#104 - Leonard Susskind

Leonard Susskind is a professor of theoretical physics at Stanford University and he’s regarded as one of the fathers of string theory.

He’s written several books including: The Black Hole War, The Cosmic Landscape, and the Theoretical Minimum series.

He also has over 100 lectures on YouTube.

The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon.

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Topics

0:26 - Being perceived as an outsider physicist

4:26 - The perils of becoming too mainstream

6:11 - Where his ideas come from

7:26 - Claudio asks - Do you think the graviton can be experimentally found?

10:11 - The origins of String Theory

15:41 - Why should there be a grand unified theory?

16:56 - Quantum mechanics and gravity

20:16 - Large unanswered questions in physics

27:56 - Holographic principle

38:26 - Simulation hypothesis

40:41 - Richard Feynman on philosophy

42:26 - Feynman and the bomb

46:26 - Improving the world by discovering what the world is

49:26 - ER and EPR - Black holes and entanglement

56:26 - Noah Hammer asks - Could quantum teleportation be used in the future as a means of intergalactic communication?

58:26 - rokkodigi asks - How do you think quantum theory will shape technology in the future?

1:01:56 - Why teach physics for the public?