Book: Existential Physics

Author

Sabine Hossenfelder

Summary

Scientific answers to existential questions.

Takeaways

Existential questions deal with the origin and working mechanisms of the universe, and the role of humans in it. While the fundamental theories of the standard model of particle physics and the theory of general relativity have been very successful in providing explanations, many questions have no scientifically sound answer yet. In their attempt to extend our knowledge, some scientists include assumptions in their theories that are unnecessary to explain observations, conflating scientific reasoning and belief.

Quotes

“While the situation is not entirely settled, it seems that the laws of nature preserve information entirely, so all the details that make up you and the story of your grandmother’s life are immortal."

“But in which sense are they real? Unobservable universes are by definition unnecessary to describe what we observe. Hence, assuming they are real is also unnecessary. Scientific theories should not contain unnecessary assumptions, for if we allow that, we would also have to allow the assumption that a god made the universe."

“That way, we can rephrase any discussion about free will or moral responsibility without using those terms. For example, instead of questioning someone’s free will, we can debate whether jail is really the most useful intervention."