"If we did create beings that were more like non-human animals, we ought to treat them much better than we now treat non-human animals." What happens when AI becomes conscious? Philosopher Peter Singer explores the ethical dilemma that could follow the creation of sentient machines. If AI can feel pain or experience pleasure, do we have a moral obligation to protect it? Singer argues that governments, scientists, and ethicists must prepare now for the rights and protections conscious AI may require. 0:00 Will we create conscious AI? 1:30 The ethical dilemma of sentient AI 1:56 Does AI deserve rights? 2:48 How we treat sentient AI 3:42 Experts in AI ------------------------------------------------------------ About Peter Singer: Peter Singer has been described as the world’s most influential philosopher. Born in Melbourne in 1946, he has been professor of bioethics at Princeton University since 1999. His many books include Animal Liberation - often credited with triggering the modern animal rights movement - Practical Ethics, The Life You Can Save, The Most Good You Can Do, and Ethics in the Real World. In 2023, he published Animal Liberation Now, a fully revised and updated version of the 1975 original. Singer’s writings have also inspired the movement known as effective altruism, and he is the founder of the charity The Life You Can Save. In 2021 he was awarded the $1 million Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture, which he donated to nonprofit organizations working for the causes he supports. In 2023 he received the Frontiers of Knowledge Prize for the Humanities, from the Spanish BBVA Foundation. Folllow this Podcast for daily Episodes ----------------------------06:30-17 ---------------------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How your biology and environment make your decisions for you, according to Dr. Robert Sapolsky. Robert Sapolsky, PhD is an author, researcher, and professor of biology, neurology, and neurosurgery at Stanford University. In this interview with Big Think’s Editor-in-Chief, Robert Chapman Smith, Sapolsky discusses the content of his most recent book, “Determined: The Science of Life Without Free Will.” Being held as a child, growing up in a collectivist culture, or experiencing any sort of brain trauma – among hundreds of other things – can shape your internal biases and ultimately influence the decisions you make. This, explains Sapolsky, means that free will is not – and never has been – real. Even physiological factors like hunger can discreetly influence decision making, as discovered in a study that found judges were more likely to grant parole after they had eaten. This insight is key for interpreting human behavior, helping not only scientists but those who aim to evolve education systems, mental health research, and even policy making. ----------------- About Robert Sapolsky: Robert M. Sapolsky holds degrees from Harvard and Rockefeller Universities and is currently a Professor of Biology and Neurology at Stanford University and a Research Associate with the Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya. His books include New York Times bestseller, Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst and Determined. Folllow this Podcast for daily Episodes ---------------------------------------------------------06:30-17 ---------------------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

**"We’re on the brink of a crisis—one of meaning, of truth, of civilization itself."** In this gripping Big Think episode, Sam Harris unpacks the silent catastrophe unraveling in modern society: a shattered culture where digital isolation, political extremism, and misinformation have made genuine conversation nearly impossible. He warns that without open, honest dialogue, we’re left with only one alternative—violence. With striking clarity, Harris exposes how our deepest conflicts aren’t driven by "bad people," but by **good people trapped in bad ideas.** The stories we believe shape our world, and when those stories become untethered from reality, chaos follows. But there is hope. The future isn’t set in stone—it depends on what we choose to believe, what we choose to fight for, and whether we can still find common ground in an era of division. Can we break free from the toxic cycle of outrage and misinformation? Or are we doomed to spiral into deeper conflict? **The answer may decide the fate of civilization itself.** "I think we need a truly open-ended conversation with 8 billion strangers, andwhat makes that hard to do increasingly is a level of political fragmentation and extremism andpartisanship born of our engagement with these new technologies." Our culture has atomized: We’re all on our own with our phones, laptops, and digital media experiences. No one knows what everyone else is seeing. In some ways, these technologies have caused a shattering of culture, and we can’t seem to agree about our perceptions of the world, says philosopher and neuroscientist Sam Harris. To combat this, we need to secure some semblance of human wellbeing. What makes that an increasing challenge is the political fragmentation and extremism born from our engagement with new technologies. We’re witnessing a zero-sum contest between those of us who want to maintain open societies and those who increasingly want to build closed, belligerent ones that make it impossible to share space. We have to become more intelligent to deal with these threats without losing the values we seek to defend. That’s why dogmatism is an intellectual sin, and overcoming it is key to building a better future for us all, says Harris. Timestamps: 0:00: A crisis of meaning2:03: Conversation vs. Violence3:51: Good people, bad ideas5:37: Eliminating dogma7:36: Your mind is all you have About Sam Harris: Sam Harris is the author of the New York Times bestsellers, The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation. The End of Faith won the 2005 PEN Award for Nonfiction.Mr. Harris' writing has been published in over ten languages. He and his work have been discussed in Newsweek, TIME, The New York Times, Scientific American, Rolling Stone, and many other journals. His writing has appeared in Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times, The Times (London), The Boston Globe, The Atlantic, Nature, The Annals of Neurology, and elsewhere.Mr. Harris is a graduate in philosophy from Stanford University and holds a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA, where he studied the neural basis of belief with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). He is also a Co-Founder and CEO of Project Reason. Folllow this Podcast for daily Episodes ----------------------------------------------------06:30-17 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our world is filled with an abundance of data. Albert-László Barabási, a network scientist, believes that understanding the underlying structure and relationships of complex systems is crucial. Barabási’s research has challenged the notion of random connections and led to the discovery of a more accurate representation of how these systems are organized. Barabási’s exploration began with the vast internet. Surprisingly, he found that the intricate web of connections did not follow random patterns but instead followed a power load distribution. He named these networks “scale-free networks.” Barabási’s groundbreaking work reveals that new connections in our networks tend to form with already well-connected elements. Scale-free networks exist in various complex systems, such as cellular interactions and social networks. This discovery is an important step toward comprehending the remarkable complexity that arises from countless interactions among the world’s many components. 0:00 Networks: How the world works 1:23 The theory of random graphs 3:15 What is network science? 6:49 Complex systems ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Albert-László Barabási: Albert-László Barabási is a network scientist, fascinated with a wide range of topics, from unveiling the structure of the brain and treating diseases using network medicine to the emergence of success in art and how science really works. His research has helped unveil the hidden order behind various complex systems using the quantitative tools of network science, a research field that he pioneered, and has led to the discovery of scale-free networks, helping explain the emergence of many natural, technological, and social networks. Barabási is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He is the author of The Formula (Little Brown), Network Science (Cambridge), Bursts (Dutton), and Linked (Penguin). He co-edited Network Medicine (Harvard, 2017) and The Structure and Dynamics of Networks (Princeton, 2005). His books have been translated into over twenty languages. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------11:10-18 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"We're now in the initial stages of the next revolution." Dr. Michio Kaku, the renowned theoretical physicist, walks through the evolutionary journey of quantum computing, from analog to digital to the quantum era. Quantum computers hold immense promise because of their ability to tap into parallel universes, which boosts their computational power exponentially. They could revolutionize agriculture, energy, and medicine, solving complex problems like creating efficient fertilizers, achieving fusion energy, and modeling diseases at the molecular level. The race between major tech companies and intelligence agencies to actualize this power is intense, as they could redefine industries and even global power structures if they succeed. The endeavor isn’t without challenges; we’ve yet to create a fully functional quantum computer. But Kaku envisions a future where quantum computers unravel complex equations, potentially shedding light on profound cosmic mysteries. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Dr. Michio Kaku Dr. Michio Kaku is the co-founder of string field theory, and is one of the most widely recognized scientists in the world today. He has written 4 New York Times Best Sellers, is the science correspondent for CBS This Morning and has hosted numerous science specials for BBC-TV, the Discovery/Science Channel. His radio show broadcasts to 100 radio stations every week. Dr. Kaku holds the Henry Semat Chair and Professorship in theoretical physics at the City College of New York (CUNY), where he has taught for over 25 years. He has also been a visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Study as well as New York University (NYU). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------11:10-18 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can we let go of the need to win arguments without losing a part of who we are? As Founder of Interfaith America Eboo Patel explains, there’s something romantic about a fist-in the-air approach, so much so that we often become caught up in the roles we play and the persona we adopt for ourselves. This can cause us to be perceived in ways we never intended; we can become misinterpreted, and even more disconnected to our true selves and intentions. How easy is it to ride our anger and our outrage, to chase the adrenaline of ego, the desire to be correct? Of course, it feels good to win, to “catch” your opponent, but why does it matter? Is succeeding in a debate truly more impactful than fueling a comprehensive discussion? When we move beyond the need to be right and let go of the desire to dominate, we can make room for something far more powerful: genuine curiosity. Letting go of the allure of competitive discourse - where there are winners and losers - allows us to create more meaningful conversations where both sides can learn and grow. This is The Dilemma with Irshad Manji, a series from Big Think created in partnership with Moral Courage College. About Irshad Manji: Irshad Manji is an award-winning educator, author, and advocate for moral courage and diversity of thought. As the founder of Moral Courage College, she equips people to engage in honest conversations across lines of difference. ----------------- Folllow this Podcast for daily Episodes -------------------------------------------------------------11:10-18 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Harvard physician Aditi Nerukar explains how to rewire your brain’s stress response to live a more resilient life. **💥 You're not weak. You're human.** Stress isn’t a flaw to fix — it’s a biological force we all live with, just like gravity. But modern life turns it chronic, silent, and often shameful. Most of us wear resilience like armor, whispering "I'm fine" while our minds scream from the pressure. Dr. Aditi Nerurkar, once a burnt-out ICU doctor, exposes the myth of invincibility and reveals the truth: **real resilience honors your limits, not just your strength**. From cave tigers to overflowing inboxes, our brains haven't caught up with the modern world. And when the amygdala hijacks your thinking, your inner critic gets louder — and compassion feels impossible. But there's hope. Neuroplasticity means you’re not stuck. You can train your brain to handle stress differently. ✨ 🔁 Start with two powerful resets: 1. **Stop. Breathe. Be.** – In 3 seconds, pull yourself out of panic and into presence. 2. **Gratitude journaling** – List 5 things and *why* you’re grateful for them. It rewires your brain toward peace. 🧠 Stress isn’t just something to survive. It’s something you can *relearn*. It’s not your fault. You're not alone. And with small, consistent resets, you can find your calm — even in chaos. **Because the goal isn't zero stress. The goal is healthy stress that moves your life forward.** Folllow this Podcast for daily Episodes ------------------11:10-18 ---------------------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you have hiring power, here are 6 steps to help you act on diversity. Chapters: 0:00 The 'Lean In' Myth 2:06 Hypervisibility & Invisibility 4:44 BRIDGE: 6 Steps for Inclusion Imposter syndrome has a long-term, damaging impact on people in the workforce, particularly women of color. To improve inclusivity in the workplace, Ruchika T. Malhotra recommends six interpersonal habits that she calls the BRIDGE framework: Be okay with being uncomfortable. Reflect on what you don’t know. Invite feedback. Defensiveness doesn’t help. Grow from mistakes. Expect that change takes time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Ruchika T. Malhotra: Ruchika T. Malhotra is the author of Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work (MIT Press). She’s also the founder of Candour, an inclusion strategy practice. A former international business journalist, Ruchika is a regular contributor to The New York Times and Harvard Business Review. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------11:10-18 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Futurist Ari Wallach asks, “how do you want to be remembered?” Humans have a "lifetime bias." When we plan ahead, we do so by thinking in terms of years and decades rather than centuries and millennia. We need to escape this short-term thinking if we want to be great ancestors to the generations of humans that will come after us. One way to do so is through transgenerational empathy, by which we reconcile ourselves with the past in order to focus on the attributes that we want to pass on to the next generation. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is part of The Progress Issue, a Big Think and Freethink special collaboration. In this inaugural special issue we set out to explore progress — how it happens, how we nurture it and how we stifle it, and what changes are required in how we approach our most serious problems to ensure greater and more equitable progress for all. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Ari Wallach Ari Wallach is an applied futurist and Executive Director of Longpath Labs. He is the author of Longpath: Becoming the Great Ancestors Our Future Needs by HarperCollins and the creator and host of the forthcoming series on PBS A Brief History of the Future, which is being executive produced by Kathryn Murdoch and Drake. He has been a strategy and foresight advisor to Fortune 100 companies, the US Department of State, the Ford Foundation, the UN Refugee Agency, the RacialEquity 2030 Challenge and Politico’s Long Game Forum. As adjunct associate professor at Columbia University he lectured on innovation, AI, and the future of public policy. Wallach's TED talk on Longpath has been viewed 2.6 million times and translated into 21 languages. Ari was the co-creator of 2008's pro-Obama The Great Schlep with Sarah Silverman. He has been featured in the New York Times, CNN, CNBC, Vox, and more. He lives in the lower Hudson Valley with his wife, three children and wonderdog Ozzie. More at Longpath.org and @ariw. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------11:10-18 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"These days, no national news network is trusted by more than half of American adults. And that's a problem." The news is broken. In the United States, it may feel like our news cycle is designed to make people anxious and depressed. It may feel like journalism exploits our divisions and amplifies our fears more than ever. But how can we fix it? Amanda Ripley has been a journalist for over 20 years, and she’s diagnosing one of the US’ biggest problems: Our news. Ripley says that adding these 3 considerations back into the equation could save our media. Chapters: 00:00 A common sense of reality 01:13 The news is broken 03:11 Avoiding the media 06:20 The cost of breaking news 07:20 Depression and anxiety triggers 08:10 A better way to cover news About Amanda Ripley: Amanda Ripley is a New York Times bestselling author, Washington Post contributor, and co-founder of consultancy firm, Good Conflict. Her books include The Smartest Kids in the World, High Conflict, and The Unthinkable. Folllow this Podcast for daily Episodes ----------------------------------------------------------------------11:10-18 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

**"Menopause isn’t the end—it’s an evolutionary power move."** Most animals die after they reproduce, but humans? We keep going. Why? The **Grandmother Hypothesis** suggests menopause is a strategic advantage—giving older women the freedom to guide, protect, and strengthen their families. But the journey there? It’s no walk in the park. From hot flashes to brain fog, the menopause transition can last up to **seven years**, bringing a storm of symptoms. What actually helps? Exercise is the gold standard, but when it comes to treatment, **hormone therapy is both misunderstood and controversial.** In this eye-opening episode, we cut through the misinformation, expose the snake oil, and reveal **what actually works.** Should you take hormone therapy? Are “bioidenticals” a scam? And how can you separate science from marketing hype? **Get the facts—because your health shouldn’t be left to influencers and guesswork.** What can you do to support your health during menopause? “If exercise were a drug, that would be the one thing that we would be giving to everybody.” If every facet of the reproduction process is based in evolution, how does menopause, something where reproduction is no longer possible, benefit our species? We think it's because of an idea called the wise woman hypothesis, says Dr. Jen Gunter, an OB/GYN and author. The wise woman hypothesis describes the idea that historically for humans, having a grandmother in your family unit meant you had an extra pair of knowledgeable hands that themselves weren't occupied with child-rearing. Someone who could go out and help gather food, build shelter, find water, and pass on historical knowledge from other generations. And so menopause represents evolution in the long game, the idea that we retain our power as we age. Dr. Jen Gunter explains both the science and common myths behind the biological process of menopause, and how to know who to trust to guide you while going through it. About Dr. Jen Gunter:Dr. Jen Gunter is an OB/GYN and a pain medicine physician. She writes a lot about sex, science, and social media, but sometimes about other things because, well, why not?She's been called X's resident gynecologist, the Internet’s OB/GYN, and one of the fiercest advocates for women’s health. She has devoted her professional life to caring for women. Folllow this Podcast for daily Episodes ------------------------------------------------11:10-18 ----------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.S. military once used Google’s tech without their employees knowing. Anna Butrico explains the complicated history behind “Project Maven.” Google famously used the slogan, “Don't be evil,” to guide its business practices. However, many Google employees were upset when they learned that the company had partnered with the U.S. Department of Defense on Project Maven, whose goal was to produce AI that could track people and vehicles. Is it immoral for a tech company to partner with the military to create war technology? Or is it immoral not to? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Anna Butrico: Anna Butrico is Chief of Staff of Odgers Berndtson U.S. Anna supports the OBUS leadership team in driving the firm’s growth strategy. Prior to joining Odgers, Anna was a senior communications associate at the McChrystal Group, where she advised Fortune 100 leaders on how to tap into human potential to achieve stronger business outcomes. A communications expert and former speechwriter, she is the co-author, with GEN (Ret.) Stanley McChrystal, of Risk: A User’s Guide. Anna earned her undergraduate degree in English from Vanderbilt University, where she graduated magna cum laude. She also studied literature at St. Anne’s College at the University of Oxford. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------11:10-18 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Peter Schwartz, the futurist behind Minority Report, explains 3 steps for predicting what comes next. It's very easy to imagine how things might go wrong, but it's much harder to imagine how things might go right. "Futurists" are those who study the future so that the people alive today can make better decisions for tomorrow. It is impossible to get all of the predictions right. The point of futurism, however, is to envision multiple scenarios in which we can test our decisions so that we are ready for whatever actually occurs. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is part of The Progress Issue, a Big Think and Freethink special collaboration. In this inaugural special issue we set out to explore progress — how it happens, how we nurture it and how we stifle it, and what changes are required in how we approach our most serious problems to ensure greater and more equitable progress for all. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Peter Schwartz: Peter Schwartz is an internationally renowned futurist and business strategist, specializing in scenario planning and working with corporations, governments, and institutions to create alternative perspectives of the future and develop robust strategies for a changing and uncertain world. As Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning for Salesforce, he manages the organization’s ongoing strategic conversation. Peter was co-founder and chairman of Global Business Network. He is the author of several works. His first book, The Art of the Long View, is considered a seminal publication on scenario planning. Peter has also served as a script consultant on the films "The Minority Report," "Deep Impact," "Sneakers," and "War Games." He received a B.S. in aeronautical engineering and astronautics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------11:10-18 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Expert Matthew Ball explains how the Metaverse is a golden opportunity to fix the internet. The Metaverse does not yet exist. At the moment, it is a vision of the future of the internet. One problem facing its development is that current problems with the internet — like misinformation, privacy issues, and security breaches — have not been solved. Inside the Metaverse, these problems could be amplified. Thankfully, developers, consumers, voters, and regulators have the power to implement change. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Matthew Ball: Matthew Ball is the CEO of Epyllion, a diversified holding company which makes angel investments, provides advisory services, and produces television, films, and video games. Ball is also a Venture Partner at Makers Fund, Senior Advisor to KKR, Senior Advisor to McKinsey & Company, and sits on the board of numerous start-ups. His first book, “The Metaverse and How it Will Revolutionize Everything”, was published in July 2022 and became an instant national and international bestseller. Ball is also an “Occasional Contributor” to The Economist, holds bylines at Bloomberg, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and wrote the August 8, 2022 cover story for Time Magazine. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------11:10-18 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chapters: 00:00: The overpopulation concern 02:01: Global population growth rates 02:28: The fall in global fertility rates 03:06: Amount of food produced per person 03:50: Per capita CO2 emissions 04:17: The underpopulation concern ### 🌍 **Is Overpopulation Really the Problem? Or Is It a Dangerous Myth?** For decades, one idea has haunted environmental debates: **"There are just too many people on Earth."** From forced sterilizations to cutting food aid, some of the so-called “solutions” to this perceived crisis have been deeply unethical—and alarmingly popular. 📘 This fear peaked in the 1960s–70s with the release of *The Population Bomb*, predicting mass famine and chaos. But the world evolved in two critical ways: #### 1. 📉 **Global fertility rates fell sharply** In 1950, the average woman had **5 children**. Today, it's just **2.3**—and still falling. #### 2. 🌾 **Technological leaps in agriculture** Yields have doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled across many regions. We're growing **more food per person** than ever before—even with billions more people. 🔍 Still, many argue that population—especially in **low-income countries**—fuels climate change. But here’s the truth: - These regions often have **extremely low CO₂ emissions per person.** - You could add **billions** more people at those levels and barely affect global emissions. ### 🧓 **A New Crisis: Underpopulation?** In high-income nations, the worry has flipped. Aging populations threaten economies as **working-age groups shrink**, weakening the very engine that drives productivity and growth. ### 💡 **The Most Dangerous Idea?** Comparing humanity to a **cancer on the planet.** It implies people are the problem—and removal is the solution. But we’re also the **innovators, problem-solvers, and stewards** of Earth’s future. **If we dehumanize each other, how do we build a better world together?** 👀 **So if not overpopulation… what *is* the real environmental threat?** Let’s explore that next. overpopulation, population growth, fertility rates, demographic transition, The Population Bomb, Paul Ehrlich, agricultural advancements, food per person, global population, climate change, CO2 emissions per capita, underpopulation, aging populations, working-age population, sustainable development, climate solutions, environmental impact, economic stability, population density, global cooperation, human impact on environment, overpopulation myth, technological advancements in agriculture Folllow this Podcast for daily Episodes ---------------------------------------------------------07:42-16 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stress shrinks your brain. Neuroscientist Lisa Genova explains how to strengthen it. It may not feel like it when you can't find your phone or "lose" your sunglasses sitting atop your head, but your memory is an amazing ability -- and one we want to protect. So it's little wonder that any blips or blank spaces can send us spiraling into concern. Some recall issues here and there are normal, says neuroscientist and author Lisa Genova, and not every lapse means looming problems. (And don't worry, forgetting names is a surprisingly tough thing for our brains to do!) But, Genova says, there's ways we can improve our memory, increase resilience and recall and be more comfortable with ourselves and our minds. From making lists and getting Google's help to giving yourself a pop quiz, getting some meditation in, and just plain paying attention, these tips will have your steel trap gleaming. Chapters: 0:00 Introducing the problem 1:19 #1: Practice paying attention 1:45: #2: Bulk up your hippocampus 3:18 A 9-second meditation you can try 3:59 #3 Secure your sleep 5:14 #4 Drink caffeine 5:36 #5 Create associations (the Baker-Baker Paradox) 6:36 #6 Repetition 7:14 #7 Write it down 8:03 #8 Self-testing 8:31 #9 Just Google it 9:14 Forgetting is human ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Lisa Genova: Lisa Genova is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Still Alice, Left Neglected, Love Anthony, Inside the O’Briens, and Every Note Played. Still Alice was adapted into an Oscar-winning film starring Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, and Kristen Stewart. Lisa graduated valedictorian from Bates College with a degree in biopsychology and holds a PhD in neuroscience from Harvard University. She travels worldwide speaking about the neurological diseases she writes about and has appeared on The Dr. Oz Show, Today, PBS NewsHour, CNN, and NPR. Her TED talk, “What You Can Do to Prevent Alzheimer’s,” has been viewed more than five million times. The New York Times bestseller REMEMBER is her first work of nonfiction. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------11:10-18 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sabine Hossenfelder investigates life's big questions through the lens of physics, particularly Einstein's theory of special relativity. She highlights the relativity of simultaneity, which states that the notion of "now" is subjective and dependent on the observer. This leads to the block universe concept, where past, present, and future all exist simultaneously, making the past just as real as the present. Hossenfelder also emphasizes that the fundamental laws of nature preserve information rather than destroy it. Although information about a deceased person disperses, it remains an integral part of the universe. This idea of timeless existence, derived from the study of fundamental physics, offers profound spiritual insights that can be difficult to internalize in our everyday lives. As a result, Hossenfelder encourages people to trust the scientific method and accept the profound implications of these discoveries, which may reshape our understanding of life and existence. As a physicist, Hossenfelder trusts the knowledge gained through the scientific method and acknowledges the challenge of integrating these deep insights into our daily experiences. By contemplating these profound concepts, we can potentially expand our understanding of reality and our place within it. 0:00 Is your dead grandma still alive? 1:25 Before Einstein… and after 2:53 Relativity of simultaneity, explained 5:14 Spacetime and the ‘block universe’ 6:10 Eternal existence: The conservation of quantum information 8:22 “I know it sounds crazy, but…” --------------------------------------------------------11:10-18 ---------------------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A lot of modern work exists mainly because we've structured society around the belief that humans *must* work. But this has led to inequality, wasted talent, and systems that no longer serve us. 🏙️ Today, productivity is tracked through pings, emails, and meetings—not real impact. We’re surrounded by abundance, yet opportunity remains unevenly spread. The problem? We measure busyness, not *outcomes*. 📊 Throughout history, work has evolved through three major revolutions: 1. 🔥 **Mastery of fire** — Early humans began outsourcing energy. Cooking made food more digestible and freed up time. This shift opened the door to leisure and innovation. 2. 🌾 **Agriculture** — Farming demanded planning and ownership. Concepts like land, debt, and productivity emerged. Cattle became early symbols of capital. 3. 🏛️ **Cities** — Agriculture supported population growth. Urban centers became creative hubs where people specialized, exchanged ideas, and formed work-based communities. Fast forward to today: machines and fossil fuels do most of the heavy lifting. 🛠️ But while technology generates abundance, wealth is concentrated. Most people can no longer convert effort directly into prosperity. Social mobility is shrinking. 📉 Our economic systems still reward inherited capital more than hard work. And when it comes to hiring, we’re looking in the wrong places. Instead of narrowly measuring intelligence, we should value energy, drive, creativity, and collaboration. 💡 Bias often filters out brilliant people—those who don’t “look” the part. Some traits seen as liabilities (like ADHD or anxiety) can actually fuel innovation in the right roles. 🧠✨ To unlock potential and solve big problems, we need to rethink everything. Not with tweaks—but through bold experimentation. 🚀 Our current systems were designed for a world that no longer exists. We now have automation, digital tools, and near-limitless energy at our fingertips. The question is: will we redesign the future of work to match the world we *actually* live in? “It’s remarkable how weak the correlation between success and intelligence is.” Here’s what skills do matter, from 3 business experts. Timestamps: 0:00 - The history of work 2:30 - How work shaped society 3:55 - The invention of fire 5:16 - Transition to farming 6:51 - Effort and reward 11:40 - Why talent matters 18:26 - Accomplishment without burnout About Cal Newport: Cal Newport is an MIT-trained computer science professor at Georgetown University who also writes about the intersections of technology, work, and the quest to find depth in an increasingly distracted world. About James Suzman: Dr. James Suzman a PhD an anthropologist specializing in the Khoisan peoples of southern Africa. A former Smuts Fellow in African Studies at the University of Cambridge, he is now the director of Anthropos Ltd., a think-tank that applies anthropological methods to solving contemporary social and economic problems. Dr. Suzman's latest book is Work: A Deep History, from the Stone Age to the Age of Robots. About Tyler Cowen: Tyler is the Holbert L. Harris Chair of Economics at George Mason University and serves as chairman and general director of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He is co-author of the popular economics blog Marginal Revolution and co-founder of the online educational platform Marginal Revolution University. Folllow this Podcast for daily Episodes -------------------------------------------------------------------11:10-18 ---------------------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everything you ever wanted to know about parallel universes, time, entropy, free will and more, explained by physicist Sean Carroll. Do you have free will? Is our Universe the only one, or do we live in one of many? And what does Einstein’s theory of relativity really say about the nature of reality? These are some of the big questions that theoretical physicist Sean Carroll tackles in this Big Think video. In 2022, Carroll published The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Space, Time, and Motion, a book that achieves that rare feat of detailing the inner workings of scientific concepts in a way that’s accessible but not overly simplistic. THE MULTIVERSE 0:00 Sean Carroll, Johns Hopkins physicist 0:18 What is the Multiverse and what does it mean to us? 2:38 What is the physicist’s version of the Multiverse? 6:43 Is every possible world real? 9:22 Why should we trust the many worlds of quantum mechanics? 12:24 How many worlds are there? 14:47 How does personal identity in the Multiverse work? 16:43 Do our decisions create different universes? 20:25 Why are we drawn to the Multiverse and how does technology propel it? TIME 26:33 What is time? (And entropy?) 35:52 What is the past hypothesis? (The laws of thermodynamics) ENTROPY 41:32 Why is entropy essential to living? 44:33 Why are there complex structures in the Universe? 46:11 Do complex structures require design? 47:55 What is the effect of increasing entropy? 50:03 What is the difference between entropy and complexity? 52:52 What is emergence? PHYSICS: GALILEO'S LEGACY 55:08 Why is physics such a difficult field to study? ORIGINS OF LIFE 58:14 Is life a struggle against entropy? 1:00:36 What are the origins of life here on Earth? 1:04:52 How many things had to “go right” for us to exist? 1:07:33 If this isn’t God’s design we’re seeing, what is it? FREE WILL 1:11:22 What is Laplace's demon and do we have human agency? 1:16:30 What are the different viewpoints on free will? 1:23:44 How do our feelings fit into the molecular world? 1:26:24 Are there objections to the compatibilist worldview? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Sean Carroll: Dr. Sean Carroll is Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy — in effect, a joint appointment between physics and philosophy — at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and fractal faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. Most of his career has been spent doing research on cosmology, field theory, and gravitation, looking at topics such as dark matter and dark energy, modified gravity, topological defects, extra dimensions, and violations of fundamental symmetries. These days, his focus has shifted to more foundational questions, both in quantum mechanics (origin of probability, emergence of space and time) and statistical mechanics (entropy and the arrow of time, emergence and causation, dynamics of complexity), bringing a more philosophical dimension to his work. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------11:10-18 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Quantum wormholes are mathematically possible — but might also be physically impossible. Physicist Janna Levin explains the wormhole paradox. Theoretical cosmologist Janna Levin challenges long-held assumptions about the behavior of black holes, information conservation, and the fundamental nature of space, time, and gravity. She uses black holes to explore the physical feasibility of wormholes: theoretical passages or tunnel-like structures that connect separate points in spacetime. Stephen Hawking proposed that black holes emit energy via quantum particles, causing them to eventually evaporate and challenge the conservation of information. The holographic principle suggests that information is encoded on a black hole's surface, addressing the information paradox. Levin metaphorically likens black holes to embroidery, woven from quantum threads. Her quantum perspective has profound implications, potentially altering our understanding of gravity and spacetime's fundamental nature — even questioning our pursuit of a theory of everything. ------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------11:10-18 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices