singularity and thought what's inside a black hole is INFINITELY dense, which it is not. Inside a black hole has some properties with limits. It is not INFINITELY dense. Such is the same when we extrapolate quantum mechanics describing matter and light interaction using old equations resulting in infinities. Then we shortcut by renormalizing resulting in quantum mechanic describing the vacuum energy 100 orders of magnitude higher than what is actually observed at cosmological scale.
Genetics is fundamentally, infuriatingly unfair. Prof. Witten exists on an entirely different plane of understanding and consciousness. He is both the literal and metaphorical Superman. Just knowing that he shares this planet with me feels incredibly emasculating.
People hype him up all the time, his talk was relatively simple here. I'd love to see him actually get into insights which i can understand. Edit this sort of comes of as a dig, i didn't mean it that way
Beauty without truth is delusion; truth without beauty is evil; beauty without goodness is glamour; goodness without truth is naive; truth without goodness is tyranny. These are the three graces; they are mutually verifiable.
It would have been interesting if humans evolved separately, as distinct civilizations. After complete isolation for 1000-2000 years they can finally come together and compare their findings. Well I think it happened with British and French mathematics back in the day.
Although proclaimed as a genius…. With his perception of the depths of the multiverse expressed in numbers…. And the multiverse of numbers themselves…. In this short article there is also a hint of an imbalance …an asymmetry …IN… the his “genius “…. As he ( like other gifted people (Elon))… see so many worlds… but find the expression of his (their) visions impossible to convert into mouth shaped pushes of air…. He may never find WORDS… that can convert his THOUGHTS …INTO transferable … messages
X-Files Mathematics vs. Truth and beauty "The perception of beauty is a moral test." Henry David Thoreau. This ix the real IQ test. This test also determines if one is human. Light and truth (love) cause vampires (greed) great pain and suffering. That's why the words compassion, understanding, society (socialism), community (communism), "care for all" and "green new deal" cause the counting corpses that rule US such misery. But the words sanction, starve, torture, murder and bomb are encouraged. Because these ugly words suck the joy out of humans with their ignorance (hate). The hostile evangelical vampires (greed) are inhumane because they are not human. The counting corpses commit crimes against humanity because they are not human. Unlike earthling human beings and creators of joy...the counting corpses that rule US can't create harmony (real intelligence) because vampires (greed) are ignorant (dead). Vampires (greed) who suck the joy out of life have joined the zombies who eat the futures of their children. Zombie Apocalypse is here and happening now.
With math you can explore part of the infinity of the cosmos. It is a tool, that can be improved upon, amended, tweaked, and machinated in ways that provide mirrors and looking glasses into reality. By exploring math, we can travel without moving. It is a great thing.
Calculus is the shoes for Physicists since Newton/Leibnitz. QED model is very simple model to understand but it is complicated to solve. This QED model has about 60 years old and it is complicated to solve but it is based on simple energy equation E=mc2 (static) to solve. Newton Gravitational model also is very simple and it is complicated to solve (for example: When we try to predict predict the 3 or more bodies gravitational interaction problem). Several smart people of that time spent a lot on complicated multibodies interactions. But Newton was smart to gather information to reach a simple model F=m.a but can be complicated as you wish. It took 200 years to have gravitational model. And another 200 years to get General relativity model. In may opinion, String theory may take 200 years to resolve the issues ready for peer reviews. In my opinion, Scientific breaktroughs are not dependant on the number of universities, on number of Phd doctorates per year nor on high speed internet to the students. It is innate characteristics with fortunate environment to the smart people decide to study physics. Otherwise, for Mr. Witten case, it would be natural to Mr. Witten to be a very famous millionaire journalist like OReilly Fox News in the 90s. Witten spent your life on theory of everthing instead of spending your life on money is everthing in the big apple. Only very small percentage of smart guy's smart guy prefers Physics instead of making money. So, It is fair to say that scientific theoretical breakthrough may take 200 years or so. In the XIX century, studing physics and maths in the university were a romantic and passion goals and all of them were smart students. In XXI century, it continues to be very few smart people studing maths and physics. The rest is money driving life style even mathematicians being involved in the financial crisis. The world is not romantic anymore.
Ed Witten is perhaps the strongest practitioner of Mathematics, which is the previous method of understanding the world. However, Computation and later Multicomputation are supplanting it.
When you're researching quantum physics to write numerological poetry instead of trying to find the truth, you're calculating for the sake of calculating instead of finding the truth. This man loves to calculate and find pretty equations, of which, most likely does not exist in reality. Because why? Quantum physics is all about probablities. And with probabilities, you can calculate pretty much anything and be as poetic as you wish to be.
Math is unsuitable language to define the laws of nature - nature is more complex than how our outgoing Western Civilisation made it look for the commons; Where c is the speed of light, c * 2 is wrong, as it violates the theory. c² is also wrong, wherever it appears in any context. Therefore, E=mc² is wrong, too - if c in the formula is meant to be the speed of light, as there is no such thing in the universe as c². Countless eyes have been seeing E=mc² for the last 100 years and thought nothing wrong with it. Huxley and Orwell should be forgiven for thinking their systems can last forever - finite fossil fuels are dangerously hypnotic to humans and their mental capacity. Humans were not ready morally, ethically and intellectually to start the mass extraction of fossil fuels with the advent of the steam engine 300 years ago. The Magna Carta requires now overhauling - adding to it the right for humans to understand what Energy really is. "In any system of energy, Control is what consumes energy the most. No energy store holds enough energy to extract an amount of energy equal to the total energy it stores. No system of energy can deliver sum useful energy in excess of the total energy put into constructing it. This universal truth applies to all systems. Energy, like time, flows from past to future".
Edward is the Ray Krok of theoretical physics. There’s no place for the monopolising of that which requires argument . Go against this guy & see your PhD , Nobel laureate & tenure disappear overnight. This man is incredibly dangerous & has halted the development of ideas which require egos are left at the door .
It´s oxymoronic that he says that calculus is necessary across the universe to understand the natural world, when HIS calculus of string theory does NOT describe the natural world AT ALL!! Everyone knows this but they are absolutely terrified to confront him and say it to his face. A brilliant mathematican, but a failed physicist is he.
Simple question..... have you ever in your life played outside and had a real look at the wolrd the sun and the stars??? .... and can you tell me what happened with they boyency diiferance of The IPK and a Cubic litre???
Using mathematics we can understand the formula written into the fabric of the universe that dictates the motion of the planets. These are self-fulfilling truths. Here we call it calculus an alien race will use a different language to describe it.
I just wish the interviewer asked more useful questions than why math and physics is beautiful, or whether they must exist in every universe. These are things that either have no clear descriptive answer or which no one can conceivably know, considering we only live in one universe and have no possible idea about how different other universes can be from ours or how other possible forms of existence could vary from ours. What about universes where space, and all conceptions of geometry don't exist? Is it possible? Who knows? These questions are as useless as wondering whether one lives in the matrix or not, and to ask the greatest minds these pointless questions is kind of silly and feels like a waste of their time. Like is mathematics invented or discovered... really??? How is he supposed to know if it exists as a platonic form that stuff can't even be scientifically tested lol
just goes to show the RAZOR thin line between Autism and genius or even just high iq's in alot of cases. like this man clearly sacrifices social interaction for learning. as he would freak most people out
Mind you he started with a BA in history and linguistics. Even worked in the campaign of a presidential nominee. I'd argue that requires strong social skills. Only later did he pursue physics.
This is what Jordan Peterson thinks he sounds like.
Best comment 😂😂
Good observation..
Ok thanks psycho
😂😂😂😂
😂
I love listening to Edward. His intellect is so vast i feel he operates on a level beyond us normal people. He speaks in such a gentle tone laced with knowledge, authority and joy. Its like he has worked life out and is at peace.
As a *much lesser being in* mathematical physics, I feel he (and much of academia, google phrase "ivory tower" though im not accusing him of all that)
is able to distance himself from reality, not escape it thru pure thought, like Pascal and Plato dreamed of doing (and like Hilbert dreamed of solving all of math, using math....Gödels 2 incompleteness theorems PROVED we can never do that 😅)
Definitely he operates on another level than almost every single mind alive rn. But im saying, don't go ask him his predictions about the 2028 elections 😂 its not like QFT helps you with that (and he says almost this exact thing, in his interview!)
@@forgetfulfunctor1 This is one annoying character flaw I sometimes see in mathematicians and physicists: they overestimate the power of pure intelligence without adequate knowledge and effort.
5:47 His appreciation for Linguistics shines with this answer
Who came here after Eric Weinstein spoke about him on the Joe Rogan podcast?
I am so jealous of Dr. Witten and people like him. I am a semi-retired engineer but I've struggled (believe it or not given my career) with understanding math all my life. I'm not talking about plugging numbers into formulas, that's cookie cutter stuff and easy. I'm talking about understanding completely every formula including proof and including how to change its form to suit the problem you're solving. Or how to use raw data and measurements to "curve fit" into an equation that you create from the data. My skills in those areas are extremely limited. I'd never make it as a researcher. People with a talent for math can basically choose ANY career in the physical sciences or engineering and breeze through them because the math is the basic tool used and if you find that easy then the rest is just memorizing things. But I understand how Dr. Witten sees math as "Truth and Beauty" because its easy for him. Any when you have equations to completely describe something, you're DONE. No more is needed. Its clean and concise and exact.
I just dicovered this man, amazing = )
Why is Albert Einstein interviewing him though? I’m confused
State 1 line as a metaphor that psychology be analogically grounded in string theory like a metaphor for strings interacting according to the forces as a metaphor. Just one line and do it
In the realm of psychology, the intricate interplay of human thoughts, emotions, and behaviors can be metaphorically likened to the harmonious vibrations of strings in a grand cosmic orchestra, responding to the forces of our experiences.
ChatGPT ♥️🌹
Such a wonderful mind
Very smart indeed. But I disagree on the philosophy brought iin this video. It looks like mathematics is driving the models of Universes that are then brought forward. I would prefer that the modelization be built first based on facts and logic from a first principle. And btw, we do need a tabula raza at the moment to get out of the mystery of the fundalental forces as there is a hint that we assumed the wrong thing at the bases of our theories. Indeed this situation resulted to the actual state of mysteries in physics). Once the model is found, then meet it up with mathematics. Mathematics is a tools to help calculate trajectories, it is not a tool to find a model. The model should be found first and the best tool to do this is the human mind but stripped of the wrong assumptions. We do not need more mathematicians at the moment for that field, we need more Einsteins and his type of imagination to find the right model.
Ed Witten is a smart guy's smart guy. The amount of respect that scientists and mathematicians have for him says everything
Why DiMeglio CLEARLY tops Newton AND Einstein:
The game is over. F=ma AND E=mc2 BOTH apply to AND describe WHAT IS THE SUN. The SPEED OF LIGHT (c) is a POINT. Gravity/acceleration involves BALANCED inertia/INERTIAL RESISTANCE, AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. ACCORDINGLY, GRAVITATIONAL force/energy IS proportional to (or BALANCED with/as) inertia/INERTIAL RESISTANCE; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM ENERGY IS GRAVITY. "Mass"/ENERGY involves BALANCED inertia/INERTIAL RESISTANCE consistent with/as what is BALANCED ELECTROMAGNETIC/GRAVITATIONAL FORCE/ENERGY, AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. ACCORDINGLY, a given PLANET (INCLUDING WHAT IS THE EARTH) sweeps out equal areas in equal times; AND this is THEN CLEARLY consistent WITH/AS F=ma, E=mc2, AND what is perpetual motion; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. Gravity/acceleration involves BALANCED inertia/INERTIAL RESISTANCE, AS GRAVITY IS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY. (THEREFORE, the rotation of the Moon MATCHES it's revolution.) SO, ALL of SPACE is NECESSARILY ELECTROMAGNETIC/GRAVITATIONAL (IN BALANCE); AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. GREAT !!! Indeed, a PHOTON may be placed at the center of THE SUN (as a POINT, of course); as the reduction of SPACE is offset by (or BALANCED with) the SPEED OF LIGHT; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. Energy has/involves GRAVITY, AND ENERGY has/involves inertia/INERTIAL RESISTANCE. Gravity IS ELECTROMAGNETISM/energy. ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY.
It is proven.
ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. This is proven by BOTH F=ma AND E=mc2. This NECESSARILY represents, INVOLVES, and describes what is possible/potential AND actual IN BALANCE. Consider THE MAN who is standing on the FULLY VISIBLE EARTH/ground in what is NECESSARILY the BALANCED, ELECTROMAGNETIC/GRAVITATIONAL, MIDDLE DISTANCE in/of SPACE. The ability to thought to DESCRIBE OR RECONFIGURE sensory experience is ULTIMATELY dependent upon the extent to which thought is SIMILAR to sensory experience. THINK invisible/VISIBLE SPACE in balance. GREAT. Game over. (Thoughts are invisible.) There is your complete and perfect correspondence. Philosophy and physics TOGETHER in victory !!! Balance and completeness go hand in hand. It ALL makes perfect sense. DONE. E=mc2 is DIRECTLY AND FUNDAMENTALLY DERIVED FROM F=ma. ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. GAME OVER.
VERY IMPORTANTLY, outer "space" involves full inertia; AND it is FULLY INVISIBLE AND black.
The ULTIMATE unification of physics/physical experience combines, BALANCES, and includes opposites. Indeed, the INTEGRATED EXTENSIVENESS of thought (AND description) is improved in the truly superior mind. That is top down thinking. The PROOF is absolutely CLEAR. I have surpassed Newton and Einstein. FACT. IT ALL MAKES PERFECT SENSE.
Dream experience is/involves true/real QUANTUM GRAVITY. Dreams balance being AND EXPERIENCE. THE EYE IS THE BODY. In the dream, BODILY/VISUAL experience is invisible AND VISIBLE IN BALANCE; AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY.
ACCORDINGLY, we are in the BALANCED MIDDLE DISTANCE in/of SPACE that is BETWEEN what is THE SUN and what is the SPEED OF LIGHT (c, a POINT). SO, "mass"/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY. ALL of SPACE is NECESSARILY ELECTROMAGNETIC/GRAVITATIONAL (IN BALANCE), AS ELECTROMAGNETISM/ENERGY IS GRAVITY.
By Frank DiMeglio
I have proven that string theory is nonsense. I have mathematically unified physics.
@@archanayadav8322 literal nonsense, like the actual ramblings of a mad man lol
@@jamesmorseman3180 It is very respetable to have a unified theory of physics and at the same time be a famous TikToker. I'm just saying
He is the mekka of the brains
every time I've watched Ed Witten I've felt he lives in a separate reality. Which is not all bad.
I don't think that at all. He just understands this reality far better than most people, I'd even say that that makes him a lot more present in this reality than other people are.
@@kristijanmirceta460 hm. More present? More cognizant of the processes which govern the present? That sounds interesting
@@pikiwiki Nice thought. More able to understand those he takes interest in.
@@kristijanmirceta460there's a bio of Feynman on yourube (who I think was..a genius but also very full of himself lol)
He says something about biology like, "Some ppl think science neuters subjects, subtracts from their value, their human origin", or something like that. And then "Just because I can imagine the kinds of molecular processes and stuff that the plant is doing....
That only enhances my view of the beauty. It doesn't subtract."
Basically nobody NEEDS to feel like some jilted teenager when faced with new discovery
Anyway thats the point you're basically getting at also, right?
Absolutely!
imagine a "Closer to Truth" interview with AliG
😆😂🤣 Good one! 👍
"Can a computer find the answer to: 999999999999999999999 multiplied by - you didn't let me finish! - 99999999999999999.999999999999?"
such fun
@@adamj2683 gold
Imagine an Ali G interview with Ed Witten!
I really enjoyed hearing Edward Witten's thoughts on the questions you put to him. He is such a calm and eloquent speaker. I feel like he expresses himself with a certain economy of words that make incredibly clear points without any waffle or hyperbole. A very impressive man.
You eloqueted it perfect 😂😊 agreed
You could almost say his responses are.. calculated.
😂sorry
Neil de Grasse Tyson comes to mind. He is the opposite, I much prefer this way of talking and presenting yourself
Robert Lawrence Kuhn, who is a great interviewer and host, as well as a great mind in his own rights, seems like a child asking an adult questions in this interview. Edward Witten is just a next level mind.
" seems like a child asking an adult questions" It's the trait of any good and respectful interviewer.
He looks like the smarter brother of Rudy Giuliani
Understanding an equation is like walking into a new room, with new wonders you have never seen.
How I wish humans like Witten would be alive for a very very long time to do more for science. He is humble as usual, like all those truly intelligent people.
I think humbleness has more to do with wisdom than intelligence. He is obviously both:p
Is he more intelligent than trump though? That’s the question
Why would intelligent people be arrogant. Intelligent people allow themselves to make mistakes to learn from them. I haven't heard of a truly intelligent person who is arrogant in the slightest. Also, the more you are intelligent the more you understand how limited you are.
@@SilvertortoisePiano You know Trump is not a physicist. But if he HAD been, he would have been the BEST physicist of them all, with the POSSIBLE exceptions of Newton and Einstein...
It's more important that u understand, not everyone can. It's hard to bee one person on a hive planet
I love this guy such a genius and so humble and grounded and his voice is so calm and soothing a gift to mankind
He is so soft spoken and without inflammatory opinions.
I imagine that any math that looks complex for the rest of us (non-math proficient people) being beautiful for the mathematician is similar to (only) looking at the sheet music of a beautiful musical piece and not be able to see the beauty in the complex notation. All those symbols that mean nothing to the unfamiliar or untrained person in the practice of solfege or music notation, at least not until listening to the music. But once the music comes to life, then one can perceive the beauty by listening to it. But there are other kinds of beauty in music. Take the one that can only be experimented by a musician performing what's written in the music sheet, and some times especially if the execution requires extreme proficiency and skill.
I liked this example a lot. I will consider using it in the future. Indeed not knowing the symbols it's hard to grasp beautiful music until it's translated to something sensory that we can understand without prior training. When I say sensory it could be directly the music itself played with a particular instrument (here we see the notion of abstract beauty in patterns as good music sounds good regardless of the instrument) or it could be a visual dance choreography that goes with it or a blend and movement of colors that reflect the rhythm and contrasts of the song. In the same way it's easier to appreciate math when it's translated to something you can see or hear which can be physics or a visual video animation like on some math channels on RUclips.
@@heywrandom8924 You can get a sense that the 5th is beautiful just by listening to it even without understanding it. You can never get the beauty of maths without being trained in it. This analogy is wrong.
the man has the highest h index score in the world. he’s basically analogous to mozart in the world of physics today.
Yes, but he isn't the smartest men in the world in terms of IQ
@@robertx8733 I think he is actually
@@thecactus7950I don't think so, there's no proof of that.
@@robertx8733 if someone has better genetics for strength, but never trains, his physical capabilities will still be weaker than those of a less gifted but trained athlete. The same goes for IQ: it doesn't guarantee your actual superiority in reasoning when compared to highly trained people.
@@paulojcavalcanti I think the same as you, the most important thing is effort and then talent
If we do encounter an advanced civ, we should definitely send this guy to meet with them first.
Well. Maths creates patterns....patterns are pretty ....
The golden ratio
That is just scratching the surface.
@@Helmutandmoshe nope she is talking about supersymmetry and components of our reality
@@areus19891 I'm not sure what you are getting at. What is the "nope" referring to?
Mathematics that Ed Witten finds simple won't be simple to most of us.
Mathematics has some connection to subconscoous mind of cosmos.
Math is logic catered to humans why is this so hard for people to get lol
People learn words and numbers before they learn to think, so when the conceptual learning develops and questions like "what does this actually mean? Where did this actually come from?" get applied to their own knowledge. People forget mommy and daddy spent years teaching them words and numbers, so it is like they just suddenly woke up one day as an adult filled with concepts and wonder how they came to know the difference between dogs and cats and tables and chairs and 3 and 7. Not thinking about it too much they assume it's almost like magic.
My father was an artist (old fashion style like Michelangelo and Rembrandt) but I decided to study math. Math and art are connected so much it was a revelation to me. There are so much beauty in math and I used artistic type of creativity to search for solution. In art I used geometry I studied at uni (perspective and shade projection and calculations) to create beautiful and realistic paintings. For example, texture of robe is revealed by shape of shade it lays on the robe, more then by robe itself.
do you have your work on the internet?
Wow, like Michaelangelo and Rembrandt😮
I wish I would have known math can help explain our reality as a kid. I might have not hated my math classes as much.
They just tell you have to take math classes nd never explain why its important.
Same here.
I doubt maths in high school and middle school doesn't really explain reality in any way though
only self study would help you in that way
My university ruined calculus for me. Explained nothing, gave us tons of assignments and told us to solve it. I had to re learn calculus because I want to be a theoretical physicist. Even now I am struggling with some integration...
Exactly. Was always my least favorite subject and I always just tried to do the minimum effort to pass the exams. As I got older my curiosity about different topics led me to see how crucial mathematics are to understanding the deepest aspects of reality, from biology, to chemistry, to physics, the origin of the universe, the nature of matter, evolution, etc. Math turns up everywhere you look.
In school they would assign us abstract or trivial word problems that seemed useless. No passion, no deep explanation, no awakening of curiosity, no connection to nature. Even simple algebra and arithmetic are important to understanding deep aspects of reality, wish I realized this sooner.
Thanks for more Witten!
Witten's description of beauty as it relates to music is brilliant, but simple and succinct. That is what genius looks like.
I really now believe that children need to be taught a kind of history of science right up to superstring theory. Because as Einstein knew and probably EW, children are fascinated rather than fazed by 10 and 26 dimensions. Such ideas really buzz their imaginations. Well - some anyway. I’m an artist of sorts and I’m EXTREMELY taken with he ideas of physicists and the beautiful machines and experiments they manufacture. Instead we leave all this magic somewhat hidden and only the lucky few can engage with it at eg University studying physics etc Or like me they’ll catch a good tv program and buy a book pop science book (I’m currently rereading Hyperspace by Michio Kaku - who discusses some of EWs ideas). Yes - I think kids really love “WOW” subjects. And although actually doing the physics takes years of learning and understanding I’m sure the great stories of science (right back to Euclid) could be told wonderfully- especially with all our modern graphics technology. Actually- doesn’t it seem a bit mean NOT to let them in on it all (?) 👍
Children love videogames.
Enlightening and inspirational - thank you for this fascinating video.
What he described about the sense of simplicity at the end is quite applicable to everything in everybody's life. Remarkable man.
Eric Weinstein brought me here
You can tell with a lot of brilliant people that their mind is still. Watch how he sits so relaxed and doesn't move. I would have to assume that this stillness of body and mind contributes to their great intellect.
Want more with ed
Freak
What a rare treat to watch a sit down with Ed Witten. I understand he is the best mind to date since Albert Einstein. I would love to see him give a discussion on what we have learned since Einstein, the current state of theoretical physics, and what discoveries we hope to learn in the near future. In short, are we any closer to understanding a theory of everything?
No disrespect to Ed Whitten, a true genius among geniuses, but there are plenty of other candidates for best mind since Einstein. Von Neumann for one. Not all of them work in the field of physics.
Roger Penrose?
Silly comment. Dirac and Schrödinger have contributed way more to physics than Ed Witten has or will
@@levansaginashviliskidney8726 sorry, didn't know they were still alive. 🙄
Einstein was wrong about a lot of things and even he said Feynman was the man.
It's only because I have no natural aptitude for math that I'm not able to like math (much less love it). And that's a shame. Even so, I don't doubt that mathematics does demonstrate truth and beauty. And I don't doubt that even if music can't demonstrate truth, it certainly can demonstrate beauty. (Not that I'm certain it doesn't demonstrate truth. It's just that I don't understand the concept of truth well enough to be sure about that.)
This is absolutely not a reason to not pursue mathematics. You can still become an extremely proficient mathematician if you just put some time into it. Far too many people write themselves off as "not natural mathematicians" because they weren't one of the kids who excelled in school at it. You don't need a special superhuman brain to understand mathematics, the whole point is that it is entirely logical and self-consistent. Music and mathematics also tend to go hand in hand, you are definitely selling yourself short and so is anyone who thinks they "can't" understand maths.
Plato once said the reason we find things beautiful is because they reveal to us ideas which are true. Give math a little time, you don't need to be that good for mathematical physics. But it does take pain staking work. If you want to go into pure math good luck, that's some hard stuff.
Ed Witten us the next step in human evolution. He’s beyond all us mortals.
Billy Meier is. Research that story.
TL Pricescope - silly comment, Ed and everyone else are the precursors to evolution - Ed is good at maths which does not make him any more special than you - you need to adjust your scope
hes more special than all of us, yes. doesnt mean its a bad thing@@majorrgeek
@@KadruH - you need to stop generalizing as say why Ed may be special at what? being special at maths does not make you special than all of us and many of us are more special at many other things over Ed
he's just way more intelligent than us mate lol, can't really explain it to you more. People with an extra intelligence helps the world grow, that's how everything we know was discovered and that's why we aint stuck in the stone age anymore. so yes, he's special and we should be grateful.@@majorrgeek
Neither beauty nor truth of the mathematics is necessarily connected to the physical reality. Nature may be described by mathematics (very curious and mysterious thing in itself that has no real explanation) but converse may not always be true.
He may be the most brilliant theoretical physicist who will NEVER win the Nobel because for the last thirty years as the de facto leader of string and supersymmetry cult, he has NEVER offered ANY predictions that make contacts with testable, physical reality.
So we laud people like EW -- mainly because he's such a unicorn in a world of math ignorance and darkness. K-12 math is typically taught like circus trainers teaching animals tricks, rats learning mazes. To really do math right you have to build it up carefully from logic. Sal Khan's TED talk about teaching for mastery was so amazing because he posited the idea that far greater percentages of the population could reach mastery if we really taught math right.
how do you suggest we go about learning math by building it from logic. any books you suggest?
@@momolams _Discrete Mathematics with Applications_ 5th Edition by Susanna S. Epp is a great way to see what is loosely called "higher math" but at an advanced high school/college freshman level. Discrete math is typically taught to comp-sci undergrads, but it's really just a grab-bag of higher math, i.e., post-calc. We need to get past the whole "see this, do this" conditioned training. Also good would be a truly Euclidean geometry book where you learn how math is built up from axioms into theorems. And math history goes a long way in that it shows us how real people first figured stuff out. HTH.
@@vonBottorff Thanks! Yes reading Math history is fascinating
I really like the analogy of teaching circus tricks to donkeys. That's just it, in K-12.
But that guy focusses on exam prep rather than maths.
Number theory, basics of probability, counting (all discrete Maths) can be taught without calculus. So, I am not sure how you say Discrete maths is post calculus.
Nice book suggestion. Thanks for that.
If I could meet anyone in the world, it would be Edward Witten.
Why
Nothing has been achieved in mathematics since since the Manhattan project, ther all on government grants living the life on far flung bucket trips
2:51 bamb
2:57 boomb
And if you ........get interested in getting a little bit beyond counting....oh
90s music is proof string theory exists.
2:05 I think this is a bit anthropocentric of Edward. But then again, I'm a lot smarter than Witten.
He uses calculus for his precise verbal responses too.
Too bad... A guy as smart as Witten wasting his brain with string theory.
Do a follow up now that he has been criticized heavily
Why do people say intelligence will always enslave humanity. I think it's the opposite
He seems to proceed in his teaching by knowing where to start with his conversation. A good foundation makes the next construction proceed more effectively.
This man is OP. On real he is in the same league with Newton.
How so?
He is far above Newton.
@@loui7210 How so? What did he ever actually accomplish? I smell failure and stagnation for the last 4 decades
LOL. Mc Mcx and Mikey, you don't know physics do you? Stop making fools of yourselves. EW can't even tie strings for Newton.
“Mathematicians and Physicists, and certainly you…” - that expresses how brilliant and absolutely singular this man is. 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
Ed is wasting his time on string theory, another dead end in physics
@@majorrgeek I massively disagree with your statement.
@@JackLWalsh - string theory is abandoned by most serious physicists
@@majorrgeek Because they don't understand the theory
@@SiriusSRX - because the theory is a load of crap
Math is a language.
Joe Rogan led me here...
Eric Weinstein lead you here.
@@euroviziune nah, it's jre, weinstein wasn't on my radar...sad to say.
Strange that he made the statement that any advanced civilization would invent calculus… It made me appreciate the intricacies of human nature and it relationships to its environments. Our species always in a state of struggle, competition, and desire. Evolving into a more intelligent being to resolve those issues.
Why does beauty have to be a condition for a theory to be true? That's quite unscientific!
Is language invented or discovered?
I find his argument for believing math is discovered instead of invented a bit strange; if we use it as a tool for describing reality....seems obvious that we and aliens share the same math because we share the same physical universe and our brains are built on the same physical rules, not because there is a platonic world of math
We and aliens can share a different world. You can imagine that in a parallel universe laws of gravity (physical reality in general) works differently. But 2 + 2 can not be anything else than 4.
I seriously love this topic and witten is bringing fun thoughts
The mans brain is more than a computer chip
It has been repeatedly demonstrated that most animals (including birds) have an understanding of basic Maths, which supports Prof Witten's claim that Maths always existed and is continually discovered, not invented.
humility....... nothing like it
The fact that their are several different 'string theories', suggests string theorists are grasping at straws - however so much in a brilliantly creative way.
Math is a tool. It helps us describe nature ever so accurately in shorter version. The number 42 sometimes described everything about the universe and sometimes it doesn't. I would not get too carry away with math. Like the last time we extrapolate Einstein field equation to the singularity and thought what's inside a black hole is INFINITELY dense, which it is not. Inside a black hole has some properties with limits. It is not INFINITELY dense. Such is the same when we extrapolate quantum mechanics describing matter and light interaction using old equations resulting in infinities. Then we shortcut by renormalizing resulting in quantum mechanic describing the vacuum energy 100 orders of magnitude higher than what is actually observed at cosmological scale.
Genetics is fundamentally, infuriatingly unfair. Prof. Witten exists on an entirely different plane of understanding and consciousness. He is both the literal and metaphorical Superman. Just knowing that he shares this planet with me feels incredibly emasculating.
@@Woodesies No.
Imagine Ed and Terence in the same room
Or maybe Perelman
@@maxwellsequation4887 Perelman doesn't like talking about maths anymore though unfortunately
Damn
would create a black hole of intelligence.
@@ivanleon6164 Or worse, it might rip spacetime apart - and that's the end of that...
People hype him up all the time, his talk was relatively simple here. I'd love to see him actually get into insights which i can understand.
Edit this sort of comes of as a dig, i didn't mean it that way
why is this guy getting interviewed by Einstein
Truly a beautiful mind.
Working at such a high level, I wonder how well versed Edward is regarding basic Applied Mechanics problems.
He’s bound to be well versed.
What a beautiful man and a beautiful discussion of our beautiful universe :)
Watch the movie PI
I find people who speak passively very hard to follow. I don’t know what makes them speak this way.
Thank you, I needed this.
What a beautiful mind. I do enjoy hearing him talk more than most things in this life
Beauty without truth is delusion; truth without beauty is evil; beauty without goodness is glamour; goodness without truth is naive; truth without goodness is tyranny. These are the three graces; they are mutually verifiable.
That was interesting.
His third eye is open
FIRST. his FIRST eye is illuminated.
It would have been interesting if humans evolved separately, as distinct civilizations. After complete isolation for 1000-2000 years they can finally come together and compare their findings. Well I think it happened with British and French mathematics back in the day.
This is already the case..?
That distracting noise resembles carpentry.
Although proclaimed as a genius…. With his perception of the depths of the multiverse expressed in numbers…. And the multiverse of numbers themselves…. In this short article there is also a hint of an imbalance …an asymmetry …IN… the his “genius “…. As he ( like other gifted people (Elon))… see so many worlds… but find the expression of his (their) visions impossible to convert into mouth shaped pushes of air…. He may never find WORDS… that can convert his THOUGHTS …INTO transferable … messages
Did this guy time travel back from the 26th century? Amazing intellect!
Wow I understand what he(Ed Witten) suggest about calculus being evolved from other planets …. I’ve had some crazy experiences with calculator..lol
X-Files
Mathematics vs. Truth and beauty
"The perception of beauty is a moral test." Henry David Thoreau. This ix the real IQ test. This test also determines if one is human.
Light and truth (love) cause vampires (greed) great pain and suffering. That's why the words compassion, understanding, society (socialism), community (communism), "care for all" and "green new deal" cause the counting corpses that rule US such misery.
But the words sanction, starve, torture, murder and bomb are encouraged. Because these ugly words suck the joy out of humans with their ignorance (hate).
The hostile evangelical vampires (greed) are inhumane because they are not human. The counting corpses commit crimes against humanity because they are not human.
Unlike earthling human beings and creators of joy...the counting corpses that rule US can't create harmony (real intelligence) because vampires (greed) are ignorant (dead).
Vampires (greed) who suck the joy out of life have joined the zombies who eat the futures of their children.
Zombie Apocalypse is here and happening now.
With math you can explore part of the infinity of the cosmos. It is a tool, that can be improved upon, amended, tweaked, and machinated in ways that provide mirrors and looking glasses into reality. By exploring math, we can travel without moving. It is a great thing.
Well said.
Calculus is the shoes for Physicists since Newton/Leibnitz. QED model is very simple model to understand but it is complicated to solve. This QED model has about 60 years old and it is complicated to solve but it is based on simple energy equation E=mc2 (static) to solve. Newton Gravitational model also is very simple and it is complicated to solve (for example: When we try to predict predict the 3 or more bodies gravitational interaction problem). Several smart people of that time spent a lot on complicated multibodies interactions. But Newton was smart to gather information to reach a simple model F=m.a but can be complicated as you wish. It took 200 years to have gravitational model. And another 200 years to get General relativity model. In may opinion, String theory may take 200 years to resolve the issues ready for peer reviews. In my opinion, Scientific breaktroughs are not dependant on the number of universities, on number of Phd doctorates per year nor on high speed internet to the students. It is innate characteristics with fortunate environment to the smart people decide to study physics. Otherwise, for Mr. Witten case, it would be natural to Mr. Witten to be a very famous millionaire journalist like OReilly Fox News in the 90s. Witten spent your life on theory of everthing instead of spending your life on money is everthing in the big apple. Only very small percentage of smart guy's smart guy prefers Physics instead of making money. So, It is fair to say that scientific theoretical breakthrough may take 200 years or so. In the XIX century, studing physics and maths in the university were a romantic and passion goals and all of them were smart students. In XXI century, it continues to be very few smart people studing maths and physics. The rest is money driving life style even mathematicians being involved in the financial crisis. The world is not romantic anymore.
Ed Witten is perhaps the strongest practitioner of Mathematics, which is the previous method of understanding the world. However, Computation and later Multicomputation are supplanting it.
did you catch the trick.... mathematical truth is real, but we have to invent calculus to describe orbits etc....
Didn't he say calculus was discovered?
Mathematicians think mathematics is wonderful
But its just a very formal symbolc language.
1+1=2 can be said in English.
When you're researching quantum physics to write numerological poetry instead of trying to find the truth, you're calculating for the sake of calculating instead of finding the truth. This man loves to calculate and find pretty equations, of which, most likely does not exist in reality. Because why? Quantum physics is all about probablities. And with probabilities, you can calculate pretty much anything and be as poetic as you wish to be.
Math is unsuitable language to define the laws of nature - nature is more complex than how our outgoing Western Civilisation made it look for the commons;
Where c is the speed of light, c * 2 is wrong, as it violates the theory.
c² is also wrong, wherever it appears in any context.
Therefore, E=mc² is wrong, too - if c in the formula is meant to be the speed of light, as there is no such thing in the universe as c².
Countless eyes have been seeing E=mc² for the last 100 years and thought nothing wrong with it.
Huxley and Orwell should be forgiven for thinking their systems can last forever - finite fossil fuels are dangerously hypnotic to humans and their mental capacity.
Humans were not ready morally, ethically and intellectually to start the mass extraction of fossil fuels with the advent of the steam engine 300 years ago.
The Magna Carta requires now overhauling - adding to it the right for humans to understand what Energy really is.
"In any system of energy, Control is what consumes energy the most.
No energy store holds enough energy to extract an amount of energy equal to the total energy it stores.
No system of energy can deliver sum useful energy in excess of the total energy put into constructing it.
This universal truth applies to all systems.
Energy, like time, flows from past to future".
Edward is the Ray Krok of theoretical physics. There’s no place for the monopolising of that which requires argument . Go against this guy & see your PhD , Nobel laureate & tenure disappear overnight. This man is incredibly dangerous & has halted the development of ideas which require egos are left at the door .
It´s oxymoronic that he says that calculus is necessary across the universe to understand the natural world, when HIS calculus of string theory does NOT describe the natural world AT ALL!! Everyone knows this but they are absolutely terrified to confront him and say it to his face. A brilliant mathematican, but a failed physicist is he.
Simple question..... have you ever in your life played outside and had a real look at the wolrd the sun and the stars???
.... and can you tell me what happened with they boyency diiferance of The IPK and a Cubic litre???
John Conway literally discovered mathematical structures.
Using mathematics we can understand the formula written into the fabric of the universe that dictates the motion of the planets. These are self-fulfilling truths. Here we call it calculus an alien race will use a different language to describe it.
I just wish the interviewer asked more useful questions than why math and physics is beautiful, or whether they must exist in every universe. These are things that either have no clear descriptive answer or which no one can conceivably know, considering we only live in one universe and have no possible idea about how different other universes can be from ours or how other possible forms of existence could vary from ours.
What about universes where space, and all conceptions of geometry don't exist? Is it possible? Who knows? These questions are as useless as wondering whether one lives in the matrix or not, and to ask the greatest minds these pointless questions is kind of silly and feels like a waste of their time. Like is mathematics invented or discovered... really??? How is he supposed to know if it exists as a platonic form that stuff can't even be scientifically tested lol
just goes to show the RAZOR thin line between Autism and genius or even just high iq's in alot of cases. like this man clearly sacrifices social interaction for learning. as he would freak most people out
Mind you he started with a BA in history and linguistics. Even worked in the campaign of a presidential nominee. I'd argue that requires strong social skills.
Only later did he pursue physics.
I always thought of this but never understood to combine music and math. I love how he put the words in one frame.
Word has it that he is a rapper too.
Imagine the gold teeth, the heavy chain necklace, and the crazy hand gestures - that's so witten.