Part 1 of 2: Quantum Physics and The End of Reality with Sabine Hossenfelder, Carlo Rovelli, and Eric Weinstein hosted by Brian Keating for the Institute for Art and Ideas (#244)

We imagine physics is objective. But quantum physics found the act of human observation changes the outcome of experiment. Many scientists assume this central role of the observer is limited to just quantum physics. But is this an error? As Heisenberg puts it, "what we observe is not nature in itself but nature exposed to our method of questioning." In all our studies of reality and nature then, the observer plays a role -- not just in quantum physics.

Should we recognize science can never access reality independent of the observer? Should we re-define science not as uncovering objective reality, but as uncovering the functions, limitations and structures of the mind of the observer themselves? And if we cannot remove the observer, might quantum physics help us to understand the observer - as Roger Penrose suggests consciousness "reeks of something quantum mechanical."

Sabine Hossenfelder is a research fellow at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, author of Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray and regular contributor to Forbes. She is known for her popular YouTube channel Science Without The Gobbledygook

Eric Weinstein is an American podcast host, managing director of Thiel Capital, doctor of mathematical physics and member of the "intellectual dark web".

Carlo Rovelli is an Italian theoretical physicist who works mainly in the field of Quantum Gravity. Carlo's popular science book Seven Briefs Lessons on Physics has been translated into 41 languages and sold over one million copies. In 2019 he was named one of the 100 most influential thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine.

Brian Keating is a groundbreaking American cosmologist who works on observations of the cosmic microwave background, leading the BICEP, POLARBEAR2 and Simons Array experiments.

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