Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

• The God Crutch: Do The Laws of Physics Exist?

  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 Are the laws of physics governing forces or elegant summaries? In this deep and often humorous debate, Barry Loewer of Rutgers and Eddy Chen of UC San Diego clash over the very nature of physical reality. Are the laws of nature real, mind independent constraints that shape what’s possible or are they human made descriptions of observed patterns? Together they explore metaphysics, causation, probability, and whether the universe is truly ruled by anything at all. A must watch for anyone questioning the foundations of science itself. Join My New Substack (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e Timestamps: 00:00 The Nature of Physical Reality 42:28 The Circularity of Scientific Understanding 1:05:44 Reality Explored 1:08:28 Describing Human Experience 1:10:10 The Role of Science 1:10:58 Understanding Motion and Laws 1:12:19 The Nature of Laws 1:14:55 Possible Worlds in Philosophy 1:18:05 Configuration Space Debate 1:21:10 Quantum Mechanics and Reality 1:22:50 Metaphysical Necessity 1:27:13 The Nature of Free Will 1:30:14 Bridging Philosophy and Science 1:32:05 Constraints and Freedom 1:34:57 Philosophical Disputes 1:39:08 The Journey of Learning 2:05:16 Teaching and Learning Dynamics 2:07:23 Closing Reflections Links Mentioned: •⁠ ⁠Barry’s published papers: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=n_RTOwO00oEC&hl=en •⁠ ⁠Eddy’s published papers: https://arxiv.org/a/chen_e_1.html •⁠ ⁠Neil Turok on TOE: https://youtu.be/ZUp9x44N3uE •⁠ ⁠Greg Chaitin on TOE: https://youtu.be/zMPnrNL3zsE •⁠ ⁠Leonard Susskind on TOE: https://youtu.be/2p_Hlm6aCok •⁠ ⁠Emily Adlam on TOE: https://youtu.be/6I2OhmVWLMs •⁠ ⁠Laws of Nature and Chances (book): https://www.amazon.com/Laws-Nature-Chances-Breathes-Equations/dp/0198907699 •⁠ ⁠Laws of Physics (book): https://www.amazon.com/Laws-Physics-Elements-Philosophy/dp/100901272X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1CHA72RYFUOI8&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.OjkhTXRzZw_SWTMFZp8dUtREsTxacKuwg03AsLUUp6qLCuygS74CtEgujWl7wMvVEt-ErFEz-CfFLiiXTmuUCwKq0TW4WLFIA3DIhDNVaV4.gRuqaZldjUa8Kv_j1ew-CfZGQqtdt00X55fyMZ9NGD4&dib_tag=se&keywords=eddy+chen&qid=1749667626&s=books&sprefix=eddy+chen%2Cstripbooks%2C128&sr=1-1 •⁠ ⁠On the Plurality of Worlds (book): https://www.amazon.com/Plurality-Worlds-David-K-Lewis/dp/0631224262 •⁠ ⁠Tim Maudlin on TOE: https://youtu.be/fU1bs5o3nss •⁠ ⁠Tim Maudlin and Tim Palmer on TOE: https://youtu.be/883R3JlZHXE •⁠ ⁠How Physics Makes Us Free (book): https://www.amazon.com/How-Physics-Makes-Us-Free/dp/0190269448 •⁠ ⁠From Time Asymmetry to Quantum Entanglement (paper): https://arxiv.org/pdf/2006.05029 •⁠ ⁠Jacob Barandes on TOE: https://youtu.be/7oWip00iXbo •⁠ ⁠Realism with a Human Face (book): https://www.amazon.com/Realism-Human-Face-Hilary-Putnam/dp/0674749456 •⁠ ⁠Causation and Laws of Nature in Early Modern Philosophy (book): https://www.amazon.com/Causation-Nature-Early-Modern-Philosophy/dp/0199664684/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0 •⁠ ⁠The Maniac (book): https://www.amazon.com/MANIAC-Benjamin-Labatut/dp/0593654471 •⁠ ⁠When We Cease to Understand the World (book): https://www.amazon.com/When-We-Cease-Understand-World/dp/1681375664 •⁠ ⁠Eddy’s paper on time and nature: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2109.09226 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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  2:19:00
• The Theory That Shatters Language Itself

  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 Professor Elan Barenholtz, cognitive scientist at Florida Atlantic University, joins TOE to discuss one of the most unsettling ideas in cognitive science: that language is a self-contained, autoregressive system with no inherent connection to the external world. In this mind-altering episode, he explains why AI’s mastery of language without meaning forces us to rethink the nature of mind, perception, and reality itself... Join My New Substack (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e Timestamps: 00:00 The Mind and Language Connection 02:09 The Grounded Thesis of Language 09:29 The Epiphany of Language 13:06 The Dichotomy of Language and Perception 16:24 Language as an Autonomous System 19:48 The Problem of Qualia and Language 23:35 Bridging Language and Action 31:32 Exploring Embeddings in Language 38:21 The Platonic Space of Language 44:17 The Challenges of Meaning and Action 51:05 Understanding the Complexity of Color 52:53 The Paradox of Language Describing Itself 58:19 The Map of Language and Action 1:07:48 Continuous Learning in Language Models 1:11:46 The Nature of Memory 1:22:46 The Role of Context 1:32:18 Exploring Language Dynamics 1:39:44 The Shift from Oral to Written Language 2:11:34 Language and the Cosmic Whole 2:21:35 Reflections on Existence Links Mentioned: •⁠ ⁠Elan’s Substack: https://elanbarenholtz.substack.com •⁠ Elan's X / Twitter: https://x.com/ebarenholtz •⁠ ⁠Geoffrey Hinton on TOE: https://youtu.be/b_DUft-BdIE •⁠ ⁠Joscha Bach and Ben Goertzel on TOE: https://youtu.be/xw7omaQ8SgA •⁠ ⁠Elan’s published papers: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2grAjZsAAAAJ •⁠ ⁠Ai medical panel on TOE: https://youtu.be/abzXzPBW4_s •⁠ ⁠Jacob Barandes and Manolis Kellis on TOE: https://youtu.be/MTD8xkbiGis •⁠ ⁠Will Hahn on TOE: https://youtu.be/3fkg0uTA3qU •⁠ ⁠Noam Chomsky on TOE: https://youtu.be/DQuiso493ro •⁠ ⁠Greg Kondrak on TOE: https://youtu.be/FFW14zSYiFY •⁠ ⁠Andres Emilsson on TOE: https://youtu.be/BBP8WZpYp0Y •⁠ ⁠Harnessing the Universal Geometry of Embeddings (paper): https://arxiv.org/pdf/2505.12540 •⁠ ⁠Yang-Hui He on TOE: https://youtu.be/spIquD_mBFk •⁠ ⁠Iain McGilchrist on TOE: https://youtu.be/Q9sBKCd2HD0 •⁠ ⁠Curt interviews ChatGPT: https://youtu.be/mSfChbMRJwY •⁠ ⁠Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind (book): https://www.amazon.com/dp/0674251555 •⁠ ⁠Karl Friston on TOE: https://youtu.be/uk4NZorRjCo •⁠ ⁠Michael Levin and Anna Ciaunica on TOE: https://youtu.be/2aLhkm6QUgA •⁠ ⁠The Biology of LLMs (paper): https://transformer-circuits.pub/2025/attribution-graphs/biology.html •⁠ ⁠Jacob Barandes on TOE: https://youtu.be/YaS1usLeXQM •⁠ ⁠Emily Adlam on TOE: https://youtu.be/6I2OhmVWLMs •⁠ ⁠Julian Barbour on TOE: https://youtu.be/bprxrGaf0Os •⁠ ⁠Tim Palmer on TOE: https://youtu.be/vlklA6jsS8A •⁠ ⁠Neil Turok on TOE: https://youtu.be/ZUp9x44N3uE •⁠ ⁠Jayarāśi Bhaṭṭa: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/jayaraasi/ •⁠ ⁠On the Origin of Time (book): https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593128443 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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  2:32:19
• What is “Energy,” Actually?

  Veritasium pointed out that energy isn't conserved, but here I argue something further: energy is not even well-defined! 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 #science Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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  12:58
• The Many Worlds Theory of Quantum Mechanics | David Wallace

  Philosopher of physics David Wallace breaks down the Everett (Many-Worlds) interpretation of quantum mechanics in today's episode. We discuss the big misconceptions in physics and explore probability, emergence, and personal identity across multiple worlds. Wallace also touches on the Born Rule, the direction of time, and why consciousness may not be as mysterious as it seems. This is a mind-bending tour through the foundations of reality. Enjoy. Thank you. Huel: Try Huel with 15% OFF + Free Gift for New Customers today using my code theoriesofeverything at https://huel.com/theoriesofeverything . Fuel your best performance with Huel today! 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 David Wallace links: •⁠ ⁠The Emergent Multiverse (book): https://www.amazon.com/dp/0198707541 •⁠ ⁠David Wallace’s published papers: https://philpeople.org/profiles/david-wallace/publications •⁠ ⁠Stating Structural Realism (paper): https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/20048/1/semantic.pdf •⁠ ⁠David’s reading resources: https://sites.pitt.edu/~dmw121/resources.html •⁠ ⁠The Quantization of Gravity (paper): https://arxiv.org/pdf/gr-qc/0004005 •⁠ ⁠Ted Jacobson discusses entropy on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mhctWlXyV8 •⁠ ⁠Curt debunks the “all possible paths” myth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcY3ZtgYis0 •⁠ ⁠Julian Barbour discusses time on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-bImnQ9cmw •⁠ ⁠TOE’s String Theory Iceberg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4PdPnQuwjY •⁠ ⁠Bryce DeWitt’s published papers: https://journals.aps.org/search/results?clauses=%5B%7B%22operator%22%3A%22AND%22%2C%22field%22%3A%22author%22%2C%22value%22%3A%22Bryce+S+DeWitt%22%7D%5D •⁠ ⁠Carlo Rovelli discusses loop quantum gravity on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF4SAketEHY •⁠ ⁠Avshalom Elitzur discusses spacetime on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWRAaimQT1E •⁠ ⁠Sean Carroll discusses the physics community on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AoRxtYZrZo •⁠ ⁠Ruth Kastner discusses retrocausality on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BsHh3_vCMQ •⁠ ⁠Simon Saunders’s talk on Many Worlds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gM-sgmCUik •⁠ ⁠Jacob Barandes discusses quantum mechanics on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oWip00iXbo •⁠ ⁠Jacob Barandes discusses philosophy in physics on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaS1usLeXQM 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 Timestamps: 00:00 Misconceptions About Physics 01:27 Simplicity in Physics 4:48 Understanding Quantum Mechanics 7:27 Mysteries of Large-Scale Physics 9:53 The Nature of Time 13:19 Boundary Conditions in Physics 15:04 Models of Physics 16:56 Canonical vs Covariant Quantization 21:10 Theories of Gravity 28:22 Everettian Quantum Mechanics 30:11 Misconceptions in Many Worlds Theory 47:52 Decision Theory in Quantum Mechanics 57:58 The Deutsch-Wallace Theorem 1:14:47 The Nature of Fundamental Physics 1:18:40 Personal Identity in Many Worlds 1:27:14 Exploring Emergence 1:33:19 Thoughts on Consciousness 1:35:09 Disagreements with David Deutsch 1:39:18 Understanding Real Patterns 1:54:02 The Relevance-Limiting Thesis 2:00:54 Advice for Young Researchers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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  2:19:33
• The AI Math That Left Number Theorists Speechless

  Head on over to https://cell.ver.so/TOE and use coupon code TOE at checkout to save 15% on your first order. Get ready to witness a turning point in mathematical history: in this episode, we dive into the AI breakthroughs that stunned number theorists worldwide. Join us as Professor Yang-Hue Hi discusses the murmuration conjecture, shows how DeepMind, OpenAI, and EpochAI are rewriting the rules of pure math, and reveals what happens when machines start making research-level discoveries faster than any human could. AI is taking us beyond proof straight into the future of discovery. 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 Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction to a New Paradigm 01:34 The Changing Landscape of Research 03:30 Categories of Machine Learning in Mathematics 06:53 Researchers: Birds vs. Hedgehogs 09:36 Personal Experiences with AI in Research 11:44 The Future Role of Academics 14:08 Presentation on the AI Mathematician 16:14 The Role of Intuition in Discovery 18:00 AI's Assistance in Vague Problem Solving 18:48 Newton and AI: A Historical Perspective 20:59 Literature Processing with AI 24:34 Acknowledging Modern Mathematicians 26:54 The Influence of Data on Mathematical Discovery 30:22 The Riemann Hypothesis and Its Implications 31:55 The BST Conjecture and Data Evolution 33:29 Collaborations and AI Limitations 36:04 The Future of Mathematics and AI 38:31 Image Processing and Mathematical Intuition 41:57 Visual Thinking in Mathematics 49:24 AI-Assisted Discovery in Mathematics 51:34 The Murmuration Conjecture and AI Interaction 57:05 Hierarchies of Difficulty 58:43 The Memoration Breakthrough 1:00:28 Understanding the BSD Conjecture 1:01:45 Diophantine Equations Explained 1:03:39 The Cubic Complexity 1:19:03 Neural Networks and Predictions 1:21:36 Breaking the Birch Test 1:24:44 The BSD Conjecture Clarified 1:26:21 The Role of AI in Discovery 1:30:29 The Memoration Phenomenon 1:32:59 PCA Analysis Insights 1:35:50 The Emergence of Memoration 1:38:35 Conjectures and AI's Role 1:41:29 Generalizing Biases in Mathematics 1:44:55 The Future of AI in Mathematics 1:49:28 The Brave New World of Discovery Links Mentioned: - Topology and Physics (book): https://amzn.to/3ZoneEn - Machine Learning in Pure Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (book): https://amzn.to/4k8SXC6 - The Calabi-Yau Landscape (book): https://amzn.to/43DO7H0 - Yang-Hui’s bio and published papers: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yang-Hui-He - A Triumvirate of AI-Driven Theoretical Discovery (paper): https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.19973 - Edward Frenkel explains the Geometric Langlands Correspondence on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX1tZv_Nv4Y - Stone Duality (Wiki): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_duality - Summer of Math Exposition: https://some.3b1b.co/ - Machine Learning meets Number Theory: The Data Science of Birch–Swinnerton-Dyer (paper): https://arxiv.org/pdf/1911.02008 - The L-functions and modular forms database: https://www.lmfdb.org/ - Epoch AI FrontierMath: https://epoch.ai/frontiermath/the-benchmark - Mathematical Beauty (article): https://www.quantamagazine.org/mathematical-beauty-truth-and-proof-in-the-age-of-ai-20250430/ 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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  2:02:08

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