Edward Frenkel: Infinity, String Theory, Death, The Self

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_oPMcvHbAc

Math professor Edward Frenkel discusses his work on string theory & the Langlands Program while reflecting on the profound themes of infinity, death, and trauma.

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BOOKS MENTIONED:

- Love and Math (Edward Frenkel): https://amzn.to/3ZiXyI1

- From Mathematics to Philosophy (Hao Wang): https://amzn.to/3ZkIcTD

- The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien): https://amzn.to/46bZnsw

- Works of Carl Jung (Carl Jung): https://amzn.to/44UKJF7

- Works of Marie-Louise von Franz (Marie-Louise von Franz): https://amzn.to/3sWWg9D

- Bhagavad Gita: https://amzn.to/3sTfrB8

- The Undecidable (Martin Davis): https://amzn.to/48njW7u

- The Emperor's New Mind (Roger Penrose): https://amzn.to/44Zabcw

- The Trouble with Physics (Lee Smolin): https://amzn.to/3sXpmG6

- Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray (Sabine Hossenfelder): https://amzn.to/3Pna7xy

- Not Even Wrong (Peter Woit): https://amzn.to/44XJlBx

VIDEOS MENTIONED:

- Debate w/ Sabine Λ Bernardo on Superdeterminism: https://youtu.be/kJmBmopxc1k

- Podcast w/ Norman Wildberger TOE: https://youtu.be/l7LvgvunVCM

- Podcast w/ Dror Bar Natan on TOE: https://youtu.be/rJz_Badd43c

- Podcast w/ Lex Friedman and Frenkel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osh0-J3T2nY

- Podcast w/ Richard Borcherds on TOE: https://youtu.be/U3pQWkE2KqM (Part 2) and https://youtu.be/xu15ZbxxnUQ (Part 1)

- Podcast w/ Sabine Hossenfelder on TOE: https://youtu.be/walaNM7KiYA

- Podcast w/ Bernardo Kastrup on TOE: https://youtu.be/lAB21FAXCDE

- Podcast w/ Eric Weinstein on TOE: https://youtu.be/KElq_MLO1kw

- Angela Collier on String Theory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kya_LXa_y1E

- Mike Wallace's Interview of Aldous Huxley (1958): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alasBxZsb40

WEBSITES MENTIONED:

- Edward Frenkel's Official Site: https://edwardfrenkel.com

- Edward Frenkel's Soundcloud (DJ Moonshine): https://soundcloud.com/moonstein

- Twitter (Edward Frenkel): https://twitter.com/edfrenkel

- YouTube (Edward Frenkel): https://www.youtube.com/edfrenkel

- Instagram (Edward Frenkel): https://www.instagram.com/edfrenkel

- Peter Woit's Blog: https://www.math.columbia.edu/~woit/wordpress

TIMESTAMPS:

- 00:00:00 Introduction

- 00:03:40 The Langlands Program

- 00:09:23 Love and Math: An ode to mathematics

- 00:13:09 Art as a two-way street (reciprocal nature of artistic expression)

- 00:18:28 The Weil conjectures

- 00:24:53 Romantic side of math and the "Theory of Everything" as a process vs. a state

- 00:30:39 Paradoxes in math & axioms

- 00:33:57 Observer problem in mathematics

- 00:39:55 The debate on philosophy's role in science

- 00:51:44 "You can't get away from infinity."

- 01:07:41 Are computers conscious? Can they "think"? Turing's quotation

- 01:18:33 The limitations of computation and the unification of distinctions

- 01:23:29 Blurring lines between truth & beauty (algebraic-geometric interplay)

- 01:33:48 The terrifying question of self

- 01:36:07 Childhood memories and personal growth (transformative power of pain)

- 01:49:30 The struggle for excellence & reconnecting with the past

- 02:17:26 Death is love exposed most bare

- 02:19:10 Function fields in higher dimensional algebraic varieties

- 02:25:12 Superdeterminism w/ Sabine Hossenfelder Λ Bernardo Kastrup

- 02:37:08 The human aspect in scientific theories

- 02:39:00 Even atheists reason backward from God to interpretations of quantum mechanics (Richard Hamming)

- 02:43:02 The unfulfilled promise of string theory

- 03:01:33 Credit and ethics in scientific fields (Eric Weinstein)