The Daily Cosmic Questions
Aug 19, 2022
Dennis Overbye, the Cosmic Affairs Correspondent for The New York Times, delves into humanity's cosmic questions. He unpacks the mysteries of black holes and reflects on our place in an indifferent universe. Topics include why we remember the past but not the future, challenging traditional perceptions of time. Through humorous speculation and thought-provoking anecdotes, Overbye encourages listeners to embrace the unknown while contemplating existential themes of mortality and purpose.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Overbye's Black Hole History
- Dennis Overbye's early career involved typesetting for an astronomy magazine.
- He covered a Stephen Hawking conference on black holes, a topic he'd later write Hawking's obituary about.
Cosmic Ignorance
- Dennis Overbye calls himself an "evangelist of cosmic ignorance."
- He embraces the vast unknown as a reminder of humanity's shared predicament.
Time's Mystery
- We don't fully grasp fundamental concepts like time and space.
- Mathematically, time is a dimension, but we experience it as a one-way flow.