Lee Smolin
Lee Smolin
Lee Smolinis an American theoretical physicist, a faculty member at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, an adjunct professor of physics at the University of Waterloo and a member of the graduate faculty of the philosophy department at the University of Toronto...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPhysicist
CountryUnited States of America
gravity predict quantum says string theory written
Every string theory that's been written down says the speed of light is universal. But other ideas about quantum gravity predict the speed of light has actually increased.
theory therefore trivial
If string theory is a mistake, it's not a trivial mistake. It's a deep mistake and therefore kind of worthy.
constant expansion means positive
We know that the expansion of our universe is accelerating, which means a number called the cosmological constant must be positive.
add certainly either quantum side
There certainly is a tension between the relativity of simultaneity and non-locality in quantum theory, but it's not strong enough to add up to a falsification of either side by itself.
fastest moves science
Science moves fastest when there's plenty of debate and controversy.
determines future human
How we think about the future and the past determines everything about how we think about our situation as human beings.
beings creating holds human hypothesis nature truth whose
When we human beings hypothesize that a law of nature holds - even temporarily or situationally - we are creating an idea, but we are also making a hypothesis about how nature behaves, whose truth or usefulness has nothing to do with what we know or believe.
black collapse ends general holes infinite inside matter relativity time
General relativity predicts that time ends inside black holes because the gravitational collapse squeezes matter to infinite density.
possibility organize universe
One possibility is: God is nothing but the power of the universe to organize itself.
believe might possibility
Some string theorists prefer to believe that string theory is too arcane to be understood by human beings, rather than consider the possibility that it might just be wrong.
sports bridges earthquakes
On the way, I shared the backseat of Feyerabend's little sports car with the inflatable raft he kept there in case an 8-point earthquake came while he was on the Bay Bridge.
believe people viewpoints
Science is not about what's true or what might be true, science is about what people with originally diverse viewpoints can be forced to believe by the weight of public evidence.
universe
There is nothing outside the universe
knows
We know no more than we did in 1975 - and that's not good