The Concept of a Constructor Is Hidden

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

The constructor is an even more general notion than the one that was proposed by a phenomenon. It's really any system that can enact, enable a transformation on a different system and retain the ability of causing it again. So you can think of it as a generalization of things like er enzymes, or er termal engines, or computers. But i think it doesn't have to be a programmable - in a way, the fact that he works in a cycle allows you to remove it fromEr the law of physics.

Traditional physics works within the “Laplacian paradigm”: you give me the state of the universe (or some closed system), some equations of motion, then I use those equations to evolve the system through time. Constructor theory proposes an alternative paradigm: to think of physical systems in terms of counterfactuals — the set of rules governing what can and cannot happen. Originally proposed by David Deutsch, constructor theory has been developed by today’s guest, Chiara Marletto, and others. It might shed new light on quantum gravity and fundamental physics, as well as having applications to higher-level processes of thermodynamics and biology.

Support Mindscape on Patreon.

Chiara Marletto received her DPhil in physics from the University of Oxford. She is currently a research fellow at Wolfson College, University of Oxford. Her new book is The Science of Can and Can’t: A Physicist’s Journey Through the Land of Counterfactuals.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.