The Intersection of Science and Meaning | Dr. Brian Greene | EP 486

Watch “Depression & Anxiety”

Dr. Jordan B. Peterson sits down with physicist and author, Dr. Brian Greene. They discuss the strange conceptualization of “before” the Big Bang, how time might be a microscopic phenomenon, how order existed at the point of the universe's creation, what would happen if you fell into a black hole, and the process of going from understanding to harnessing new insights.

Dr. Brian Greene is an American physicist known for his research on string theory. He is a professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University and the chairman of the World Science Festival, which he co-founded in 2008. Dr. Greene has worked on mirror symmetry, relating two different Calabi–Yau manifolds (concretely relating the conifold to one of its orbifolds). He also described the flop transition, a mild form of topology change, showing that topology in string theory can change at the conifold point.

This episode was recorded on September 9th, 2024

Unlock the adfree experience of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast and dive into exclusive bonus content on DailyWire+. Start watching now

- Sponsors -

ExpressVPNGet 3 Months FREE of ExpressVPN

HallowGet 3 months free at

Jeremy’s RazorsGet the Precision 5 from Jeremy's Razors at

- Links -

For Brian Greene:

"Until the End of TimeMind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe" (Book)

"The Elegant UniverseSuperstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory" (Book)

- Chapters -

(0:00) Coming up

(0:37) Intro

(3:13) What was before the Big Bang?

(9:52) Psychological and numerical entropy as it relates to a goal

(17:48) Time might be microscopic, the evolution of complex systems

(20:13) The physical definition of order, how to violate the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics

(25:09) Order at the moment of creation

(28:20) Stephen Hawking’s arrow of time, how gravity collects particles

(37:42) The double slit experiment, the speed of light, and our frame of reference

(46:58) Quantum physics is a living interpretation

(50:04) The field of possibility, utilizing story to gain relevant insight

(55:21) How the microscopic affects the macroscopic realm

(58:27) Free will is incoherent within quantum physics

(1:03:53) Personal accountability in a deterministic world

(1:07:02) Conceptual absurdities: what happens when you enter a black hole

(1:16:24) String theory: what the “strings” are and how they work

(1:19:58) From understanding to harnessing, “there are no experimental observations”

(1:26:57) Competing theories might have been describing the same phenomenon

// COURSES //

Discovering Personality

Self Authoring Suite

Understand Myself (personality test)

// BOOKS //

Beyond Order12 More Rules for Life

12 Rules for LifeAn Antidote to Chaos

Maps of MeaningThe Architecture of Belief

#JordanPeterson #JordanBPeterson #DrJordanPeterson #DrJordanBPeterson #DailyWirePlus