Theory of electromagnetism took the form of initial conditions plus laws of motion. In this conception, theories were thought to be all about what happens in the world. Even with the advent of general relativity and quantum mechanics it reigned supreme. But some of our deepest explanations simply don't conform to this prevailing conception.
We motivate and introduce Constructor Theory, humanity's first Theory of Everything (or so I claim). We explain what the founder of Constructor Theory, David Deutsch, calls the prevailing conception, and why it is inadequate in capturing and explaining many phenomena in nature, such as evolution by natural selection, the growth of knowledge, and various principles that we hold to be true. We briefly discuss why Constructor Theory allows for a wider range of phenomena than does the prevailing conception.
Foundational Paper on Constructor Theory (preprint) - https://arxiv.org/pdf/1210.7439.pdf
Twitter - https://twitter.com/ChipkinLogan
Articles - www.loganchipkin.com
---
Support this podcast:
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/logan-chipkin/support