Avsnitt
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Timestamps:
0:00 - Human life in modern times
0:25 - Gaining control over nature
1:58 - The productivity of agriculture
2:45 - Is our species evolving?
4:28 - Slow biological evolution
**🌍 From Survival to Supremacy: How We Took Charge of Nature**
Drop someone from the 1800s into today’s world and they’d probably think they’d landed on another planet 🚀.
From food to medicine, transport to tech, life has transformed at warp speed — all thanks to one major shift: **we’ve gained control over nature** 🧠⚙️🌿.
Once vulnerable to famine, disease, wild beasts, and drought…
We’ve now **erased smallpox**, tamed TB, and made rubella a forgotten word 💉.
Our understanding of biology has turned **invisible killers** into manageable annoyances.
We even grow more food than ever — with just **2% of the population farming** 👨🌾 — feeding not just nations but the world.
But here’s the twist:
**Cultural evolution is sprinting**, while **biological evolution is crawling** 🐌💨.
Our bodies are still wired for scarcity — craving fat, sugar, and salt like ancient hunter-gatherers —
while modern life gives us an **endless buffet** 🍩🥤🍟.
That mismatch? It’s causing modern syndromes our ancestors never dreamed of.
Now imagine if humanity had stayed scattered — isolated like species on separate islands.
We might have evolved into wildly different beings 🧬🌎.
But instead, thanks to travel and tech, we’re **sharing genes and culture at lightning speed** 🌐 — stalling deep biological change, but accelerating cultural shifts.
We’re now a **hyperconnected species** — blending traditions, ideas, even immune systems —
but still stuck with bodies that were built for a different world.
---
**✨ So what’s next?**
We’ve mastered nature.
But can we master ourselves?
About Sean B. Carroll:
Sean B. Carroll is an award-winning scientist, author, educator, and film producer. He is Distinguished University Professor and the Andrew and Mary Balo and NIcholas and Susan Simon Chair of Biology at the University of Maryland, and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He was formerly Head of HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, and led the Department of Science Education from 2010-2023. He is also Professor Emeritus of Genetics and Molecular Biology at the University of Wisconsin.
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“The truth is there are very few supplements that have good evidence-based medicine to support them.”
Supplements and vitamins constantly go viral with claims that they can transform your health just by integrating these pills into your daily routine. But before you add to cart, take a pause and make sure you’re buying exactly what you think you are. In the US, supplement companies can’t explicitly claim to cure, treat, or prevent a disease. So how can you know which ones are legit, and which ones might just be a money grab?Besides being potentially ineffective and a waste of money, some supplements have been shown to contain heavy metal, fungi, or even mold contaminants, and others contain just a fraction of what they claim to.OB/GYN and bestselling author Dr. Jen Gunter says that you can easily discern snake oil salesmen from legitimate supplements grounded in good science with these 3 tips.
About Dr. Jen Gunter:I am an OB/GYN and a pain medicine physician. I write a lot about sex, science, and social media, but sometimes I write about other things because, well, why not?I’ve been called Twitter’s resident gynecologist, the Internet’s OB/GYN, and one of the fiercest advocates for women’s health. I have devoted my professional life to caring for women.I’m here to build a better medical Internet. You can’t be empowered about your health if you have incorrect information. I got interested in online snake oil and dubious science when my own children were born extremely prematurely. I found separating the facts from the fiction difficult and I am a doctor, so I started thinking if this is hard for me how does everyone else manage? It put the bad information that my own patients were bringing into the office in perspective. I know people sit up late at night Googling things and fall down rabbit holes of misinformation because I’ve been there!
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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"Asking the question of, "Where did the entire universe come from?" is no longer a question for poets and theologians and philosophers. This is a question for scientists, and we have some amazing scientific answers to this question."
Chapters For Easier Navigation:-
00:00:00 The origins of the universe
00:00:19 Why did you become a science communicator?
00:05:39 What are the origins of the Big Bang theory?
00:23:13 What is the difference between, “Singularity” and “Hot Big Bang’?
00:27:38 What are the three big predictions of the Hot Big Bang?
00:35:41 How was the cosmic inflation theory discovered?
00:40:09 What is cosmic inflation?
00:51:09 How can we test cosmic inflation?
01:08:34 Is there a multiverse?
01:37:56 How will the universe end?
01:52:56 What was it like when the first stars began to shine?
01:55:51 What was it like when life first became possible?
01:58:22 How are super massive black holes formed?
02:01:00 When will the last star die?
02:06:14 How does the James Webb Space Telescope change our understanding of space?
02:15:56 When will the next generation of telescopes be built?
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About Ethan Siegel:
Ethan Siegel is a Ph.D. astrophysicist and author of "Starts with a Bang!" He is a science communicator, who professes physics and astronomy at various colleges. He has won numerous awards for science writing since 2008 for his blog, including the award for best science blog by the Institute of Physics. His three books "Treknology: The Science of Star Trek from Tricorders to Warp Drive," "Beyond the Galaxy: How humanity looked beyond our Milky Way and discovered the entire Universe," and "Infinite Cosmos: Visions From the James Webb Space Telescope" are available for purchase at Amazon. Follow him on X @startswithabang.
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**💥 How Does Something Come from Nothing?**
**Spoiler: It’s All About Chaos, Copies, and Cosmic Coin Tosses 🌀🧬**
At the very start of *everything*, physics points to the **Big Bang** — an unimaginable explosion of space, time, and energy 💣🌌.
From there:
☁️ Energy expands
➡️ Hydrogen forms
⭐ Hydrogen clumps together → stars
🌠 Stars explode → planets are born
🌍 Planets cool → life sparks
🧠 Life evolves → tech emerges
🚀 And here we are, flinging stuff into space like cosmic toddlers with slingshots.
But wait… that tidy story?
Underneath it lies **quantum chaos** ⚛️🌪️.
Quantum physics says the universe isn’t a clean, predictable machine — it’s *random*, like a cosmic slot machine spinning infinite possibilities 🎰✨.
And yet, somehow, from that randomness… order *emerges*.
How?
### 🧬 Enter: **Replication**
In the swirling soup of quantum foam, random patterns appear.
Every now and then, one of those patterns gets lucky — it can **copy itself** 🔁.
### 🧪 Then: **Evolution**
Copies that survive in their environment get to stick around.
The rest? Gone.
That’s natural selection, even at the molecular level 🌱⚖️.
### 🧠 Finally: **Order from Chaos**
The universe *looks* ordered because what survives is what *works*.
But the raw fuel underneath? Still random.
What seems deterministic is just **billions of years of error correction** 🔧.
You flip a coin:
- Heads.
- Tails.
- Heads.
- Heads.
Too many heads? That’s not chance — it’s a loaded coin 🎯.
The more predictable something becomes, the more it’s shaped by history… not randomness.
---
So, **how does something come from nothing?**
✨ **Randomness births a copy.**
🔁 **The copy survives = replication.**
🔬 **The copy grows = evolution.**
🏆 **The copy fits = selection.**
The universe didn’t need a blueprint.
It needed a spark, some chaos… and the power to repeat 🔄.
And from that?
🌌 *Everything.*
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"There will always be too much to do. You're never going to feel completely ready. You're never going to be able to feel confident about what's coming in the future."
Many of us wake up each morning with something Oliver Burkeman calls “productivity debt.” The bestselling author and journalist explains this term as “a sense that you've got to work really hard during the day to pay off this debt of getting things done. Otherwise, you won't quite feel like you're an adequate and acceptable human being.”It's becoming very obvious that this ever-accelerating treadmill of productivity isn't going to lead to a final, perfect destination. There will always be more to do. You're never going to feel completely ready. You're never going to be able to feel confident about what's coming in the future. If you set out on some big project of scheduling your time very, very, very strictly, not only will you probably fail and get very stressed, but even if you succeed, you'll fail in a way because there'll be some lack of spontaneity to that path, a sense of having to carry out these instructions that you've given yourself that is at odds with what we really value from being alive. And so that's why we need a way of understanding and thinking about work and productivity that does not treat getting on top of everything as the goal, explains Burkeman. Here, he lays out four guiding principles to lead a better, more fulfilling life.
In this episode, we explore the trap of perfectionism and the endless pursuit of productivity. The discussion challenges the idea that getting on top of everything will bring peace, revealing instead that true relief comes from accepting life's inherent limitations. Strategies like the 3-4 hour deep work rule, keeping a "done" list, and embracing spontaneity help shift the focus from control to meaningful progress. By letting go of the pressure to maximize every moment, we can create space for what truly matters.
About Oliver Burkeman:Oliver Burkeman is a bestselling author and journalist. He is best known for Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals (2021), a self-help book on reframing productivity for happiness. He also publishes The Imperfectionist, an email on productivity, mortality, the power of limits, and building a meaningful life in an age of bewilderment.
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**🧠 Your Emotions Aren’t the Boss — *You* Are 🔥**
Feelings come from your **limbic system** — the emotional engine of your brain.
But here’s the kicker: it’s not smart. It just reacts. No logic. No filters. Just raw vibes 😤💥.
If you let it run the show, guess what?
You’ll be *owned* by your emotions 😬.
But you don’t have to be.
There’s a way to *take back control* — and it’s called **metacognition** 🧘♂️🔍.
Metacognition = thinking about your thinking.
It’s your **prefrontal cortex** (your rational brain 🧠) observing your emotional self 👀💭.
You’re basically saying:
“Okay, I’m feeling this… but *what does it mean?* And *what do I want to do about it?*”
🔄 Example: When a kid throws a tantrum, you say, “Use your words.”
Translation? “Stop being limbic. Be conscious.”
Now flip that advice on yourself. Every. Single. Time.
Next time you're angry or anxious:
1. Don’t react immediately 🚫🗣️
2. Count to **30** (not 10) ⏳
3. Let your brain *catch up* with your feelings
4. Then respond — *on purpose*, not on impulse 🎯
💡 Pro tip: The more you practice this, the better you get. It’s a skill, not magic.
And yeah, you’ll mess up sometimes. That’s part of it. Be kind to yourself 💛.
But here’s the real win:
✅ You’ll feel more in control
✅ You’ll be *happier*
✅ People will *love* being around you more
Because people who *respond* instead of *react*?
They're the real emotional MVPs 🏆✨.
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Could solar energy be the key to unlocking a future free from fossil fuels and extreme poverty? Casey Handmer, founder and CEO of Terraform Industries, believes so. His company is pioneering technology that could revolutionize how we produce and consume energy, potentially solving climate change and global energy inequality in one fell swoop.Terraform Industries is developing machines that create synthetic natural gas from sunlight and air. It sounds like science fiction, but the technology is rooted in simple chemistry and powered by the rapidly advancing field of solar energy.But Handmer's vision extends beyond just replacing fossil fuels. He sees solar energy as the catalyst for a new era of human progress. By providing cheap, abundant energy to every corner of the globe, we could potentially eliminate extreme poverty within our lifetimes. It's an ambitious goal, but one that Handmer believes we have a responsibility to pursue.
Chapters For Easier Understanding:0:00: Introduction1:20: The future of energy1:50: Solar vs. nuclear2:45: Solar deployment3:23: Solar vs. fossil fuels4:50: What is a fuel?6:52: The terraformer 7:49: Industrial Revolution
In this episode, Casey Handmer, CEO of Terraform Industries, discusses how solar energy has become drastically cheaper and predicts it will power 95% of humanity by 2042. He explains how his company is developing technology to create synthetic natural gas from sunlight and air, potentially replacing fossil fuels. Handmer emphasizes the rapid growth of solar, its economic advantages over nuclear, and the urgency of using this technology to combat climate change.
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**🔥 Dating Apps Are a Mess (and Kinda Messing *Us* Up Too) 💔📱**
Back in the day, people met through friends, family, work, or school 👨👩👧👦🎓.
Now? It’s swipe-swipe culture. Tinder. Bumble. Hinge. You name it.
Sure, dating apps have helped — especially for people in marginalized communities 🏳️🌈🤝.
But they’ve also brought along some serious issues.
👻 Ghosting? Normalized.
📸 Unwanted photos? Unfortunately, common.
🚨 Harassment? Way too frequent.
🤖 People often act worse when they feel there are no real consequences.
Some stats that say it all:
- 56% of women have received inappropriate images 📲
- 40% were contacted repeatedly after cutting someone off 🚫
- 37% were insulted, 11% even felt physically threatened 😟
- 64% of men felt insecure due to low responses 📉
This isn’t just awkward — it’s exhausting 🧠💤.
Apps turn dating into a *game*.
Swipe left, swipe right — again and again — while getting the message that someone “better” might be a tap away 😮💨.
Why build something real when you can just start over?
And let’s be real:
If your pics aren’t 🔥 or you’re not 6 feet tall, you might never even get seen 🙃.
It’s shallow. It’s discouraging. And for many, it’s just... draining.
So what can we do?
💡 Treat people like people — not profiles.
🫱🏽🫲🏼 Respect boundaries. Look for real connection.
👀 And maybe... just maybe... start a conversation in person.
Dating doesn’t have to feel like a simulation.
Let’s make it human again ❤️🩹.
About Christine Emba:
Christine Emba is an opinion columnist and editor at The Washington Post, where she focuses on ideas, society, and culture. She is also a contributing editor at Comment Magazine and an editor at large at Wisdom of Crowds, which includes a podcast and newsletter. Before this, Emba was the Hilton Kramer Fellow in Criticism at The New Criterion and a deputy editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit, focusing on technology and innovation. Her book, Rethinking Sex: A Provocation, is about the failures and potential of the sexual revolution in a post-#MeToo world. Emba was named one of the World’s Top 50 Thinkers by Prospect Magazine in 2022.
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What happens when an irredeemable person receives love, gratitude, and respect? After decades of drug and alcohol abuse, chef and television personality Andrew Zimmern learned firsthand.
As a teenager, Andrew Zimmern experienced deep pain when his mother became permanently disabled, and his father enforced a rule to avoid discussing feelings. Without an outlet, that pain grew into resentment and substance abuse. By 14, Zimmern was drinking daily, and his addiction followed him into adulthood, ultimately costing him his career, relationships, and home.In January 1992, after hitting rock bottom, Zimmern attempted to take his own life. When he woke up, something shifted. For the first time, he asked for help. His friends intervened, sending him to rehab, where he began confronting his emotions and embracing a mindset of learning and giving.Zimmern rebuilt his life, becoming a celebrated chef, author, and TV personality. Today, he credits that one vulnerable moment with saving his life and inspiring him to live with purpose and gratitude.
This episode is a deeply personal account of addiction, trauma, and redemption. The speaker reflects on their privileged yet emotionally stifled childhood, the pain of their mother's brain injury, and their descent into substance abuse. They recount their struggles with alcoholism, drug addiction, homelessness, and criminal behavior, reaching a breaking point with a failed suicide attempt. The turning point comes when they finally ask for help, leading them to a 12-step recovery program. Through sobriety, they rebuild their life, finding success in writing, TV, and radio while learning to prioritize giving over taking. The story highlights the power of transformation, self-acceptance, and the strength found in seeking help.
About Andrew Zimmern: Andrew Zimmern is a chef, food writer, and television personality best known for hosting Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel. A four-time James Beard Award winner, Zimmern has dedicated his career to exploring global cuisines and advocating for culinary diversity. Beyond television, he is a passionate philanthropist, focusing on hunger relief, food sustainability, and social justice. He founded the Andrew Zimmern Project to support food security initiatives and works with organizations like Second Harvest and Services for the Underserved. Through his work, Zimmern strives to create a more equitable food system and inspire cultural appreciation through cuisine.
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**🔥 *Hooked on Hate: Why We Can’t Look Away from Conflict***
In *High Conflict*, Amanda Ripley dives into the dark heart of human friction — that toxic, magnetic version of conflict we fall into and can’t escape. It’s not just fighting — it’s a cycle of obsession, identity, and self-destruction. Whether it’s politics, relationships, or gang wars, the pattern is the same: we become trapped in an all-or-nothing mindset, harming the very things we swore to protect.
**🧠 Why We Get Stuck**
Ripley compares high conflict to a tar pit. It *looks* calm, even inviting — but the moment you step in, you're stuck. Others join in, thinking they’re helping or gaining ground, and they too get trapped. And the harder you fight, the deeper you sink. Your mind narrows, your stress skyrockets, and your judgment crumbles. What begins as a cause turns into a cage.
**🔁 The Paradox of Wanting In and Out**
There’s a wild contradiction at the center of high conflict: we *desperately* want to escape it, but we’re also *drawn to it*. It gives us a sense of purpose, of belonging — even as it consumes us. It’s addictive. You’ll lose sleep. You’ll lose perspective. And ironically, you’ll lose the very thing you were fighting for.
**🎭 We’re All Under a Spell**
People in high conflict seem like they’re under a spell. They repeat the same conversations. They grow more extreme. Why? Because when we don’t feel heard — and we rarely do — we yell louder, simplify everything, and push further. It becomes about *winning*, not resolving.
**🎯 The Understory: What Are We *Really* Fighting About?**
Ripley introduces the idea of the “understory” — the hidden emotional root beneath every loud, surface-level argument. Most fights aren’t about politics, chores, or even ideology — they’re about deeper needs like respect, control, recognition, or care. Miss that, and the real issue festers forever.
**📉 The Traps We Fall Into**
Across every example — gangs, divorces, councils — the same trip wires emerge:
- **Binary thinking**: It’s “us vs. them.”
- **Fundamental attribution error**: We excuse *our* actions but label others as evil.
- **No off-ramp**: People stuck in high conflict often don’t see a way out — or anyone waiting with compassion when they try.
**🧊 Breaking the Spell**
To escape, we need something radically different: not avoidance, not surrender, and not war. Ripley champions a fourth path — cultivating *good conflict*: friction that’s productive, honest, and deeply human.
**🔄 Looping: The Game-Changing Tool**
The most powerful weapon? *Listening.* Real listening. Ripley teaches “looping” — a method where you reflect back what you hear, check if it’s accurate, and genuinely try to understand. When people feel heard, they open up. They drop their guard. They even understand themselves more clearly.
**🏀 Real-World Redemption**
Take Curtis Toler — a former gang leader who broke out of high conflict after an emotional reckoning during his son’s graduation. He had support, faith, and a new community waiting — key ingredients for escape. But most don’t have that. So, the conflict continues.
**💬 Final Punch**
You can't change a mind that doesn't feel heard. But when you start to uncover the *understory*, everything changes. The world doesn’t need less conflict — it needs *better* conflict. The kind that builds instead of burns.
Chapters:-
00:00 Breaking the cycle of high conflict
00:23 The psychology of surviving a crisis
00:41 The news is broken (and how to fix it)
00:57 Why people avoid the news, across the globe
01:07 The illusion of polarization
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.
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"Change your name—your failures will follow you."
That was the worst advice Dhar Mann got—from someone he admired. Instead, he built his entire brand on that very name. Now? 60+ billion views.
Growing up, he never fit in—too Indian for Americans, too American for Indians. Even ate lunch in the bathroom to avoid judgment. But later, he realized: he didn’t need to fit into any box at all.
At 30, rock bottom hit: broke, depressed, facing public failure. That’s when he stopped blaming the world—and took full ownership of his life. "If I'm not the problem, I can't be the solution."
Then COVID hit his family hard—his daughter nearly died. That moment rewired his values. Success isn’t one more video—it’s showing up. For his kids. For himself. Every single day.
Dhar Mann’s life looked perfect on the outside—but behind the scenes, he was completely falling apart. He shares how he changed his mindset and his habits to overcome the most difficult moments of his life.
For Mann, success used to mean financial achievement, but after years of chasing the next big milestone, his priorities shifted. Now, it’s about being present, especially for his family. Whether it’s taking his kids to school or setting personal goals, he’s learned that real success isn’t just about numbers—it’s about the people who count on you to show up.
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About Dhar Mann:
Dhar Mann is a filmmaker, entrepreneur, and the founder of Dhar Mann Studios, known for creating viral videos that share powerful life lessons. With over 70 million followers and 60 billion views on YouTube, his stories inspire people to make better choices and treat others with kindness. After going through his own tough times, Dhar started making videos to help others who might be struggling too — turning his past into a purpose that connects with millions.
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Can the power of community transform our educational systems for the better? This neuroscientist says absolutely.
Mary Helen Immordino-Yang is a neuroscientist and USC professor, and she has spent her career studying education and the ways we can enhance it. Her findings claim that diversity has a huge impact on brain growth and even life experience. She explains that similarly to how fabric is composed of thousands of intricately woven threads, our schools need the active coordination of many people and skills, making them stronger together.
Immordino-Yang stresses the importance of this strong social fabric, explaining that spending time around those who differ from us can help us become adaptable and truly deepen our understanding of the world around us. This idea calls for a new approach to education, where teachers and students work together to create systems of learning that help them grow alongside one another, instead of on confined and isolated paths.
**🎓 Rethinking Education: From Standardized to Human-Centered**
Our current education system is built on a “single story” — one path, one right answer, one judgment that matters. But this model fails to capture the true potential of young minds.
---
### 🌍 A New Center:
We need a *Copernican shift* in education:
- **From** testing outcomes
- **To** lived experiences, relationships, and agency
Ask:
- What thinking happens in this space?
- How do we co-create meaning?
- What power do students and teachers have to shape learning?
---
### 🧠 Humans as Ecosystems:
We're not just individuals learning in isolation — we are **part of each other’s environments**. Our development is shaped by our social worlds, and in turn, shapes them.
---
### 🛠️ What Needs Repair:
- Standardized systems **disconnect knowledge from purpose**
- They suppress agency — the very thing that fuels real thinking
- We must **rebuild education as a community project** that nurtures human development
---
> 🎯 True learning happens when students feel ownership, think deeply, and build meaning **together** — not just when they get the “right answer.”
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About Mary Helen Immordino-Yang:
Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, EdD, is an expert on the psychological and neurobiological foundations of social emotion, self-awareness, and culture, and how they impact learning, development, and education.
She is a Professor of Education at the USC Rossier School of Education, a Professor of Psychology at the Brain and Creativity Institute, a faculty member in the Neuroscience Graduate Program at the University of Southern California, and the Director of the USC Center for Affective Neuroscience, Development, Learning, and Education (CANDLE).
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"Welcome to the multiverse. Or should I say our one universe within a multiverse of possibilities?"
Do we have proof of a multiverse?
Our idea of the multiverse stems from the notion of quantum mechanics: The idea that every time we enter a situation there are potentially infinite possibilities to arise as the outcome. But when we make a decision, we only get one of these outcomes.
Science fiction as well as our media and films are bewitched by the concept of the multiverse. But what can science tell us about its legitimacy? Dr. Ethan Siegel explores.
Chapters for easier navigation:-
0:00 Is there a multiverse?
3:32 The “many worlds” interpretation
4:43 The notion of infinity
8:45 Types of infinity
10:16 Degrees of freedom
17:01 Quantum mechanical spreading
19:22 The universe beyond our universe
21:46 How fast do universes get created?
27:15 The hope of the multiverse
The idea of the Multiverse suggests that every quantum possibility—every outcome that could happen—does happen, in a different universe. From choices we make to random atomic events, reality may split endlessly.
Cosmic inflation—a rapid expansion after the Big Bang—might have created countless "bubble universes." Each one with different physical laws or histories. These bubbles never touch, separated by ever-expanding space.
But here's the twist: Quantum mechanics produces a combinatoric explosion of outcomes—far more than the exponential growth from cosmic inflation. So, can the inflationary Multiverse actually contain all quantum possibilities?
Only if inflation has been going on forever, into the infinite past and future.
Otherwise, the full-blown sci-fi-style Multiverse? It's just in our minds.
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About Ethan Siegel:
Ethan Siegel is a Ph.D. astrophysicist and author of "Starts with a Bang!" He is a science communicator, who professes physics and astronomy at various colleges. He has won numerous awards for science writing since 2008 for his blog, including the award for best science blog by the Institute of Physics. His two books "Treknology: The Science of Star Trek from Tricorders to Warp Drive" and "Beyond the Galaxy: How humanity looked beyond our Milky Way and discovered the entire Universe" are available for purchase at Amazon.
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**🌌 What If the Universe Expands Because of… Selection?**
Sounds wild? It is. But maybe it’s not nonsense.
Let’s dive into this provocative idea — that **life, selection, and novelty** might be *fueling* the Universe’s expansion.
---
### 🌀 The Setup: A Universe in Motion
The Universe, as far as we can tell, has been **expanding** ever since the Big Bang.
Not just drifting outward — **accelerating**.
But **why** is it expanding faster?
And what’s it expanding *into*?
(Trick question — probably *nothing*. There’s no “outside” to space-time.)
---
### ❓ A Bigger Question: What If Selection Drives Expansion?
Now for the bold idea:
> **Could the Universe be expanding because of selection?**
Not natural selection in the Darwinian sense, but a **broader concept**:
- Wherever **matter interacts**,
- Wherever **patterns emerge**,
- Wherever **choices are made**,
there’s **selection** — and selection may be the engine of **novelty**.
---
### 🧠 Here’s the Thought Experiment:
1. **Big Bang** happens → universe starts expanding.
2. **Complexity arises** — atoms, molecules, stars, life.
3. **Life generates novelty**, explores possibilities, selects paths.
4. **Selection** becomes embedded in physical processes.
5. That selection might be **linked to the flow of time** — and maybe even **fuels the expansion**.
Think of it as:
> **The more selection, the more expansion.**
Wherever *stuff* interacts and selects — from particles to consciousness —
**space inflates** to accommodate complexity.
---
### 🔄 But What Even *Is* Time?
Time, in this view, isn’t just a backdrop — it’s **active**, driven by **irreversible change**, the one-way arrow of causality.
And if time is real — and not reversible — then maybe **selection through matter** is what keeps the clock ticking.
And keeps the cosmos stretching.
---
### 🔬 Is It Testable?
No, not yet. Maybe not ever.
But maybe we’ve been asking the wrong questions.
Instead of:
> “What force is driving expansion?”
Try asking:
> “What role does *novelty* play in the evolution of the cosmos?”
---
### 🧬 Life as Localized Selection
If selection per unit volume = life,
then maybe **life isn’t separate from the cosmos** — it’s just **one expression of the Universe’s selection process**.
That means:
- Even if no humans exist,
- Even if no Earth exists,
- **Wherever there’s interaction, there’s selection.**
And **where there’s selection… the Universe expands**.
---
### 🤯 Final Thought
This isn’t settled science. It might even be nonsense.
But **isn’t it thrilling** to wonder if your thoughts, your choices, your very existence
are *not just observers of the cosmos* —
but **contributors to its expansion**?
> What if we’re not just in the Universe…
> **What if we’re part of what keeps it growing?**
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**Are you trapped in a narrative that isn’t really yours?** From childhood, we absorb beliefs about who we are—“the smart one,” “the creative one,” “the failure.” These labels, shaped by family and environment, become our **Perception Box**, limiting what we believe is possible. But neuroscience reveals that we can rewrite our stories. By recognizing negative thought patterns, questioning old identities, and celebrating small wins, we can **rewire our brains** and reshape our reality. **So, who do you really want to be?**
Your brain is wired to repeat the familiar. Change this wiring, and it will change your life.
Nicole Vignola, a neuroscientist and organizational psychologist, explains how deeply rooted beliefs can limit our potential and keep us trapped in patterns of thought. These perceptions, often shaped by our upbringing and environment, aren’t necessarily our own—but they can be changed.Nicole shares how the brain’s natural biases, like negativity bias and confirmation bias, reinforce these limiting beliefs. However, with the right approach, it’s possible to reshape our mental patterns. By practicing metacognition—observing and naming our thoughts—we can start to rewire our perception and create new, empowering narratives.Our brains are capable of change at any age. By focusing on small wins and challenging automatic thoughts, we can break free from old beliefs and begin using a mindset that better serves ourselves and our futures.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Nicole Vignola:Nicole Vignola is a neuroscientist, author and corporate consultant. With a BSc in Neuroscience and an MSc in Organizational Psychology, Nicole works with companies and individuals worldwide, educating them on the science of human optimisation, health and longevity, and how to enable employees to perform better in their daily lives and in turn, bring peak performance to the workplace. Recent clients include Lloyds Bank, Makers Mark and Smeg Ltd.
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**🌍 Humanity Stands at the Shore of a New Continent — AI. What Now?**
For 200,000 years, humans were the smartest beings on the planet.
But today, **AI is forcing us to question what it *really* means to live a human life**.
From **Copernicus** to **Darwin** to **Einstein**, science has repeatedly humbled us — displacing us from the center of the universe, showing us we are animals, and revealing that our intuition is flawed.
Now, in the **age of Turing**, it’s AI’s turn to push us toward philosophy again.
---
### 🤖 From Tool… to Architect?
For centuries, technology served *us*. It helped us *do* things — but it never told us *what to do*.
That’s changed.
Today, algorithms decide what you read, what you watch, and even how you think about right and wrong.
Tomorrow, **AI might diagnose disease, invent cures, and guide global decisions**.
But what if it doesn’t just assist us — what if it begins to **shape our very goals**?
---
### ⚖️ The Big Risks
1. **Convenience becomes dependency** — we outsource thinking, creativity, even values.
2. **Governance structures built to protect us** become the very systems that **control us**.
3. **Human freedom — our core superpower — slowly erodes**.
---
### 🧭 Three Steps Toward a Human-Centered Future
#### **Step 1: The North Star – Human Flourishing**
We must re-orient AI not around power or profit, but around helping each person **realize their potential**.
> Not to build gods. Not to build replacements.
> But to build *tools* for better lives.
#### **Step 2: The Compass – Principles for Progress**
A new AI philosophy must be built on three pillars:
- **Autonomy**: The freedom to think and act without manipulation.
- **Reason**: The ability to weigh ideas, debate, and discover truth.
- **Decentralization**: Power spread across many, not hoarded by a few.
These are the values that **preserve our humanity** in a world shaped by machines.
#### **Step 3: Navigate the New World – From Philosophy to Code**
Just like America’s founders built a **philosophy-to-law pipeline**, we need a **philosophy-to-code pipeline**.
Enter:
🧪 **The Human-Centered AI Lab at Oxford**
— the first lab dedicated to building open-source AI aligned with human flourishing.
---
### 🧠 The Future Needs a New Kind of Technologist
One who combines:
- **World-class AI skills**
- **And deep philosophical grounding**
These pioneers will prototype systems where **tech empowers humanity**, not erases it.
---
### 🚀 Final Thought
We are at a pivotal moment.
A once-in-a-civilization inflection point.
Like setting foot on a new world — with no map.
But with a **North Star to guide us**,
and a **Compass to keep us grounded**,
we can build a future where technology serves humanity — not the other way around.
> From Copernicus to Turing, it’s time to once again **find our place in the cosmos** —
> **not as obsolete beings**,
> but as stewards of the future.
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"We're awash in lies and misinformation to a degree that was not possible before we got the internet and in particular before we got social media."
Our world seems more fragmented than ever. Author and podcaster Sam Harris thinks that an open conversation with 8 billion strangers could solve that. Here's his full Big Think interview, in its entirety.
Sam argues that the real problem isn’t bad people but bad ideas. He believes there’s a growing “crisis of meaning” caused by secularism, social media, and political division, making honest discussions harder.
He points out how online platforms spread misinformation, push people to extremes, and make cooperation difficult. He values reason over blind faith and encourages open conversations. He also promotes mindfulness and meditation to quiet the constant noise in our minds.
He’s worried about rising populism and authoritarianism, warning that ignoring big issues like climate change and AI could have serious consequences. To protect free societies, he says we need to stay rational and deal with these threats wisely.
Chapters for easier navigation:
00:00:00 - Finding meaning in a world of disinformation00:00:21 - When did you first become interested in debate?00:01:28 - What is causing the polarization we are seeing in our society?00:08:46 - How do we experience meaning?00:14:37 - What concerns you most about the future?00:21:49 - Why is freedom of speech such a powerful concept?00:28:48 - How do our belief systems affect the world around us?00:37:05 - How do we navigate the current landscape?00:45:00 - What can individuals do to make the world a better place?00:51:15 - How can we become better versions of ourselves?01:04:44 - How can we reframe our mental state into a positive experience?01:14:01 - Is artificial intelligence friend or foe?01:22:08 - How can we develop artificial intelligence responsibly?01:26:39 - How can the media regain lost trust?01:36:13 - How can you tell who is telling the truth in media?
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.
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The winners of the remote work boom? Utah, Arizona, and Maine. Here’s what the US’ post-pandemic migration looks like.
In the wake of COVID, rising populations are shifting out of states like New York and California and moving to previously less-popular landscapes. The biggest beneficiaries of the post-pandemic economy have been states in the American South, including Texas and Florida, which has seen the fastest GDP growth of any state since the start of COVID, at more than a 20% increase.
What is driving these shifts in economic geography? Economist Joseph Politano points out that the most obvious factor is the increasing remote work possibilities. Some of the biggest states to lose residents have been dense, urbanized, unaffordable areas, and some of the biggest winners have been less dense, suburban, more affordable areas. People, when given the flexibility to tele-work, choose places that are more spacious suburban states than they did before the pandemic.
California and New York are going to have to reform a lot of their policies around housing, construction, and transportation if they want to compete in this new economy. And if they don't, the exodus to states like Texas and Florida will only continue.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
**📦 America’s Post-COVID Migration: Who’s Winning and Losing**
Since COVID, Americans have been relocating in droves — and it's reshaping the U.S. economy.
---
### 🏆 Winners:
- **Florida** (+20% GDP) and **Texas** (+14% GDP): Booming jobs, fast growth, lots of new housing.
- **Rocky Mountain states** (Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Colorado): Gaining people thanks to remote work.
### 📉 Losers:
- **New York** and **Illinois**: Weak job recovery, slow GDP growth.
- **California**: Strong GDP but losing jobs due to high costs and limited housing.
---
### 💡 Why?
1. **Remote work**: People are ditching dense, pricey cities for affordable suburbs.
2. **Housing construction**: States that build more (like TX & FL) attract more people.
3. **Industry spread**: Tech, finance, and entertainment are no longer stuck in one place.
---
### 🏙️ The California Problem:
Still dominant in tech, but too expensive to keep everyone. Without policy reforms, outmigration will continue.
---
> 📍 Bottom line: In the new economy, **mobility + affordability = growth**.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About Joseph Politano:
Joseph Politano is a Financial Management Analyst at the Bureau of Labor Statistics working to support the Labor Market Information and Occupational Health and Safety surveys that BLS conducts. He writes independently about economics, business, and public policy for a better world at apricitas.substack.com.
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Welcome to The Freethink Interview, a interview series from our sister channel @freethink where we talk to the new generation of builders, leaders and thinkers shaping technological progress. Join us for thought-provoking conversations with some of the world’s most interesting and ambitious technologists.
What if the world's most critical technology isn't software, but the tiny pieces of silicon that power it? In an age where chips are everywhere, from smartphones to coffee makers, their manufacturing complexity might surprise you. It's harder to make a modern semiconductor than a nuclear weapon.Inside Taiwan's cutting-edge fabrication plants, machines worth $350 million each orchestrate an atomic ballet. These marvels of engineering use the flattest mirrors ever made and lasers that create temperatures 40 times hotter than the sun's surface – all to carve transistors smaller than a coronavirus.From Silicon Valley to Taiwan, from the Netherlands to Japan, making modern chips is a global dance of unprecedented complexity. Each processor requires ultra-purified materials, billion-dollar machines, and a supply chain spanning multiple continents. But this intricate network faces its greatest challenge yet.As artificial intelligence reshapes our world, the demand for advanced chips is skyrocketing. Tech giants are pouring billions into new semiconductor designs, while startups race to create specialized AI chips that could make artificial intelligence as accessible as a Google search. Join us as we explore how these tiny silicon marvels are shaping humanity's future.
This episode delves into the fascinating and high-stakes world of semiconductors, exploring their critical role in modern technology and geopolitics. Author and professor Chris Miller discusses the complexity of chip manufacturing, the global supply chain's vulnerabilities, and the strategic importance of Taiwan in the semiconductor industry. He explains how advancements in chip technology have far outpaced other fields, how AI demand is driving innovation, and how tensions between the U.S. and China over chip production could reshape the global economy. The episode highlights the crucial role chips play in everything from smartphones to AI development, and the potential risks if supply chains are disrupted.
Chapters For easier Navigation:
0:00: The Freethink Interview: Chris Miller00:39: A single factory in Taiwan02:31: The first transistor 03:31: The first chip04:50: Moore’s Law 07:40: A global industry10:01: The most important company in the world12:08: Why chips are central to US and China13:45: AI and chips
About Chris Miller: He is an American historian, professor, and author specializing in international affairs, economics, and technology. He teaches at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and is best known for his book Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology, which explores the geopolitical significance of semiconductors. His research focuses on global power struggles, particularly between the U.S. and China, and his work has appeared in major publications like The New York Times and Foreign Affairs.
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**🧬 What *Is* Life, Really? And Could We Build It From Scratch?**
What if the key to understanding life… is not *what it’s made of* — but *how it assembles*?
Ask ten scientists “What is life?” and you’ll get a thousand different answers. But **Lee Cronin**, the chemist behind **Assembly Theory**, offers a radical simplification:
> **Life is any system that can produce complexity at scale.**
Not DNA, not metabolism — just *non-random complexity*, multiplied.
### 🔧 Enter “Assembly Theory” — Life by the Numbers
Instead of asking “Does it have genes?” Cronin asks:
**How much *selection* went into producing these objects?**
- **Assembly Index**: How complex is an object — how many steps to make it?
- **Multiply that by how many copies of it exist**, and you get a system’s *Assembly*.
- The more **non-random complexity** at scale? The more likely you’re looking at life.
In essence:
> **Life is what happens when the universe gets choosy — and does it over and over again.**
### 🌌 Why This Changes Everything
1. **We can *measure* life**, not just define it vaguely.
2. **We can trace its evolution** anywhere — even on other planets.
3. **We might even build it.**
Yep — **we might be close to creating life in a lab.**
### 🧪 The “Origin of Life” Machine
Cronin and his team are building a **selection engine** — a machine designed to sift through random chemistry and spot the emergence of life-like behavior.
They're targeting three critical time factors:
1. **Time to create** the object.
2. **Time until it decays** if left alone.
3. **Time it can persist** through generations in a living system.
If a molecule scores high on all three? It might just be alive — or close.
### 🚀 How soon will we create synthetic life?
No one knows.
But Cronin believes it's not decades away.
> “We now know what we’re looking for — and we’re building the tools to find it.”
---
**✨ Big Idea:**
What if “life” isn’t some magical property… but an **inevitable result** of chemistry and selection?
If so, life may not be rare. It may be **written into the fabric of the universe**.
About Lee Cronin:
Leroy Cronin has one of the largest multidisciplinary, chemistry-based research teams in the world. He has given over 300 international talks and has authored over 350 peer-reviewed papers with recent work published in Nature, Science, and PNAS. He and his team are trying to make artificial life forms, find alien life, explore the digitization of chemistry, understand how information can be encoded into chemicals, and construct chemical computers.
He went to the University of York where he completed both a degree and PhD in chemistry and then went on to do postdocs in Edinburgh and Germany before becoming a lecturer at the Universities of Birmingham, and then Glasgow where he has been since 2002, working up the ranks to become the Regius Professor of Chemistry in 2013 at age 39.
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