Why are some fundamental properties of quantum mechanics more kind of a problem than a solution? What is the origin of consciousness? Roger Penrose explains his views and why the default approach of science might be the wrong track.
shimpsblog [uk]
English blog at blog.shimps.uk
Freeman Dyson with some thoughts about climate (video footage from November 1, 2005):
Freeman Dyson: Heretical Thoughts About Science and Society
Boston University
Mar 30, 2010
WP: Freeman Dyson
Freeman Dyson on “Heretical Thoughts About Science and Society”
HERETICAL THOUGHTS ABOUT SCIENCE AND SOCIETY - An essay by Freeman Dyson 8.7.07
Celebrating 2000 Templeton Prize Laureate Freeman Dyson
Stephen Wolfram in a talk about computation and computational foundations of physics, mathematics and AI (King's College London):
Computation and the Foundations of Physics, Mathematics and AI
King's Institute for Artificial Intelligence
Oct 27, 2025
- WP: Stephen Wolfram
- WP: King's College London
- King's College London
- King’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence
- Department of Mathematics - Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences - King's College London
Intelligence and consciousness are still topics in scientific research, involving a lot of unsolved questions. Roger Penrose tries to explain some aspects with one of Gödel's incompleteness theorems and noncomputability, where the latter might be connected to the collapse of the wave function in quantum mechanics. With this connection consciousness and human identity might be an epiphenomenon of quantum physics.
Roger Penrose – Why Intelligence Is Not a Computational Process: Breakthrough Discuss 2025
Breakthrough
May 23, 2025
WP: Kurt Gödel
WP: Gödel's incompleteness theorems
WP: Computability theory
WP: Wave function collapse
Roger Penrose questions and challenges the Big Bang as origin of our universe.
Roger Penrose: The Big Bang Was Not The Beginning
Curt Jaimungal
Nov 3, 2025
Update (2026-01-10): title changed
- "My Crazy Idea That Explains the Universe"
How much reality is encoded in quantum mechanics? Is there room for unknowable things? Does there exist a kind of quantum magic? Or is our understanding of the microcosmos still incomplete? Are there fundamental limits to what we can ever know about the universe? Is there a conflict between the superposition principle from Quantum Mechanics and principle of equivalence from General Relativity?
Quantum and the unknowable universe | FULL DEBATE | Roger Penrose, Sabine Hossenfelder, Slavoj Žižek
The Institute of Art and Ideas
Apr 19, 2025
Timothy Gowers solves Question 5 of the 2025 International Mathematical Olympiad in real time. The questions can be downloaded in different langiages and are summarized on the IMO site (linked below). It is instructive (and entertaining) to follow the reasoning of an expert solving a mathematical problem. Of course, you can (and should) stop the video here and there and try to solve the problem yourself. Whenever you are stuck for a longer time, you may watch a little sneak preview. Mathematics is more of a marathon than of a sprint.
IMO2025Q5
Timothy Gowers
Jul 20, 2025
International Mathematical Olympiad
International Mathematical Olympiad 2025
Problems
Timothy Gowers
WP: Timothy Gowers
Brian Cox in an interview with Cleo Abram about black holes - this is a long version of another video (Journey Into A Black Hole).
What Bothers Physicists About Black Holes (Interview with Brian Cox)
Cleo Abram
May 3, 2025
