The Physics of Life, Episode 1: A Theoretical Path through Physics and Math

Karen and Glen in Episode 1 of the series which will explore the question, What is Life? Future episodes will cover Thomas Kuhn and paradigms, Complexity v. Simplicity, Landauer's Principle, and a general overview of the meaning of and interactions between Entropy, Energy and Information. Playlist for all episodes follows notes.

Nima Arkani Hamed video: https://youtu.be/5aAMJNVmdoY Hamed is an alpha dog in theoretical particle physics. It took courage for him to address the nature of morality and truth in relation to physics. He came to the conclusion that there is an objective Reality which is Truth with a capital T, and it is both knowable and accessible. In order to do physics, you have to believe that there is an objective reality. Hamed is on the periphery of the question of how we approach the perfect. You have to accept its pronouncement on you. You may work your whole life on a theory only to have someone else demolish it, and you will have discovered that your theory did not accord with Reality.

Paul Davies video: https://youtu.be/GCD1ZT4IgAY (27:00 or 28:00) Brian Miller video: https://youtu.be/YAXiHRPZz0s How does life begin? Paul Davies' assumption is that physics has nothing to say about the matter, because physics uses the language of matter and energy and forces, while biology uses the language of information, coding, instructions. To start working on a design problem, you need a set of design specifications. In this case, we need a non-biological definition of life. To do so we must explore the interface of Entropy, Information and Thermodynamics. All of the arguments against the theory that biology was the basis for first life are statistical. Given the improbabilities, there's just not enough time. Maxwell's demon might be a fruitful approach. Has anyone worked out a way to create a Maxwell's demon using a chemical process? Every compression algorithm needs an error checking mechanism and a key to read it. The error checking mechanism is effective only if you keep all the parts together. The Whole is greater than the Sum of the parts. In the same way, God's Word has a built in error checking device which will always keep you from error if you are familiar with the whole Word and don't dispose of some part of it or take some part of it out of context. Jordan Peterson doesn't take Scripture literally. He takes it seriously. Glen takes it very seriously. Everything has a boundary, an inside and an outside. Entropy is only observable from the outside. Physicists talk about the black box view which is the external view, how the user interacts with the system. The white box view is the internal view, the internal workings of the system contained on the inside and not connected to the outside.

PLAYLIST for the whole 6 part series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoARw9zo4EUZhxqfaqYU5yjy0-Tr8RlB4