Big Think Sean Carroll: Are we living in a clockwork universe?
Oct 25, 2025
In this fascinating discussion, Sean Carroll, a physicist and philosopher at Johns Hopkins University, tackles the concept of a clockwork universe. He delves into how classical mechanics presents a deterministic view of reality, exploring Laplace's thought experiment that suggests perfect knowledge could predict the future. Carroll highlights the tension between this determinism and our perception of free will. He also introduces the idea of 'compatibilism,' arguing that treating humans as decision-makers remains useful, despite our limited understanding of the universe.
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Power Of Simplified Models
- Physicists simplify messy reality into idealized models to make problems tractable.
- These simplified models often predict real phenomena surprisingly well.
The Spherical Cow Example
- Sean Carroll recalls the 'spherical cow' joke about physicists simplifying complex problems.
- The joke illustrates how physicists replace real specifics with tractable idealizations to make calculations feasible.
Determinism In Classical Mechanics
- Classical mechanics predicts motion precisely given positions and velocities.
- In an idealized frictionless system, the laws let you run time forwards or backwards exactly.
