Why is it that we can see these multiple histories play out on the quantum scale, and why do lose sight of them on our macroscopic scale?
Many physicists believe that the answer lies in a process known as quantum decoherence.
Does conscious observation of a quantum system cause the wavefunction to collapse? The upshot is that more and more physicists think that consciousness – and even measurement – doesn’t directly cause wavefunction collapse.
In fact probably there IS no clear Heisenberg cut. The collapse itself may be an illusion, and the alternate histories that the wavefunction represents may continue forever. The question then becomes: why is it that we can see these multiple histories play out on the quantum scale, and why do lose sight of them on our macroscopic scale? Many physicists believe that the answer lies in a process known as quantum decoherence.
It’s not surprising that the profound weirdness of the quantum world has inspired some outlandish explanations – nor that these have strayed into the realm of what we might call mysticism.
One particularly pervasive notion is the idea that consciousness can directly influence quantum systems – and so influence reality.
PBS Space Time examines where this idea comes from, and whether quantum theory really supports it.
Lex Fridman interviews Grant Sanderson is a math educator and creator of 3Blue1Brown, a popular YouTube channel that uses programmatically-animated visualizations to explain concepts in linear algebra, calculus, and other fields of mathematics.
OUTLINE:
0:00 – Introduction
1:56 – What kind of math would aliens have?
3:48 – Euler’s identity and the least favorite piece of notation
10:31 – Is math discovered or invented?
14:30 – Difference between physics and math
17:24 – Why is reality compressible into simple equations?
21:44 – Are we living in a simulation?
26:27 – Infinity and abstractions
35:48 – Most beautiful idea in mathematics
41:32 – Favorite video to create
45:04 – Video creation process
50:04 – Euler identity
51:47 – Mortality and meaning
55:16 – How do you know when a video is done?
56:18 – What is the best way to learn math for beginners?
59:17 – Happy moment
Lex Fridman interviews Gilbert Strang on Linear Algebra, Deep Learning, Teaching, and MIT OpenCourseWare.
Gilbert Strang is a professor of mathematics at MIT and perhaps one of the most famous and impactful teachers of math in the world. His MIT OpenCourseWare lectures on linear algebra have been viewed millions of times. This conversation is part of the Artificial Intelligence podcast.