Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

• The Nobel Laureate Who (Also) Says Quantum Theory Is "Totally Wrong"

  As a listener of TOE you can get a special 20% off discount to The Economist and all it has to offer! Visit https://www.economist.com/toe In this episode, I speak with Nobel laureate Gerard ’t Hooft, a theoretical physicist known for his work on the electroweak interaction and his radical ideas about quantum mechanics. To him, the universe is a cosmic pinball machine. Every ball follows a fixed path. No randomness. No mystery. We only invented quantum mechanics to cope with our ignorance. In his picture, there are no real numbers. No wave functions. No superposition. Just discrete states clicking forward, one after another, beneath everything we see. Join My New Substack (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e Timestamps: - 00:00 - Why Quantum Mechanics is Fundamentally Wrong - 05:00 - The Frustrating Blind Spots of Modern Physicists - 11:27 - The "Hidden Variables" That Truly Explain Reality - 17:00 - The "True" Equations of the Universe Will Have No Superposition - 23:00 - Our Universe as a Cellular Automaton - 30:02 - Why Real Numbers Don't Exist in Physics - 39:14 - Can This Radical Theory Even Be Falsified? - 46:29 - How Superdeterminism Defeats Bell's Theorem - 58:19 - 't Hooft's Radical View on Quantum Gravity - 1:08:24 - Solving the Black Hole Information Paradox with "Clones" - 1:14:00 - What YOU Would Experience Falling Into a Black Hole - 1:20:17 - How 't Hooft Almost Beat a Nobel Prize Discovery Links Mentioned: - Gerard’s site: https://webspace.science.uu.nl/~hooft101/ - Gerard’s papers: https://inspirehep.net/authors/1019113 - Cellular Automaton Interpretation Of Quantum Mechanics [Book]: https://www.amazon.com/Cellular-Automaton-Interpretation-Mechanics-Fundamental/dp/3319823140 - David Wallace [TOE]: https://youtu.be/4MjNuJK5RzM - Emily Adlam & Jacob Barandes [TOE]: https://youtu.be/rw1ewLJUgOg - Roger Penrose [TOE]: https://youtu.be/sGm505TFMbU - Conway’s Game Of Life: https://playgameoflife.com/ - Julian Barbour [TOE]: https://youtu.be/bprxrGaf0Os - Emily Adlam [TOE]: https://youtu.be/6I2OhmVWLMs - Sabine’s video on Gerard: https://youtu.be/2kxoq5UzAEQ - Sabine Hossenfelder [TOE]: https://youtu.be/E3y-Z0pgupg - Tim Palmer [TOE]: https://youtu.be/vlklA6jsS8A - Carlo Rovelli [TOE]: https://youtu.be/hF4SAketEHY - Stephen Wolfram [TOE]: https://youtu.be/0YRlQQw0d-4 - Bernardo Kastrup & Sabine Hossenfelder [TOE]: https://youtu.be/kJmBmopxc1k - Tim Maudlin [TOE]: https://youtu.be/fU1bs5o3nss - Jacob Barandes [TOE]: https://youtu.be/wrUvtqr4wOs - Ted Jacobson [TOE]: https://youtu.be/3mhctWlXyV8 - Claudia De Rham [TOE]: https://youtu.be/Ve_Mpd6dGv8 - Neil Turok [TOE]: https://youtu.be/ZUp9x44N3uE - Latham Boyle [TOE]: https://youtu.be/nyLeeEFKk04 - David Kaiser [TOE]: https://youtu.be/_yebLXsIdwo - String Theory Iceberg [TOE]: https://youtu.be/X4PdPnQuwjY - Birth of Asymptotic Freedom [Paper]: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0550321385902068 - How To Become A Good Theoretical Physicist [Article]: https://www.goodtheorist.science/index.html SUPPORT: - Become a YouTube Member (Early Access Videos): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdWIQh9DGG6uhJk8eyIFl1w/join - Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal - Support me on Crypto: https://commerce.coinbase.com/checkout/de803625-87d3-4300-ab6d-85d4258834a9 - Support me on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=XUBHNMFXUX5S4 SOCIALS: - Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt - Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs Guests do not pay to appear. Theories of Everything receives revenue solely from viewer donations, platform ads, and clearly labelled sponsors; no guest or associated entity has ever given compensation, directly or through intermediaries. #science Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• Philosophers vs. Physicists

  Curt discusses how philosophy has directly contributed to physics through Bell's theorem, decoherence theory, the hole argument, and more. Meanwhile, via John Norton, we uncover the hidden philosophical assumptions in physics that most scientists don’t even realize they’re making. As a listener of TOE you can get a special 20% off discount to The Economist and all it has to offer! Visit https://www.economist.com/toe Join My New Substack (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e SUPPORT: - Become a YouTube Member (Early Access Videos): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdWIQh9DGG6uhJk8eyIFl1w/join - Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal - Support me on Crypto: https://commerce.coinbase.com/checkout/de803625-87d3-4300-ab6d-85d4258834a9 - Support me on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=XUBHNMFXUX5S4 SOCIALS: - Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt - Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs Guests do not pay to appear. Theories of Everything receives revenue solely from viewer donations, platform ads, and clearly labelled sponsors; no guest or associated entity has ever given compensation, directly or through intermediaries. LINKS MENTIONED: - Curt's Substack article: https://curtjaimungal.substack.com/p/philosophers-vs-physicists - John Norton [TOE]: https://youtu.be/Tghl6aS5A3M - Neil deGrasse Tyson [TOE]: https://youtu.be/ye9OkJih3-U - How Not to Do Philosophy of Science [article]: https://sites.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/Goodies/How_not/How_not.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com - Jacob Barandes [TOE]: https://youtu.be/gEK4-XtMwro - The Hole Argument: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/spacetime-holearg/ - General covariance and general relativity [paper]: https://sites.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/papers/decades.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com - Emily Adlam Λ Jacob Barandes [TOE]: https://youtu.be/rw1ewLJUgOg - Eaters of the lotus [paper]: https://sites.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/papers/Eaters_final.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com - John Norton’s profile: https://sites.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/jdnorton.html For further reading on these critiques of instrumentalism: - Hempel (1988) - Oltre il positivismo logico - Popper (1963) - Conjectures and Refutations, Ch. 3 - Deutsch (1997) - The Fabric of Reality #science Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• Dirac's 90-Year-Old "Mistake" Unifies All of Physics

  As a listener of TOE you can get a special 20% off discount to The Economist and all it has to offer! Visit https://www.economist.com/toe In this episode, I speak with Professor Felix Finster, a radical thinker reimagining the foundations of physics. We explore his theory of causal fermion systems, where reality emerges from quantum correlations—without assuming spacetime or geometry. From the Dirac sea to quantum gravity, this conversation challenges familiar concepts and offers a glimpse into where the next physics revolution might begin. Join My New Substack (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 03:12 The Origins of Causal Fermion Systems 06:55 Engaging with Alternative Theories in Physics 15:22 The Standard View of Causation 18:21 Classical, Quantum, and Pre-Quantum 23:06 How Spacetime Emerges from Disconnected Points 29:49 Recovering Lorentz Signature Without Assumptions 31:48 Recovering the Born Rule from First Principles 39:39 The Measurement Problem 46:20 Bounds on CSL Parameters 49:45 The Dynamics of Spacetime 57:47 Collaboration with Yao and Reflections on the Theory 1:03:13 A Quantum Gravity Theory Without Supersymmetry 1:05:28 The Dirac Sea 1:11:40 Addressing Infinite Energy in Semi-Classical Gravity 1:13:09 Octonions in the Vacuum Structure 1:17:32 Chirality and the Action Principle 1:20:33 Baryogenesis and Why Matter Exists 1:35:10 Rethinking the Strong CP and Hierarchy Problems 1:38:43 Recognition, Collaboration, and Growing Attention 1:54:00 Mathematical Criteria vs. Experimental Tests 2:01:02 Advice for Young Researchers Links Mentioned: - Felix's Papers: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=F7ppNroAAAAJ - Felix's Bio: https://www.uni-regensburg.de/mathematik/mathematik-1/startseite/index.html - Causal Fermion Systems [Paper]: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2405.19254 - Linear Dynamics of Wave Functions [Paper]: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2101.08673 - The Principle of the Fermionic Projector [Book]: https://www.amazon.com/Principle-Fermionic-Projector-Advanced-Mathematics/dp/0821839748 - Baryogensis for Causal Fermion Systems [Paper]: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2111.05556 - Holographic Mixing [Paper]: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2410.18045 - Standard Model Physics from an Algebra? [Paper]: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1611.09182 - Barry Loewer & Eddy Chen [TOE]: https://youtu.be/xZnafO__IZ0 - Fay Dowker [TOE]: https://youtu.be/PgYHEPCLVas - String Theory Iceberg [TOE]: https://youtu.be/X4PdPnQuwjY - David Kaiser [TOE]: https://youtu.be/_yebLXsIdwo - Ruth Kastner [TOE]: https://youtu.be/-BsHh3_vCMQ - Amanda Gefter [TOE]: https://youtu.be/yABPvDJ6Zgs - Jacob Barandes [TOE]: https://youtu.be/7oWip00iXbo - Eva Miranda [TOE]: https://youtu.be/6XyMepn-AZo - Emily Adlam [TOE]: https://youtu.be/6I2OhmVWLMs - Scott Aaronson & Jacob Barandes [TOE]: https://youtu.be/5rbC3XZr9-c SUPPORT: - Become a YouTube Member (Early Access Videos): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdWIQh9DGG6uhJk8eyIFl1w/join - Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal - Support me on Crypto: https://commerce.coinbase.com/checkout/de803625-87d3-4300-ab6d-85d4258834a9 - Support me on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=XUBHNMFXUX5S4 SOCIALS: - Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt - Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs Guests do not pay to appear. Theories of Everything receives revenue solely from viewer donations, platform ads, and clearly labelled sponsors; no guest or associated entity has ever given compensation, directly or through intermediaries. #science Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• The (Terrifying) Theory That Your Thoughts Were Never Your Own

  As a listener of TOE you can get a special 20% off discount to The Economist and all it has to offer! Visit https://www.economist.com/toe What if your thoughts aren’t your own? Professors Elan Barenholtz and William Hahn propose that language is not a tool we use but a self-generating organism that uses us. In this mind-bending live discussion at the University of Toronto, they argue that language installs itself in our minds like software, runs autonomously, and shapes behavior at a deeper level than we realize. Drawing on LLMs, autoregression, and cognitive science, they suggest your brain may function like a predictive engine and that “memory,” “self,” and even “God” may just be tokens in an informational system. Join My New Substack (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 05:28 The Nature of Autoregression 10:14 Memory and Cognition Redefined 11:28 The Role of Language Models 14:23 Exploring Consciousness and Software 26:22 The Evolution of Language 38:08 Language: A Cultural Artifact 54:19 The Power and Danger of Language 1:02:52 Embracing Uncertainty in Knowledge 1:04:59 Courage to Believe in Ideas 1:09:30 Support and Engagement with Content Links Mentioned: •⁠ ⁠Elan’s Substack: https://elanbarenholtz.substack.com/ •⁠ ⁠Elan’s Papers: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2grAjZsAAAAJ&hl=en •⁠ ⁠William’s Blog: https://hahn.ai/blog/index.html •⁠ ⁠Ekkolapto’s Site: https://www.ekkolapto.org/ •⁠ ⁠Andrés Emilsson [TOE]: https://youtu.be/BBP8WZpYp0Y •⁠ ⁠Elan Barenholtz [TOE]: https://youtu.be/A36OumnSrWY •⁠ ⁠Anna Ciaunica & Michael Levin [TOE]: https://youtu.be/2aLhkm6QUgA •⁠ ⁠William Hahn [TOE]: https://youtu.be/3fkg0uTA3qU •⁠ ⁠Michael Levin’s Presentation [TOE]: https://youtu.be/Exdz2HKP7u0 •⁠ ⁠Stephen Wolfram [TOE]: https://youtu.be/0YRlQQw0d-4 •⁠ ⁠Geoffrey Hinton [TOE]: https://youtu.be/b_DUft-BdIE •⁠ ⁠Ai Panel [TOE]: https://youtu.be/abzXzPBW4_s •⁠ ⁠Joscha Bach & Ben Goertzel [TOE]: https://youtu.be/xw7omaQ8SgA •⁠ ⁠Noam Chomsky [TOE]: https://youtu.be/DQuiso493ro •⁠ ⁠Michael Levin Solo [TOE]: https://youtu.be/c8iFtaltX-s •⁠ ⁠Consciousness Iceberg [TOE]: https://youtu.be/65yjqIDghEk •⁠ ⁠Joscha Bach [TOE]: https://youtu.be/3MNBxfrmfmI •⁠ ⁠Scott Aaronson [TOE]: https://youtu.be/gGsh0_-q7LI •⁠ ⁠Iain McGilchrist [TOE]: https://youtu.be/Q9sBKCd2HD0 •⁠ ⁠The Master and His Emissary [Book]: https://www.amazon.com/Master-His-Emissary-Divided-Western/dp/0300188374 •⁠ ⁠Michael Levin & Karl Friston [TOE]: https://youtu.be/0yOV9Pzk2zw •⁠ ⁠Shape Rotators vs Wordcels [Article]: https://sasamilic.medium.com/some-thoughts-on-the-shape-rotator-vs-worcel-meme-f320261a21cd SUPPORT: - Become a YouTube Member (Early Access Videos): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdWIQh9DGG6uhJk8eyIFl1w/join - Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal - Support me on Crypto: https://commerce.coinbase.com/checkout/de803625-87d3-4300-ab6d-85d4258834a9 - Support me on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=XUBHNMFXUX5S4 SOCIALS: - Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt - Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs Guests do not pay to appear. Theories of Everything receives revenue solely from viewer donations, platform ads, and clearly labelled sponsors; no guest or associated entity has ever given compensation, directly or through intermediaries. #science Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• The Physicist Who Proved Free Will Using Thermodynamics

  As a listener of TOE you can get a special 20% off discount to The Economist and all it has to offer! Visit https://www.economist.com/toe Physicist and philosopher Jenann Ismael joins to unveil a radical idea: free will isn’t an illusion, it’s a physical reality grounded in thermodynamics and relativity. In this conversation, Jenann explains why no system, not even a perfect computer, can predict its own future, and how this inherent unpredictability opens the door to real agency. We explore the paradox of identity, the limits of determinism, the role of memory in selfhood, and why your choices truly come from you. This is the clearest, most rigorous defense of free will in the age of physics. Join My New Substack (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 01:42 Free Will 29:16 The Limits of Predictability 41:45 Defining Free Will 59:42 Life and Cognition in the Universe 1:05:30 The Choices We Make 1:08:01 Dark Nights of the Soul 1:09:35 Philosophical Responses to Free Will 1:11:03 Personal Reflections on Life 1:11:54 The Weight of Loss 1:13:40 Patterns of Persistence 1:17:17 Understanding the Self 1:18:41 The Continuity of Existence 1:20:17 The Nature of Mortality 1:22:27 Time and Its Mysteries 1:51:42 The Nature of Existence 2:04:23 The Paradox of Newcomb's Dilemma 2:08:38 Lessons Learned from Suffering Links Mentioned: •⁠ ⁠How Physics Makes Us Free [Book]: https://amzn.to/44CcHr8 •⁠ ⁠Why Physics Should Care About The Mind [Paper]: https://www.jenanni.com/wp-content/uploads/Why-physics-should-care-about-the-mind-and-how-to-think-about-it-without-worrying-about-the-mind-body-problem.pdf •⁠ ⁠Diana Pasulka [TOE]: https://youtu.be/E5MuTHUbMUs •⁠ ⁠Leonard Susskind [TOE]: https://youtu.be/2p_Hlm6aCok •⁠ ⁠Sean Carroll [TOE]: https://youtu.be/9AoRxtYZrZo •⁠ ⁠Matt Segall [TOE]: https://youtu.be/DeTm4fSXpbM •⁠ ⁠Tim Maudlin [TOE]: https://youtu.be/fU1bs5o3nss •⁠ ⁠David Lewis’s Metaphysics: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/lewis-metaphysics/#Bib •⁠ ⁠Robert Sapolsky [TOE]: https://youtu.be/z0IqA1hYKY8 •⁠ ⁠David Lewis’s Books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B000APAW62 •⁠ ⁠Stephen Wolfram [TOE]: https://youtu.be/0YRlQQw0d-4 •⁠ ⁠Roy Baumeister [TOE]: https://youtu.be/aXoK-C2c2AQ •⁠ ⁠Free Will Ontoprism [TOE]: https://youtu.be/SSbUCEleJhg •⁠ ⁠Michael Levin [TOE]: https://youtu.be/c8iFtaltX-s •⁠ ⁠Dark Night Of The Soul: https://basilica.ca/documents/2016/10/St.%20John%20of%20the%20Cross-Dark%20night%20of%20the%20soul.pdf •⁠ ⁠George Musser [TOE]: https://youtu.be/KVy3NeXpMaI •⁠ ⁠Tim Maudlin & Tim Palmer [TOE]: https://youtu.be/883R3JlZHXE SUPPORT: - Become a YouTube Member (Early Access Videos): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdWIQh9DGG6uhJk8eyIFl1w/join - Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal - Support me on Crypto: https://commerce.coinbase.com/checkout/de803625-87d3-4300-ab6d-85d4258834a9 - Support me on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=XUBHNMFXUX5S4 SOCIALS: - Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt - Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs #science Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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