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Professor John Norton has spent decades dismantling the hidden assumptions in physics from Newton’s determinism to the myth of Landauer’s Principle. In this episode, he explains why causation may not be real, how classical physics breaks down, and why even Einstein got some things wrong. If you’re ready to rethink the foundations of science, this one’s essential.
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Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
03:37 Norton's Dome Explained
06:30 The Misunderstanding of Determinism
09:31 Thermodynamics and Infinite Systems
14:39 Implications for Quantum Mechanics
16:20 Revisiting Causation
18:15 Critique of Causal Metaphysics
20:21 The Utility of Causal Language
24:58 Exploring Thought Experiments
33:05 Landauer's Principle Discussion
49:48 Critique of Experimental Validation
52:25 Consequences for Maxwell's Demon
1:13:34 Einstein's Critiques of Quantum Mechanics
1:28:16 The Nature of Scientific Discovery
1:42:56 Inductive Inferences in Science
Links Mentioned:
• A Primer on Determinism (book): https://amzn.to/45Jn3b4
• John Norton’s papers: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=UDteMFoAAAAJ
• Causation as Folk Science (paper): https://sites.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/papers/003004.pdf
• Lipschitz continuity (wiki): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipschitz_continuity
• The Dome: An Unexpectedly Simple Failure of Determinism (paper): https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/2943/1/Norton.pdf
• Norton’s Dome (wiki): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norton%27s_dome
• Approximation and Idealization (paper): https://sites.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/papers/Ideal_Approx_final.pdf
• On the Quantum Theory of Radiation (paper): https://www.informationphilosopher.com/solutions/scientists/einstein/1917_Radiation.pdf
• Making Things Happen (book): https://ccc.inaoep.mx/~esucar/Clases-mgc/Making-Things-Happen-A-Theory-of-Causal-Explanation.pdf
• Causation in Physics (wiki): https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/causation-physics/
• Laboratory of the Mind (paper): https://www.academia.edu/2644953/REVIEW_James_R_Brown_Laboratory_of_the_Mind
• Roger Penrose on TOE: https://youtu.be/sGm505TFMbU
• Ted Jacobson on TOE: https://youtu.be/3mhctWlXyV8
• The Thermodynamics of Computation (paper): https://sites.cc.gatech.edu/computing/nano/documents/Bennett%20-%20The%20Thermodynamics%20Of%20Computation.pdf
• What’s Actually Possible? (article): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com/p/the-unexamined-in-principle
• On a Decrease of Entropy in a Thermodynamic System (paper): https://fab.cba.mit.edu/classes/862.22/notes/computation/Szilard-1929.pdf
• Landauer’s principle and thermodynamics (article): https://www.nature.com/articles/nature10872
• The Logical Inconsistency of Old Quantum Theory of Black Body Radiation (paper): https://sites.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/papers/Inconsistency_OQT.pdf
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