Interview
What is Real? (Lee Smolin) | AI Podcast Clips
- Scientific progress is framed as measurable by 20th-century applications improving quality of life, with a historical revolution spanning from the late 1890s to the 1940s and potentially extending into the 1970s.
- Fundamental physics since the early 1970s is not expected to generate a comparable series of triumphs or practical applications, and the current theoretical foundation is viewed as potentially temporary rather than permanent.
- Current human cognitive abilities are insufficient to fully grasp fundamental reality, with the potential for a perfect description or discovery of the real world projected only 5,000 years in the future.
- Plans include efforts to "straighten out" string theory, while acknowledging that theories may change without warning and that fundamental tools of physics may eventually prove insufficient to understand certain aspects of reality.
- The future outlook posits an open environment where a fundamental world containing inherent chance is plausible, though perfect description remains beyond current reach.