Lawrence Krauss – Lux Ex Machina – Think Again Podcast #98

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Since 2008, Big Think has been sharing big ideas from creative and curious minds. The Think Again podcast takes us out of our comfort zone, surprising our guests and Jason Gots, your host, with unexpected conversation starters from Big Think’s interview archives.

Physicist Lawrence Krauss directs the Origins Project at Arizona State University, which fosters scientific research and collaborations on origins – of life, the universe, and everything. His own research focuses on the interface between elementary particle physics and cosmology, including investigations into dark matter and the origin of all mass in the universe. His latest book The Greatest Story Ever Told – So Far is a deeply entertaining and informative account of the progress of knowledge in modern physics.

In this episode:To what extent and in what sense does science represent “reality”? You don’t have to paint like Picasso to enjoy a Picasso…so why are non-scientists often reluctant to engage with complex scientific concepts? Is tribalism an essential part of human nature? 

A passionate, punchy back-and-forth with a leading physicist who is also one of our most poetic defenders and explainers of science. 

Surprise conversation starter interview clips:

Sebastian Junger on tribalism and democracy, Kevin Kelly on “cognification”, David Bodanis on Einstein’s rejection of a random universe

About Think Again – A Big Think Podcast: You’ve got 10 minutes with Einstein. What do you talk about? Black holes? Time travel? Why not gambling? The Art of War? Contemporary parenting? Some of the best conversations happen when we’re pushed outside of our comfort zones. Each week on Think Again, we surprise smart people you may have heard of with short clips from Big Think’s interview archives on every imaginable subject. These conversations could, and do, go anywhere.