1 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 1: Works dot Com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 3 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:17,759 Speaker 1: I'm Robert glam and I'm Julie Douglas. Tell me, Julie, 4 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:20,799 Speaker 1: what does your cat do all day when you're not 5 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:22,919 Speaker 1: at it hide out? Well, I think I've told you 6 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:26,720 Speaker 1: before that he is working allah inception to plant thoughts 7 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:30,159 Speaker 1: into my mind. Okay, yeah, so he's just working on 8 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:34,800 Speaker 1: mathematical models basically. Okay, Yeah, that's your that's your theory, right. Uh, no, 9 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:37,000 Speaker 1: that's that's that's what my webcam is telling. Oh, that's 10 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,400 Speaker 1: what your webcams. Yeah, we got a little blackboard office 11 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 1: and see I knew I should see. We don't have 12 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:43,800 Speaker 1: a webcam set up. So it's all a mystery to 13 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:45,680 Speaker 1: me what the cat may or may not be doing 14 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:48,880 Speaker 1: in the house or outside the house while I'm away. 15 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 1: She could be sleeping on the pillows all day where 16 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 1: she's not allowed. She could be, uh, you know, turning 17 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:57,480 Speaker 1: on the Xbox. I have no idea. Huh. This is 18 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: sort of like that proverb. Yeah, if tree falls in 19 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: the forest and no one is around here, it doesn't 20 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: make a sound. Yeah, it's a it's a this is 21 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:09,360 Speaker 1: an old philosophical question. The idea. The idea is not 22 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:12,559 Speaker 1: necessary to answer the question. Um. You know, of course 23 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:14,479 Speaker 1: some people listening this probably have that kind of mind 24 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 1: where they're like, this is something we can test, we 25 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:18,560 Speaker 1: can do this, but but it's more about training the 26 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:21,320 Speaker 1: mind and and uh and you know, throwing a good 27 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:23,600 Speaker 1: paradox at it to beef it up, you know. Okay, 28 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: So it's like a thought sandwich that we can chew on. Yeah, 29 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:30,040 Speaker 1: a big chewy thought sandwich. It's a double decker. Yeah, 30 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:31,680 Speaker 1: have a sandwich. You can soften it up if you 31 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: put in the microwave a little bit, but straight up, 32 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: it's gonna be it's gonna be pretty tough, should we 33 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:38,600 Speaker 1: talk about I mean, just like the bones of it 34 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:40,920 Speaker 1: like that. The fact that the sound is sound is 35 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 1: vibration that's carried through a medium at a frequency range 36 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaker 1: capable of being heard by the humanity here. So there's 37 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:50,600 Speaker 1: there's that, But there's the sound that's out there. So 38 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: regardless of whether or not you're here to listen to it, 39 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: I'm here to listen to it. Sound is going to exist, right, yes, 40 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: But if the sound is that seeve though, that's that 41 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: kind of gets into the question like if the sound 42 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:06,160 Speaker 1: is not received by by a listener by an observer, 43 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:11,800 Speaker 1: then did it take place? What's it really sound? See? 44 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: And I think there are multiple multiple answers to this, 45 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: right right, because you could say, well that you know, 46 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: other organisms are listening first of all, but I guess 47 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:24,520 Speaker 1: this is just concerning us Homeo sapiens. Yeah, and it 48 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:28,080 Speaker 1: really comes down to what it says about our perception 49 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:32,800 Speaker 1: and how it affects our understanding of the universe. Okay, 50 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: so um, I'm thinking right now, like patterns that we 51 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 1: tend to pick up on, right right. So, um, sometimes 52 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:44,400 Speaker 1: I'll notice something that's happening in the world and I'll 53 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:47,400 Speaker 1: start think, oh, my goodness, armageddon is is It's just 54 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:50,080 Speaker 1: around the corner. Yeah, there's always something like, you know, 55 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: especially if teenagers do something like suddenly everybody's paying attention 56 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 1: to what these teenagers are doing and it's oh, my goodness, 57 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:58,839 Speaker 1: the end of the world isn't here, right, Yeah, they're 58 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:01,160 Speaker 1: they're all listening to this horrible music or they're wearing 59 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:03,679 Speaker 1: these gene shorts that are that are going to bring 60 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:06,400 Speaker 1: about the end times and and and people have been 61 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: saying this for you know, for ages. I didn't know 62 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:12,520 Speaker 1: that Jeane Shorts was the queue for the four Horsemen 63 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 1: of the Apocalypse. Well, no, it's the Antichrist. The Antichrist 64 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:20,200 Speaker 1: will will come in the form of Yeah Shorts, Gane Shorts. 65 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 1: I've been rereading the Name of the Rose recently, so 66 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: I have a lot of this like apocalyptic stuff in 67 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: my mind. So I can imagine like an old monk 68 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:30,680 Speaker 1: talking about, like explaining very detailed why teenagers and Geane 69 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 1: Shorts are the sign of the Antichrist is walking among us. 70 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:37,720 Speaker 1: So but anyway, but but at any rate, we've been 71 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 1: reading too much into data for a long time, and 72 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 1: we continue to do it um even though it might 73 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: relate more to say, geothermal events than it does to 74 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 1: the you know, the you know, the arrival of the 75 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:54,440 Speaker 1: Antichrist on Earth. Okay, So if I'm looking at the weather, 76 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 1: for instance, and I noticed that there have been a 77 00:03:56,800 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: ton of floods or hurricanes or tornadoes, and I start 78 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: to think to myself, you know, oh my goodness, look 79 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:05,840 Speaker 1: what's going on. There seems to be more activity and 80 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 1: whether than ever before. Couldn't be true, And you can 81 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:12,080 Speaker 1: you can totally freak out like that on like an 82 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: individual level, but you also see it in like broadly 83 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:18,960 Speaker 1: and scientific studies, where it's called a reporting effect. Now, 84 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:21,839 Speaker 1: a great example of this, uh is something that I 85 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:24,320 Speaker 1: came across when I was writing an article titled all 86 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:29,600 Speaker 1: our Volcanic Eruptions Increasing for Discovering News, and it's I've 87 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 1: done a number of these at all tackle seemingly simplistic questions, 88 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:36,000 Speaker 1: and uh and I was really delighted with how how 89 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 1: interesting this one was. The short answer is is no. 90 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: And and I didn't just look this up. I talked 91 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:45,080 Speaker 1: to some experts. I talked to uh Lee Siebert, the 92 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:48,280 Speaker 1: director of the Smithsonian Global Vote of Volcanism Program, or 93 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 1: the g v P as the kids call it in 94 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 1: their gene shorts, and uh and and he broke it 95 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:56,400 Speaker 1: down for me, the great guy. He said that basically, 96 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:58,440 Speaker 1: we've been he they've been looking at the g VP 97 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 1: has been looking at volcanic eruption for forty years. And 98 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: if you you really start digging, you have about two 99 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:08,680 Speaker 1: hundred years worth of data to look at. So if 100 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:11,279 Speaker 1: you plot those last two hundred years, there's a clear 101 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 1: increase in the number of eruptions over time. Look at 102 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:16,440 Speaker 1: the data and you're like oh, well there, you know, 103 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:18,920 Speaker 1: and this is totally the numbers are totally off, and 104 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: they're like, oh, there's five this year, and then next 105 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,280 Speaker 1: year there's two, and then there's fifteen. Volcanic activity is 106 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:26,480 Speaker 1: clearly going up. But that's but it's not the case. 107 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:28,840 Speaker 1: This is this is the reporting effect in an action, 108 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:31,800 Speaker 1: because what does that mean? Like why why would we 109 00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:33,960 Speaker 1: see that pattern and why wouldn't it be true. Well, 110 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 1: you take this apparent increase in volcanic eruptions and you 111 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:39,920 Speaker 1: can compare it to other data, and things start making 112 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 1: a whole lot more sense. For instance, the apparent increase 113 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:47,320 Speaker 1: in volcanic eruptions parallels the rise in global population. It 114 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:52,279 Speaker 1: parallels human encroachment into areas of volcanic activity. There's suddenly 115 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:55,760 Speaker 1: more people around to observe volcanoes erupting. There are more 116 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:59,280 Speaker 1: people of living in the vicinity of volcanoes to report 117 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:02,600 Speaker 1: on it. You see the number increase with the evolution 118 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:06,440 Speaker 1: of our telecommunication systems Suddenly, not only can more people, 119 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: more people in a position to observe volcanic activity, but 120 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:12,839 Speaker 1: they're in a better position to report it. So, yeah, 121 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:16,680 Speaker 1: tweeting what's going on? Tweeting about it? You know, you know, 122 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:18,720 Speaker 1: emailing call. I mean just as simple as like being 123 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:21,200 Speaker 1: able to call somebody or instead of just writing a 124 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:23,479 Speaker 1: letter or just marking in your journal. So that means 125 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:25,920 Speaker 1: that all of a sudden we have an avalanche of data. Right. 126 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:31,360 Speaker 1: And then another interesting aspect that they encountered is that 127 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:35,359 Speaker 1: if you you look at the apparent of volcanic activity, 128 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:39,480 Speaker 1: just based on reports, you see two really curious depths 129 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 1: in volcanic activity in the twentieth century, once during the 130 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:48,559 Speaker 1: First World War and then again during the Second World War. Now, 131 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:53,520 Speaker 1: you could make the argument that that the that these 132 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:57,160 Speaker 1: world wars caused volcanic activity around the world to decrease, 133 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:00,440 Speaker 1: but of course you would be and that would be insane, right. 134 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 1: I'm raising my eyebrows right now at you. That's kind 135 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: of like, um, I mean, it comes down to the 136 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:07,919 Speaker 1: fact that we were pretty distracted during those times. We 137 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 1: had world wars going on, and we just didn't have 138 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:13,840 Speaker 1: time to really focus on what the volcanoes were doing 139 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:16,320 Speaker 1: for the most part. Again, it's kind of like the cat. 140 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:18,160 Speaker 1: If you've ever been been really busy and you don't 141 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:20,600 Speaker 1: notice the cat doing anything. Don't mean the cat is 142 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:24,160 Speaker 1: not doing anything in fact, it may result in the 143 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:26,560 Speaker 1: cat doing all sorts of horrible things to get your attention, 144 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:29,440 Speaker 1: depending on the cat. Uh, it's it's just where your 145 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:33,800 Speaker 1: attention is at. Likewise, they found that the following, uh, 146 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:37,800 Speaker 1: the really dramatic eruptions of Krakatoa in eighteen eighty three 147 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:40,680 Speaker 1: and Mount Pele in nineteen o two, you saw an 148 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:44,640 Speaker 1: apparent increase in volcanic volcanic activity following those events. Now, 149 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:46,840 Speaker 1: it would be a lot easier in this case to say, oh, well, 150 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:49,680 Speaker 1: there's just a huge volcanic events, so there you know, 151 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:52,160 Speaker 1: these other volcanoes were acting up to. No, it's just 152 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:53,800 Speaker 1: that you have this huge event and people were suddenly 153 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: paying a lot more attention to what all the other 154 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:59,480 Speaker 1: volcanoes are up to. It's kind of like, uh, you know, 155 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 1: some some it hits the news for you know, for 156 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:04,960 Speaker 1: for something. Uh, like you know, if somebody robs a 157 00:08:04,960 --> 00:08:08,480 Speaker 1: bank while wearing tight jean shorts, right, and then suddenly 158 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 1: everybody's focused on geene shorts or more people wearing jeene shorts, 159 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:12,960 Speaker 1: or more crimes being committed with jeane shorts. No, it's 160 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:15,400 Speaker 1: just suddenly our our mind is focused on It was 161 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:17,800 Speaker 1: that one monk right, Ye, should we go back and 162 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:20,800 Speaker 1: look at this seriously? Yeah? Really? Yeah? Alright, Okay, so 163 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:24,520 Speaker 1: I'm seeing so the pattern isn't necessarily telling the whole truth. 164 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:27,000 Speaker 1: When you really peel back the layers, you see that 165 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:29,880 Speaker 1: we just have more access to more data. So even 166 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:32,560 Speaker 1: like with hurricanes, right, this is the same right hurricane 167 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 1: you see reporting effects in hurt with with hurricanes, other 168 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:39,840 Speaker 1: kind of atmospheric anomalis, you see it in like economic studies, 169 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:43,280 Speaker 1: you see it in health reports, And it just underlines 170 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 1: that no matter what we're looking at and trying to understand, 171 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:49,560 Speaker 1: we can we can look at to the point where 172 00:08:49,559 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 1: we we don't really have a good understanding of it. 173 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:54,000 Speaker 1: We've we've analyzed it too much, we've over analyzed it, 174 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:56,200 Speaker 1: and we we were not were We have to take 175 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: that information that we've gathered and gathered and put it 176 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:02,800 Speaker 1: in perspective with pretty everything else in the universe to 177 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:04,640 Speaker 1: to make complete sense of it. Yeah, And I'm even 178 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:06,719 Speaker 1: thinking about Slate. Don't they have a feature that's sort 179 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:09,120 Speaker 1: of the bogus trend of the week. Oh yeah, I 180 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:11,120 Speaker 1: think they do that. They sort of debunked the myth 181 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:13,400 Speaker 1: I think they have. One was like rompers, like everybody's 182 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:17,120 Speaker 1: wearing rompers now refreshment my memory. What is a romper? 183 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:21,280 Speaker 1: Romper is how to explain this. It's a it's a 184 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 1: sort of onesie for grown ups. Um and and it's 185 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 1: like first person outfit or like big feetie pajamas. No, no, 186 00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:32,520 Speaker 1: I should say that it's like shorts, like shorts onesie. 187 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:35,520 Speaker 1: And uh so there are a lot of magazines that 188 00:09:35,559 --> 00:09:38,319 Speaker 1: we're saying that, you know, it's come back and it's 189 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:41,160 Speaker 1: the sexiest thing ever and men love it like cut 190 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:46,840 Speaker 1: off overalls. Yeah, but with sleeves sometimes. Yeah, you see, 191 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:49,680 Speaker 1: you're getting the idea. It's kind of sounds like a snead, 192 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:53,959 Speaker 1: you know. Oh right, this is the blanket the that's 193 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:59,199 Speaker 1: the snug snuggy. But then the sneed was the thing 194 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:01,679 Speaker 1: that everyone needs that the the one sler in the 195 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:04,800 Speaker 1: Lorax made. There was some sort of horrible garment that 196 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:07,720 Speaker 1: appeared to have no function but became really popular because 197 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:10,280 Speaker 1: the one Sler was telling everybody that they needed it. 198 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:13,319 Speaker 1: If I remember correctly, Yes, that's right. So there you get. 199 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:16,600 Speaker 1: I mean, you're you're there's pattern recognition everywhere, even when 200 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:18,800 Speaker 1: patterns don't exist. I think is what we're saying, So 201 00:10:19,559 --> 00:10:23,280 Speaker 1: whether or not it's an increase in volcanic activity or 202 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:28,040 Speaker 1: um the onslaught of the romper onto American women's bodies, 203 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 1: or more trees falling all over the world, Yes, because 204 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:34,760 Speaker 1: we're paying attention to them, that's right. Going back to 205 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:37,160 Speaker 1: the lorax. Actually, yes, a lot of trees fall on that. 206 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:41,360 Speaker 1: It all comes together, that's right. So I'm thinking about 207 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:47,599 Speaker 1: quantum inter indeterminacy and how this relates back to that, 208 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:49,760 Speaker 1: because you know, we always have to take on a 209 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:54,079 Speaker 1: little quantum in each podcast. Quantum indetermacy, and this is 210 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:58,880 Speaker 1: the apparent necessary incompleteness in the description of a physical system. 211 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:02,959 Speaker 1: It has become one of the characteristics standard description of 212 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:07,600 Speaker 1: quantum physics, right, and that the stuffy description, right stuff 213 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:10,040 Speaker 1: in The important part of that is the apparent necessary 214 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:14,319 Speaker 1: and completeness. So before this, prior to quantum physics, it 215 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:17,240 Speaker 1: was thought that a physical system had a determinate state 216 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:20,720 Speaker 1: which uniquely determined all the values of its measurable properties, 217 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 1: and conversely, be the values of its measurable properties uniquely 218 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:27,199 Speaker 1: determine the state. But the quantum into the mix, and 219 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:32,360 Speaker 1: essentially quantum in determinacy is saying actually there's all sorts 220 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:35,280 Speaker 1: of outcomes, and in fact, we could be wrong. We 221 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:37,400 Speaker 1: could you know, this is this is a sort of 222 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:42,559 Speaker 1: placeholder and um, what we're trying to determine, and it 223 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:45,040 Speaker 1: is We'll just go ahead and say right off the 224 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:49,960 Speaker 1: bat that it is incomplete. It is not the end 225 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 1: all of the be all. We don't know if a 226 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:56,679 Speaker 1: tree is falling in the forest with quantum indeterminacy, but 227 00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:59,520 Speaker 1: we know the possibility is there, right, all right, So 228 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:02,360 Speaker 1: it's the game of possibilities. Well, of course it instantly 229 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:04,760 Speaker 1: brings to mind, especially since we mentioned cats earlier, the 230 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:08,480 Speaker 1: idea of Schrodinger's cat, which of course the ideas of 231 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:09,959 Speaker 1: the cats in a box. And you have this sort 232 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:14,680 Speaker 1: of elaborate system set up with with the decaying radioactive 233 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 1: substance and tomic particle writer. It has like an hour 234 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:22,959 Speaker 1: and it there's a chance of decaying, right yeah, yeah, 235 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:25,839 Speaker 1: and chance of nutcaing, and there's a Geiger counter, and 236 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:28,160 Speaker 1: if it decays and a hammer hits a flask and 237 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:30,480 Speaker 1: poison or it fires a gun, they're very I think 238 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:32,800 Speaker 1: they're very various ways to kill the cat. Yeah, But 239 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:34,640 Speaker 1: but it basically comes down to the fact that there's 240 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:36,800 Speaker 1: a box kind of like your home, and there's a 241 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:39,400 Speaker 1: cat in it, and you cannot be sure exactly what 242 00:12:39,559 --> 00:12:42,600 Speaker 1: state the cat is in. And since you can't be sure, 243 00:12:42,679 --> 00:12:45,120 Speaker 1: in the case of Shroudinger, if the cat is alive 244 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 1: or dead, the cat is there in a what it's 245 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:51,880 Speaker 1: called a superposition, meaning that it is both alive and dead. 246 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:55,720 Speaker 1: You don't know for sure. It's just a complete uncertainty. Likewise, 247 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:58,520 Speaker 1: right now, what's my cat Biscuit doing? She laying on 248 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:01,400 Speaker 1: a pillow? Is she playing the xbox? I don't know. 249 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:04,959 Speaker 1: My mind don't know. Mine has just broken through the 250 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:07,319 Speaker 1: theory of everything. Well, that's because you get the webcam. 251 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:10,440 Speaker 1: I know, I know, I just saw it. I saw Wow. 252 00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:12,959 Speaker 1: Let's see, the box is open for you because of 253 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:15,160 Speaker 1: the webcamp webcam. For me, the box is closed. So 254 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:18,240 Speaker 1: anything is possible. Right. So what I think is cool 255 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:20,760 Speaker 1: about this concept is that it really is a driving 256 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:23,760 Speaker 1: force in science. When we think about science, we think 257 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:28,679 Speaker 1: about um than what we know, and we think about 258 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:32,839 Speaker 1: this sort of infaillible like you know A is A 259 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:35,559 Speaker 1: and B, S B and c SC and that's that's 260 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:38,360 Speaker 1: the story, folks, When in fact, science is just a 261 00:13:38,559 --> 00:13:42,520 Speaker 1: murky murky field UM with all sorts of spooky things happening. 262 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:47,160 Speaker 1: And there's a neuroscientist named David Eagleman who gave a 263 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:50,760 Speaker 1: talk at the School of Life about this uncertainty, this 264 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:54,359 Speaker 1: this quality in our universe that we've come to understand 265 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:58,920 Speaker 1: is the limits of our knowledge essentially. Right. He's a 266 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:01,120 Speaker 1: he's he has a kind of a rock star personas 267 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:04,240 Speaker 1: I remember, he's pretty a pretty hip dude. Oh yeah, yeah. 268 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:07,000 Speaker 1: He He starts out this conversation by saying, hey, do 269 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:10,440 Speaker 1: you guys know about deep field observation? The host, the audience, 270 00:14:10,559 --> 00:14:12,559 Speaker 1: and uh, you know this is in the UK s 271 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:15,640 Speaker 1: of course, like you half of them now And he says, 272 00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:17,440 Speaker 1: all right, well cool, let me let me just blow 273 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:20,400 Speaker 1: your mind, you know, right off the bat. And he says, okay, 274 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:23,720 Speaker 1: there's the Hubble telescope went up, but you know, two 275 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:26,320 Speaker 1: thousand and three and it's been orbiting UM and a 276 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:30,720 Speaker 1: geosynchronus synchronous orbit and they just decided to point their 277 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:34,720 Speaker 1: lens a little tiny spot in space. And what did 278 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:37,440 Speaker 1: they find? After millions of seconds of data, They thought 279 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:39,960 Speaker 1: maybe I'd find a star or something. They ended up 280 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:43,760 Speaker 1: finding ten thousand galaxies, which is thousands of billions of 281 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:48,280 Speaker 1: sons observed in a tiny, tiny patch. Um. And to 282 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:51,720 Speaker 1: me that was the ultimate example of the vastness of 283 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:54,400 Speaker 1: what we don't know, right, especially he in this he 284 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:56,400 Speaker 1: mentions that, you know, people are like, well, why don't 285 00:14:56,440 --> 00:14:59,280 Speaker 1: you we just do analyze everything to that extent, And 286 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:01,680 Speaker 1: we could, but it would take like millions and millions 287 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 1: a yeah, yeah, if you pointed that lens, if you 288 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:06,280 Speaker 1: tried to map out the entire space, there's no way 289 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:08,720 Speaker 1: we could do it. But we can that tiny little spot. 290 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:11,320 Speaker 1: We can gather data. Yeah, just a tremendous amount of 291 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:15,840 Speaker 1: focus on one portion of the sky. Yeah. And so 292 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:18,920 Speaker 1: he uses this as a jumping off point to say, 293 00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:22,000 Speaker 1: you know, everything that we thought was true, we we 294 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:25,080 Speaker 1: kind of have to back up and and look at 295 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:30,120 Speaker 1: and and then he goes into this concept of possibilionism, 296 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:34,360 Speaker 1: which he he used actually as a joke term um 297 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:38,360 Speaker 1: a while back, and it's actually gained some legs. Yeah. Yeah, 298 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:40,320 Speaker 1: he sounds like something Jack donaghe would make up on 299 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:46,360 Speaker 1: thirty rocks. That's right, possibillionism, lemon, it's the new when 300 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:50,760 Speaker 1: you're writing your Reaganism like that. Um. But basically what 301 00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:53,440 Speaker 1: he's saying, is it's the act of exploration of new ideas, 302 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:57,240 Speaker 1: which is trying to understand the structure of that possibility space. 303 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 1: So he's saying, basically, everybody is welcome at the table, 304 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:04,240 Speaker 1: but we're going to use science to try to cut 305 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:06,600 Speaker 1: away the parts that don't make sense to us, and 306 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:10,080 Speaker 1: we're going to acknowledge real the real limits of knowledge 307 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:13,840 Speaker 1: that we have um and and then he kind of 308 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:19,000 Speaker 1: talks about all the different puzzle parts that we have 309 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:22,720 Speaker 1: that we know about right now, but what we don't 310 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:25,240 Speaker 1: know about, and quantum theory is basically when those things 311 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:27,640 Speaker 1: that he talks about, he says like it's given us 312 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 1: a tremendous amount of information, but at the same time, 313 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:34,600 Speaker 1: we still are kind of stuck even in that mode 314 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:37,400 Speaker 1: of well, what's what's right the Copenhagen interpretation or the 315 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:41,840 Speaker 1: many worlds theory? Right, so so you know, time collapse theory, 316 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 1: which one of them is right? Are there are many 317 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:46,920 Speaker 1: many worlds that we can observe or is there just 318 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:50,360 Speaker 1: this one world that we can observe because nothing beyond 319 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:54,080 Speaker 1: that exists, which goes back to that tree in the 320 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:57,520 Speaker 1: forest you know, now you mentioned when we were prepping 321 00:16:57,600 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: for this we want to relativity a little bit. Yeah, 322 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:02,960 Speaker 1: and about how the original theory relativity is the idea 323 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:04,800 Speaker 1: of it. It's it's you can sort of compare that 324 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:07,560 Speaker 1: to a tree following in the forest right right with 325 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:11,359 Speaker 1: Einstein and basically saying, Okay, this is this is my 326 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:16,239 Speaker 1: projection based on mathematics, but this is still just a thought, right, 327 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:19,000 Speaker 1: this is still a thought experiment in a sense, and 328 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:21,280 Speaker 1: and and and it was something that subsequently we had 329 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:23,879 Speaker 1: to prove. We had to prove the things like you know, 330 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:28,800 Speaker 1: observable time dilation uh uh and and also like gravitational 331 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:31,879 Speaker 1: lensing with stars of observing how you know this this 332 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:37,159 Speaker 1: interesting relationship between time and space and it's reality at 333 00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:45,119 Speaker 1: space time. This presentation is brought to you by Intel 334 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:52,920 Speaker 1: sponsors of Tomorrow. So yeah, basically when Einstein was looking 335 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:56,080 Speaker 1: at that, this was just the seeds for for what 336 00:17:56,240 --> 00:18:00,480 Speaker 1: we now can apply to different disciplines. Um to breakthroughs 337 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:03,879 Speaker 1: that we've had in science. But still we have this 338 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:07,600 Speaker 1: unknown quantity. And I think about dark matter as an example. Um, 339 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:10,800 Speaker 1: you know, we we definitely underestimated the gravitational pool and 340 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:13,200 Speaker 1: now we found out that or we think of the 341 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:16,840 Speaker 1: matter of uh of the universe that we don't know 342 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:19,400 Speaker 1: what it is or where it's coming from. Yeah, it's 343 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:21,760 Speaker 1: kind of like there was a one particular Sherlock Holmes 344 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:24,880 Speaker 1: story and I forget the title of it, but they're 345 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:27,480 Speaker 1: investigating a house and Sherlock was able to determine that 346 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:30,639 Speaker 1: there's not enough based on the visible space. There's a 347 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:34,600 Speaker 1: secret room here somewhere and uh, and dark matter is 348 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:37,800 Speaker 1: kind of a similar situation based on how much matter 349 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:41,800 Speaker 1: there should be the universe or something missing for dark matter, right, 350 00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:45,600 Speaker 1: then that's a great example or a great technology because 351 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:48,200 Speaker 1: we can't see it, but we know that based on 352 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:52,040 Speaker 1: our models that there has to be something there. There's 353 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:54,240 Speaker 1: a there's a hidden room and it's filled with dark matter, 354 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:57,640 Speaker 1: and we just have to figure out exactly what that means. Yeah, 355 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:00,159 Speaker 1: and then if you take it down to even just uh, 356 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 1: the level of what's available to us now, like, for instance, 357 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:09,240 Speaker 1: you've got photography, which high speed photography now which we 358 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:13,040 Speaker 1: can slow down mundane events. Um, even like a dog 359 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:16,919 Speaker 1: lapping up water, Oh yes, or a cat. They're recently 360 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:20,000 Speaker 1: studying on exactly how a cat's drinking. It's completely different 361 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:22,640 Speaker 1: than we ever thought. I mean, especially with a dog 362 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:24,639 Speaker 1: if you look at it. I used to think that 363 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:27,159 Speaker 1: the dog was using its tongue is a sort of 364 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:30,040 Speaker 1: cup and bringing all that water up into him. But 365 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:32,960 Speaker 1: now we understand that it's actually curling its tongue under 366 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:35,880 Speaker 1: and getting the water in that way. So you begin 367 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:38,440 Speaker 1: to think to yourself, how many things am I actually 368 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:41,520 Speaker 1: missing on a day to day basis because I'm not 369 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:45,800 Speaker 1: quite equipped to perceive things like We slow it down 370 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:47,959 Speaker 1: even more and we see that when the tongue curls 371 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:50,200 Speaker 1: like a tiny doghead comes out of a hole in 372 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:53,520 Speaker 1: the tongue and then drinks the water. That's not true. 373 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:55,360 Speaker 1: That's it might be true. We just don't know yet. 374 00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:58,240 Speaker 1: We don't know yet. We just can't be certain. I 375 00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:01,080 Speaker 1: really wish that word here, but it does make me 376 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:05,879 Speaker 1: think about like Another example, which David Eagleman gives, is 377 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:08,720 Speaker 1: that we've got photo receptors at the back of our 378 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: eyes picking up signals and picking up a tiny slice 379 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:15,920 Speaker 1: of electromagnetic radiation spectrum, which is what we call visible light. 380 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:21,000 Speaker 1: The same stuff is passing through us via cell phones, right, 381 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:24,520 Speaker 1: But the difference is that cell phone signals we can't 382 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:27,520 Speaker 1: decode them because we don't have the specialized receptors for it. 383 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:30,520 Speaker 1: So again it brings us back to that question of 384 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:34,760 Speaker 1: maybe we're just ill equipped to be able to do 385 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:38,040 Speaker 1: more at this point in time. Evolution kind of end 386 00:20:38,119 --> 00:20:41,399 Speaker 1: up thinking of the visible world. The world is visible 387 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:45,800 Speaker 1: to humans as being reality, but in but it actually 388 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:49,160 Speaker 1: may work out to where the version of reality we're 389 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:52,200 Speaker 1: just seeing like a slim slice of reality. The rest 390 00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:54,720 Speaker 1: is like we've got blinders like a horse. Yeah. Yeah. 391 00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:57,240 Speaker 1: David Eagleman had this really great point. He was sort 392 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:00,359 Speaker 1: of talking about all the where we are history really 393 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:02,920 Speaker 1: in terms of breakthroughs and saying, you know, can you 394 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:07,240 Speaker 1: imagine being able to even understand a computer lit alone 395 00:21:07,359 --> 00:21:10,800 Speaker 1: quantum computing if you didn't even have electricity to plug 396 00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:13,479 Speaker 1: in that computer? Yeah, I can't even imagine understanding one 397 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:17,159 Speaker 1: with electrics, right, It still breaks my brain. But but 398 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:19,720 Speaker 1: so we think about where we're going to be on 399 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:22,040 Speaker 1: that timeline a hundred years from now, our thousand years 400 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:24,480 Speaker 1: from now, and we essentially might look like Caveman. And 401 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:26,640 Speaker 1: then all the things that we think right now may 402 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:30,359 Speaker 1: just be some sort of guessing game um that you know, 403 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:32,840 Speaker 1: probability half of it turns out to be correct, the 404 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:36,359 Speaker 1: other half not correct and this is I think when 405 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:39,000 Speaker 1: the most important points that David Eagleman makes, which is 406 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:42,399 Speaker 1: that science really is a guessing game. Um, it doesn't 407 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:45,600 Speaker 1: look Science does not move in a linear fashion. Uh. 408 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:48,639 Speaker 1: It takes great creative leaps and then it tries to 409 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:52,800 Speaker 1: backfill to substantiate those leaps. Yeah. So that's another reason 410 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:57,080 Speaker 1: why science scientists are rock stars. And well it's it 411 00:21:57,200 --> 00:21:59,920 Speaker 1: goes back to take it into cosmology. The idea of 412 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:05,000 Speaker 1: um geocentricism and heliocentricism, like the idea that, okay, the 413 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:08,040 Speaker 1: Earth's center of the universe, let's throw some math at that. Okay, 414 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:09,879 Speaker 1: that didn't work out. Sons the center of the universe. 415 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 1: That didn't work out either. You know. It's like they 416 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:14,920 Speaker 1: you know, they take this leap, and sometimes the leap 417 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:17,400 Speaker 1: is based on things that aren't science. But then by 418 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:21,800 Speaker 1: through scientific evaluation, they are able to determine whether that 419 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:23,359 Speaker 1: was a leap that's going to land us on a 420 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:25,840 Speaker 1: solid ground or not. All right, Yeah, I'm liking this 421 00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:28,919 Speaker 1: because you know this, this concept of scientists has stayed 422 00:22:29,119 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 1: pipe smoking, plaid vest wherein men and women because you know, 423 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:38,520 Speaker 1: but with mustaches. I'll just go that far um is 424 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:41,080 Speaker 1: completely wrong. I mean they're they're sort of like the 425 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:44,040 Speaker 1: graffiti artists, you know, trying to put things together on 426 00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:46,840 Speaker 1: a graffiti artist sounded kind of cool, but as you said, 427 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:49,600 Speaker 1: they're just throwing things, the throwing darts at the at 428 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:52,640 Speaker 1: the dart boards of ideas and just trying to get there. 429 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:54,240 Speaker 1: And one day they'll look back and they'll say, I 430 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:56,760 Speaker 1: can't believe that they thought that dark matter was a thing. 431 00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:58,360 Speaker 1: And they didn't know that dog tongues had a little 432 00:22:58,359 --> 00:23:01,480 Speaker 1: bit of doghead that came out right exactly, totally didn't 433 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:04,560 Speaker 1: understand even their own pets and Jeane Shorts what was 434 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:08,560 Speaker 1: that all about. But examples I think of this of 435 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:12,840 Speaker 1: this creative leap is with relativity, as you had brought 436 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,760 Speaker 1: up before with Einstein. That was just a little seedon 437 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:20,320 Speaker 1: idea before, but then it actually had some real time applications. Yeah, 438 00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:24,520 Speaker 1: and we were later able to observe gravitational lensing too, 439 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:29,199 Speaker 1: to see how light traveling near a huge, a very 440 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:34,080 Speaker 1: large star actually warps around it, being able to observe 441 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:39,280 Speaker 1: how the the the the clocks in an orbiting satellite, 442 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:43,879 Speaker 1: how time passes a little differently in orbit than it 443 00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:47,080 Speaker 1: doesn't earth, right, and so that's that's the geosynchronous satellites, right, 444 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:50,400 Speaker 1: and so that's what that's how we keep time aboard 445 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:55,119 Speaker 1: spacecraft by being aware of the change, right, Okay, and 446 00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:58,359 Speaker 1: then we've got atomic energy and atomic warfare. I mean, 447 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:02,160 Speaker 1: these are huge things that we're just predicated on a thought. 448 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:04,879 Speaker 1: Of course a lot of math too, but but turned 449 00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:10,160 Speaker 1: out to be on the right part of the board there. Yeah. 450 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:12,600 Speaker 1: It's kind of like we're pawing our way blindly through 451 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:15,399 Speaker 1: a fog, and the fog is the universe, you know, 452 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:18,399 Speaker 1: when we can never really see the whole picture, but 453 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:21,200 Speaker 1: we can sort of you know, reach ahead and sort 454 00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:23,280 Speaker 1: of feel our way through it and h and figure 455 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:25,520 Speaker 1: out what's going to be solid ground and what's going 456 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:29,280 Speaker 1: to be you know, a plummet into an abyss. We 457 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:32,040 Speaker 1: can't see the trees for the forest there you go, 458 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:34,879 Speaker 1: all right, Well that helps explain a little bit. But 459 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:37,760 Speaker 1: I think that the coolest thing is that it helps 460 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:42,520 Speaker 1: us to understand the uncertainty is okay, right, and uncertainty 461 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:45,200 Speaker 1: is a huge part of it, right, is the building 462 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:47,399 Speaker 1: block of our knowledge. Right. Yeah. The second you have 463 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:50,000 Speaker 1: everything figured out, that's that's where the problem you're in 464 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:53,399 Speaker 1: big trouble. In fact, Voltaire said, doubt is an uncomfortable position, 465 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:56,960 Speaker 1: but certainty is an absurd position. I always come back 466 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:00,679 Speaker 1: to the Book of Job, where Job's in a miserable time. 467 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,840 Speaker 1: I've probably mentioned this before, but but then you know, 468 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:06,359 Speaker 1: God is basically when he decides to know, mouth off 469 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:08,240 Speaker 1: to God. God's like, you know, who are you to 470 00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:11,399 Speaker 1: ask questions? You're never gonna understand anything? And it's a 471 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:14,520 Speaker 1: very it's it's it's probably my favorite chapter in the 472 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:17,639 Speaker 1: Bible because it's got the Book of the Bible, because 473 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:23,560 Speaker 1: it comes down to uncertainty, cosmic uncertainty, theological uncertainty, everything philosophical. 474 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:26,639 Speaker 1: I like that chapter two and the one on gene shorts. 475 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:28,359 Speaker 1: The other one on gene shorts is pretty good, but 476 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:32,040 Speaker 1: it's a cautionary tale. Of course. You don't see any 477 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:34,720 Speaker 1: on me. So if you want to learn more about 478 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:36,960 Speaker 1: these topics, just to visit the homepage and you can 479 00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:41,440 Speaker 1: drop in quantum physics, relativity, gene shorts, whatever into the 480 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:44,359 Speaker 1: search bar and we have a plethora of articles for 481 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:47,560 Speaker 1: you to look over. And don't forget to check out 482 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:51,520 Speaker 1: David Eagleman's Talking Uncertainty, which is on school Life Dot com, 483 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:53,560 Speaker 1: and in the meantime, you can check us out on 484 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:56,399 Speaker 1: Twitter and Facebook. You can find us just do a 485 00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:59,200 Speaker 1: search on Facebook for stuff to Blow your Mind or 486 00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:01,560 Speaker 1: just put him Low the Mind. That's our Facebook and 487 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:05,080 Speaker 1: Twitter handle, and please drop us a line at blow 488 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:11,720 Speaker 1: the Mind at how stuff works dot com. For moral 489 00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:14,480 Speaker 1: this and thousands of other topics. Visit how stuff works 490 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:17,119 Speaker 1: dot com. To learn more about the podcast, click on 491 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:20,120 Speaker 1: the podcast icon in the upper right corner of our homepage. 492 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:23,480 Speaker 1: The how Stuff Works iPhone app has a ride. Download 493 00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:24,960 Speaker 1: it today on iTunes.