What Is the Ceiling of Assembly?

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

Whatever physics governs life emerges actually in chemistry, it's not relevant at the subatomic scale or even at the atomic scale. When you get into this combinatorial diversity that you get from combining things on the periodic table, that's when selection starts to matter. And whatever we're talking about as physics of information or physics of assembly becomes relevant at a certain scale of reality. Do you think if you were there in the early universe, you would have been able to predict the emergence of chemistry and biology? Because at this stage as humans, do you think we can possibly predict the length of the universe? Like how complex is what is the ceiling of assembly?

Sara Walker is an astrobiologist and theoretical physicist. Lee Cronin is a chemist. This is a conversation and debate about alien life and alien civilizations. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
– Uncruise: https://uncruise.com/pages/lex
– Linode: https://linode.com/lex to get $100 free credit
– ExpressVPN: https://expressvpn.com/lexpod and use code LexPod to get 3 months free
– ROKA: https://roka.com/ and use code LEX to get 20% off your first order
– Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lex and use code LEX to get 1 month of fish oil

EPISODE LINKS:
Sara’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sara_Imari
Sara’s Website: http://emergence.asu.edu
Lee’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/leecronin
Lee’s Website: https://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/cronin
Chemify’s Website: https://chemify.io

PODCAST INFO:
Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8
RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/
YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman
YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips

SUPPORT & CONNECT:
– Check out the sponsors above, it’s the best way to support this podcast
– Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman
– Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman
– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman
– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman
– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman
– Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman

OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(07:47) – Aliens
(21:53) – What is life?
(29:35) – Assembly theory
(52:03) – Math
(1:03:45) – Communication with aliens
(1:28:38) – Evolution of the universe
(1:37:56) – Creating alien life
(1:45:29) – Origin of life
(1:52:29) – Before the Big Bang
(1:59:22) – God
(2:09:39) – Goal-directed behavior
(2:27:37) – Time
(2:35:54) – Free will and imagination
(2:51:06) – UFO sightings
(2:56:06) – Alien life forms debate
(3:11:14) – Robots
(3:20:29) – Love and emotion
(3:38:55) – Beauty in science
(3:49:06) – Random questions
(3:58:30) – Advice for young people
(4:01:48) – Life on Earth
(4:06:12) – Memory