Scott Aaronson: The Greatest Unsolved Problem in Math

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

Scott Aaronson (UT Austin) reveals the P vs NP problem and quantum computing's limits to consciousness The conversation weaves through topics such as Turing universality, the no‑cloning theorem, superdeterminism, and the challenges of defining consciousness.

- 00:00:00 - Introduction
- 00:02:27 - Turing universality & computational efficiency
- 00:12:35 - Prediction and free will
- 00:15:16 - Newcomb's paradox
- 00:23:05 - Quantum information & no‑cloning
- 00:33:42 - Chaos & computational irreducibility
- 00:38:33 - Brain duplication, AI & identity
- 00:46:43 - Many‑worlds, Copenhagen & Bohm interpretation
- 01:03:14 - Penrose on quantum gravity & consciousness
- 01:14:46 - Superposition explained
- 01:21:33 - Wolfram physics critique
- 01:31:37 - P vs NP explained
- 01:53:40 - Classical vs quantum computation
- 02:03:25 - The "pretty hard" problem of consciousness

SPONSORS:

- Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal (early access to ad‑free audio episodes!)
- Crypto: https://tinyurl.com/cryptoTOE
- PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/paypalTOE
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt
- Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs
- iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/better-left-unsaid-with-curt-jaimungal/id1521758802
- Pandora: https://pdora.co/33b9lfP
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e
- Subreddit r/TheoriesOfEverything: https://reddit.com/r/theoriesofeverything
- TOE Merch: https://tinyurl.com/TOEmerch

RESOURCES:

- YouTube link: https://youtu.be/1ZpGCQoL2Rk
- Scott's Blog: https://scottaaronson.blog/
- Newcomb's Paradox (Scott's Blog Post): https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=30
- A New Kind of Science (Stephen Wolfram): https://amzn.to/47BTiaf
- Jonathan Gorard's Papers: https://arxiv.org/search/gr-qc?searchtype=author&query=Gorard,+J
- Boson Sampling (Alex Arkhipov and Scott Aaronson): https://arxiv.org/abs/1011.3245
- Podcast w/ Tim Maudlin on TOE (Solo): https://youtu.be/fU1bs5o3nss
- Podcast w/ Tim Palmer on TOE: https://youtu.be/883R3JlZHXE

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal features long-form, technically detailed interviews with leading researchers in physics, mathematics, consciousness, and philosophy, exploring topics at the level of active research. For academics, graduate students, and anyone seeking depth beyond popular science.

SPONSOR: I personally subscribe to The Economist. TOE listeners get 35% off the annual subscription. No other podcast has this! https://economist.com/TOE

FOLLOW: Substack | Spotify | YouTube | Twitter

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2023-12-11 142 min

Audio File Episode Page Apple

Available Results

Generated results are saved to the knowledge database for reuse and search.

No generated results are available for this episode yet.

Extract Knowledge

Pick what you want extracted first. Model, scope, and chapter options appear after a template is selected.

Generated results for public episodes are saved to the knowledge database so they can be reused and searched later.

Transcript

No transcript is available for this episode yet.

Chapters

No chapters available.