Lex Fridman Podcast

#130 – Scott Aaronson: Computational Complexity and Consciousness

Oct 12, 2020

Scott Aaronson, a leading quantum computer scientist and professor at UT Austin, dives into the complexities of consciousness and reality. He discusses the philosophical implications of living in a simulation and how quantum mechanics intertwines with artificial intelligence. The conversation explores challenging topics, including theories of everything and the Turing test's relevance to machine consciousness. Aaronson also reflects on the nature of complexity in computational problems and its impact on technology, sparking deep questions about intelligence and existence.

01:56:57

Creator website

Episode guests

Scott Aaronson

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Episode notes

Intro

2min

Lessons Learned from Outdoor Recording and Podcast Sponsorship

2min

Innovative Sleep Solutions and Privacy Protection

3min

Reality in a Simulation

5min

The Quest for Consciousness and Unified Theories

19min

Consciousness and the Turing Test

19min

The Evolution of Chatbots and AI Intelligence

18min

Navigating Computational Complexity

31min

Reflections on Pandemic Leadership

7min

10.

Navigating Empathy Amidst Division

7min

11.

The Intersection of Love and Computational Complexity

3min

Scott Aaronson is a quantum computer scientist. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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EPISODE LINKS:
Scott’s Blog: https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/
Our previous episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX5t8EivCaM

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OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
00:00 – Introduction
07:46 – Simulation
12:38 – Theories of everything
18:18 – Consciousness
40:32 – Roger Penrose on consciousness
50:44 – Turing test
54:31 – GPT-3
1:03:02 – Universality of computation
1:09:33 – Complexity
1:15:38 – P vs NP
1:27:57 – Complexity of quantum computation
1:40:03 – Pandemic
1:53:49 – Love