Sara Imari Walker, an astrobiologist and theoretical physicist, dives into the origin and definition of life. They challenge conventional concepts of life, exploring interesting questions about artificial life amidst a background of physics and biology. Discussions cover the Fermi paradox, the potential for extraterrestrial existence, and the evolution of complex structures through assembly theory. Walker also speaks on the philosophical implications of a 'block universe' and the infinite nature of prime numbers, highlighting the fascinating intersection of mathematics and existence.
46:59
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
menu_book Books
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
question_answer ANECDOTE
Schrödinger's Contribution
Erwin Schrödinger's book 'What is Life?' first structured the scientific inquiry into the nature of life based on physics. His idea of an 'aperiodic crystal' predicted the structure of DNA as the genetic material.
insights INSIGHT
Definitions of Life
Standard definitions of life often fall short when scrutinized. Edge cases such as viruses and honeybee colonies challenge our understanding of what constitutes living organisms.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Consider Artificial Life
Challenge the idea that artificial life is a contradiction. Explore the possibility of understanding life enough to potentially instantiate it in machines.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
A Physicist’s Journey Through the Land of Counterfactuals
Chiara Marletto
This book introduces the concept of counterfactuals in physics, developed by Chiara Marletto and David Deutsch. It argues that traditional physics is limited by focusing only on what actually happens, and proposes a new approach that includes what could happen. This 'science of can and can't' aims to reformulate quantum and classical physics, and has implications for understanding information, computation, and the universe as a whole. The book uses clear analogies and includes short fictional stories to explain complex concepts, making it accessible to a broad audience.
What Is Life?
Erwin Schrödinger
Written for the lay reader, 'What Is Life?' is based on a series of public lectures delivered by Erwin Schrödinger in 1943 at Trinity College, Dublin. The book addresses the fundamental question of how living organisms can be understood in terms of their molecular and atomic structure. Schrödinger discusses the stability of genes, the concept of 'negative entropy,' and how life maintains order despite the second law of thermodynamics. He also speculates on the role of mutations, the nature of consciousness, and the philosophical implications of his findings. The book had a significant impact on the development of modern biology, influencing scientists such as James D. Watson and Francis Crick in their discovery of the DNA structure.
Life as No One Knows It
The Physics of Life's Emergence
Sara Imari Walker
In 'Life as No One Knows It,' physicist and astrobiologist Sara Imari Walker argues that solving the origin of life requires radical new thinking and an experimentally testable theory for what life is. This is an urgent issue for efforts to make life from scratch in laboratories and missions searching for life on other planets. Walker proposes a new paradigm for understanding what physics encompasses and what we recognize as life, culminating in a bold proposal for a new theory for identifying and classifying life that applies to any instance of life in the universe. The book celebrates the mystery of life and the explanatory power of physics.
Sam Harris speaks with Sara Imari Walker about a scientific understanding of life. They discuss the contributions of physics to this topic, Erwin Schrödinger, the inadequacy of standard definitions of life, the prospect of "artificial" life, the role of information, constructor theory, assembly theory, the space of all possible structures, a "block universe," the existence of abstract objects like numbers, the Fermi paradox, the likelihood of life elsewhere in the universe, experiments that could decide how likely life is to emerge, the possibility of a Great Filter, the number of Earth-like worlds, and other topics.
If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samharris.org/subscribe.
Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.
Making Sense with Sam Harris 
