The problem with the theory of everything | Janna Levin
September 14, 2023
66,419
2,519
192
4.08%
Search the Record
IndexedEvery word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
Big Think Episodes Around September 14, 2023
See what was published immediately before and after this episode.
5:53Now PlayingThe problem with the theory of everything | Janna Levin
YouTube Description
as posted by the channelThe hunt for the theory of everything continues — but we won’t find it without understanding quantum gravity first.
This interview is an episode from @The-Well, our publication about ideas that inspire a life well-lived, created with the@TempletonFoundation.
Subscribe to The Well on YouTube ►
Watch Janna Levin’s next interview ►
There’s a pursuit of simplicity and unification in theoretical physics, aiming for a single mathematical law to unify quantum mechanics and gravity: a theory of everything. But while other forces have been successfully unified, gravity resists integration — casting doubt on the likelihood of ever unlocking the theory of all theories.
As physicist Janna Levin explains, black holes, with their strong space-time curvature, provide insights into this challenge. Levin draws parallels to mathematicians' incompleteness theorems, noting the inherent limitations in such an overarching theory.
Acknowledging the complexity of the endeavor, Levin emphasizes the need to embrace and explore gravity's enigmatic nature fully. In doing so, the pursuit of unification might still yield profound insights, even if a comprehensive theory of everything remains elusive.
Read the video transcript ►
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About Janna Levin:
Janna Levin is a professor of physics and astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University. She is also director of sciences at Pioneer Works, a center for arts and sciences in Brooklyn, and has contributed to an understanding of black holes, the cosmology of extra dimensions, and gravitational waves in the shape of spacetime. Her previous books include How the Universe Got Its Spots and a novel, A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines, which won the PEN/Bingham Prize. She was recently named a Guggenheim fellow.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read more from The Well:
Few of us desire true equality. It’s time to own up to it
The case for “dusking”: In a world of light and noise, embracing the dark can be healing
Respect alchemy. The crazy, criminal pursuit gave us modern science
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About The Well
Do we inhabit a multiverse? Do we have free will? What is love? Is evolution directional? There are no simple answers to life’s biggest questions, and that’s why they’re the questions occupying the world’s brightest minds.
Together, let's learn from them.
Subscribe to the weekly newsletter ►
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Join The Well on your favorite platforms:
Guests & Subjects Covered
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.