COMPLEXITY Physics of Life, Ep 5: How human history shapes scientific inquiry
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Mar 27, 2024 
David Krakauer and Sean Carroll discuss human history's impact on scientific inquiry, from genetic causality debates to the quest for emergent laws in complex systems. They explore the balance between simplicity and complexity in physics, interdisciplinary challenges in research, and the entropic nature of life and the universe. The podcast highlights the Santa Fe Institute's role in promoting adaptive scientific inquiry.
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Mendel Versus Weldon Shifted Genetics
- David Krakauer recounts the early genetics debate where Mendelian views won after Raphael Weldon's death.
- He argues that scientific 'facts' can be accidents of history shaping research for decades.
Counterfactuals Expand Scientific Imagination
- Theorists play the counterfactual game to imagine alternative worlds and mechanisms we've never encountered.
- This expands empathy by showing many different ways of being beyond our familiar mechanisms.
Persist On Hard Foundational Problems
- Sean Carroll says physicists avoid foundational quantum questions because they seem unsolvable and lack clear experiments.
- He advises persistence: hard foundational problems can yield progress if researchers keep trying.