Why Does Progress Take So Long? | With David Deutsch
David Deutsch, physicist and author of The Beginning of Infinity, joins Alex Buxeda to discuss what makes a good explanation, why entropy is our friend, why belief has no place in rational thought, and why death is just a failure of engineering.
From Popper and quantum gravity to the Enlightenment and falling birth rates, Deutsch makes the case that we explained our way into civilization, and that we will always be at the beginning of infinity.
0:00 Preview
1:06 Intro
1:46 What makes a good explanation
5:52 A theory's content is what it forbids
6:34 Anything physics allows is achievable
15:00 Why confidence and belief are the wrong goals
28:35 Will we ever reach the final truth?
33:02 Death is a failure of engineering
35:46 Is "the beginning of infinity" itself provisional?
38:20 Quantum gravity needs a new concept, not new math
42:28 Is there only one game in town?
49:02 Why knowledge didn't explode sooner
54:13 What makes someone a person
59:29 Is creativity just randomness at the edge of knowledge?
1:13:04 Is the Enlightenment fit?
1:16:39 Demography: North vs South Korea
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