The H Index and the Future of Physics

Part 1 of Brian Keating’s fascinating interview with mathematician & economist Eric Weinstein on the INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE Podcast. Topics include Eric’s provocative new ideas on physics and science culture. Weinstein is a vocal critic of modern academic hierarchies and advocates for advances in scientific theory over an emphasis on experimental results. Keating’s own issues with what he calls the “academic Hunger Games” leads to a lively debate about funding, academic freedom, and theoretical vs experimental physics. Find show notes and resources are available here: https://briankeating.com/blog.php

• 00:11:09 Is there middle ground between cranks and peer review?
• 00:20:23 The value of Weinstein’s approach to communicating science.
• 00:30:50 The ethics of attribution.
• 00:41:26 Surviving the academic Hunger Games.
• 00:54:24 Theoretical physicists can save human life by getting us off Earth.
• 01:11:52 “Great science is whatever people have done to make major advances.”
• 01:22:00 Experiments are only the last step, theory is the bulk of science.
• 01:29:15 The logic behind questioning accepted theories on April Fool’s Day.

Eric Weinstein has a Ph.D. from Harvard in mathematical physics. He is the managing director of Thiel Capital.

• Weinstein hosts the podcast The Portal 
• Find Eric Weinstein on the web: https://ericweinstein.org and Twitter: https://twitter.com/EricRWeinstein
• Watch Weinstein’s “April Fool’s” episode of The Portal, where he explains his theory of Geometric Unity
• Watch Weinstein’s latest interview on The Joe Rogan Experience 

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 ‍♂️ Find Brian Keating on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating

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