Richard Dawkins on our queer universe.docx

Richard Dawkins on our queer universe.docx

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RichardDawkinsonourqueeruniverse

AboutTheSpeaker

RichardDawkins

OxfordprofessorRichardDawkinshashelpedsteerevolutionaryscienceintothe21stcentury,andhisconceptofthe"meme"contextualizedthespreadofideasintheinformationage.Inrecentyears,…Fullbioandmorelinks

AboutThisTalk

BiologistRichardDawkinsmakesacasefor"thinkingtheimprobable"bylookingathowthehumanframeofreferencelimitsourunderstandingoftheuniverse.

RichardDawkinsonour"queer"universe

Mytitle:

"Queererthanwecansuppose:

Thestrangenessofscience.""Queererthanwecansuppose"comesfromJ.B.S.Haldane,thefamousbiologist,whosaid,"Now,myownsuspicionisthattheuniverseisnotonlyqueererthanwesuppose,butqueererthanwecansuppose.Isuspectthattherearemorethingsinheavenandearththanaredreamedof,orcanbedreamedof,inanyphilosophy."RichardFeynmancomparedtheaccuracyofquantumtheories--experimentalpredictions--tospecifyingthewidthofNorthAmericatowithinonehair'sbreadthofaccuracy.Thismeansthatquantumtheoryhasgottobeinsomesensetrue.YettheassumptionsthatquantumtheoryneedstomakeinordertodeliverthosepredictionsaresomysteriousthatevenFeynmanhimselfwasmovedtoremark,"Ifyouthinkyouunderstandquantumtheory,youdon'tunderstandquantumtheory."

It'ssoqueerthatphysicistsresorttooneoranotherparadoxicalinterpretationofit.DavidDeutsch,who'stalkinghere,inTheFabricofReality,embracesthe"manyworlds"interpretationofquantumtheory,becausetheworstthatyoucansayaboutitisthatit'spreposterouslywasteful.Itpostulatesavastandrapidlygrowingnumberofuniversesexistinginparallel--mutuallyundetectableexceptthroughthenarrowportholeofquantummechanicalexperiments.Andthat'sRichardFeynman.

ThebiologistLewisWolpertbelievesthatthequeernessofmodernphysicsisjustanextremeexample.Science,asopposedtotechnology,doesviolencetocommonsense.Everytimeyoudrinkaglassofwater,hepointsout,theoddsarethatyouwillimbibeatleastonemoleculethatpassedthroughthebladderofOliverCromwell.（Laughter）It'sjustelementaryprobabilitytheory.Thenumberofmoleculesperglassfulishugelygreaterthanthenumberofglassfuls,orbladdersful,intheworld--and,ofcourse,there'snothingspecialaboutCromwellorbladders.Youhavejustbreathedinanitrogenatomthatpassedthroughtherightlungofthethirdiguanodontotheleftofthetallcycadtree.

"Queererthanwecansuppose."Whatisitthatmakesuscapableofsupposinganything,anddoesthistellusanythingaboutwhatwecansuppose?

Aretherethingsabouttheuniversethatwillbeforeverbeyondourgrasp,butnotbeyondthegraspofsomesuperiorintelligence?

Aretherethingsabouttheuniversethatare,inprinciple,ungraspablebyanymind,howeversuperior?

Thehistoryofsciencehasbeenonelongseriesofviolentbrainstorms,assuccessivegenerationshavecometotermswithincreasinglevelsofqueernessintheuniverse.We'renowsousedtotheideathattheEarthspins--ratherthantheSunmovesacrossthesky--it'shardforustorealizewhatashatteringmentalrevolutionthatmusthavebeen.Afterall,itseemsobviousthattheEarthislargeandmotionless,theSunsmallandmobile.Butit'sworthrecallingWittgenstein'sremarkonthesubject."Tellme,"heaskedafriend,"whydopeoplealwayssay,itwasnaturalformantoassumethatthesunwentroundtheearthratherthanthattheearthwasrotating?

"Hisfriendreplied,"Well,obviouslybecauseitjustlooksasthoughtheSunisgoingroundtheEarth."Wittgensteinreplied,"Well,whatwouldithavelookedlikeifithadlookedasthoughtheEarthwasrotating?

"（Laughter）

Sciencehastaughtus,againstallintuition,thatapparentlysolidthings,likecrystalsandrocks,arereallyalmostentirelycomposedofemptyspace.Andthefamiliarillustrationisthenucleusofanatomisaflyinthemiddleofasportsstadiumandthenextatomisinthenextsportsstadium.Soitwouldseemthehardest,solidest,densestrockisreallyalmostentirelyemptyspace,brokenonlybytinyparticlessowidelyspacedtheyshouldn'tcount.Why,then,dorockslookandfeelsolidandhardandimpenetrable?

AsanevolutionarybiologistI'dsaythis:

ourbrainshaveevolvedtohelpussurvivewithintheordersofmagnitudeofsizeandspeedwhichourbodiesoperateat.Weneverevolvedtonavigateintheworldofatoms.Ifwehad,ourbrainsprobablywouldperceiverocksasfullofemptyspace.Rocksfeelhardandimpenetrabletoourhandspreciselybecauseobjectslikerocksandhandscannotpenetrateeachother.It'sthereforeusefulforourbrainstoconstructnotionslike"solidity"and"impenetrability,"becausesuchnotionshelpustonavigateourbodiesthroughthemiddle-sizedworldinwhichwehavetonavigate.

Movingtotheotherendofthescale,ourancestorsneverhadtonavigatethroughthecosmosatspeedsclosetothespeedoflight.Iftheyhad,ourbrainswouldbemuchbetteratunderstandingEinstein.Iwanttogivethename"MiddleWorld"tothemedium-scaledenvironmentinwhichwe'veevolvedtheabilitytotakeact--nothingtodowithMiddleEarth.MiddleWorld.（Laughter）WeareevolveddenizensofMiddleWorld,andthatlimitswhatwearecapableofimagining.Youfinditintuitivelyeasytograspideaslike,whenarabbitmovesatthe--sortofmediumvelocityatwhichrabbitsandotherMiddleWorldobjectsmove,andhitsanotherMiddleWorldobject,likearock,itknocksitselfout.

MayIintroduceMajorGeneralAlbertStubblebineIII,commanderofmilitaryintelligencein1983.HestaredathiswallinArlington,Virginia,anddecidedtodoit.Asfrighteningastheprospectwas,hewasgoingintothenextoffice.Hestoodup,andmovedoutfrombehindhisdesk.Whatistheatommostlymadeof?

hethought.Space.Hestartedwalking.WhatamImostlymadeof?

Atoms.Hequickenedhispace,almosttoajognow.Whatisthewallmostlymadeof?

Atoms.AllIhavetodoismergethespaces.Then,GeneralStubblebinebangedhisnosehardonthewallofhisoffice.Stubblebine,whocommanded16,000soldiers,wasconfoundedbyhiscontinualfailuretowalkthroughthewall.Hehasnodoubtthatthisabilitywill,oneday,beacommontoolinthemilitaryarsenal.Whowouldscrewaroundwithanarmythatcoulddothat?

That'sfromanarticleinPlayboy,whichIwasreadingtheotherday.（Laughter）

Ihaveeveryreasontothinkit'strue;IwasreadingPlayboybecauseI,myself,hadanarticleinit.（Laughter）UnaidedhumanintuitionschooledinMiddleWorldfindsithardtobelieveGalileowhenhetellsusaheavyobjectandalightobject,airfrictionaside,wouldhitthegroundatthesameinstant.Andthat'sbecauseinMiddleWorld,airfrictionisalwaysthere.Ifwe'devolvedinavacuumwewouldexpectthemtohitthegroundsimultaneously.Ifwewerebacteria,constantlybuffetedbythermalmovementsofmolecules,itwouldbedifferent,butweMiddleWorldersaretoobigtonoticeBrownianmotion.Inthesameway,ourlivesaredominatedbygravitybutarealmostoblivioustotheforceofsurfacetension.Asmallinsectwouldreversethesepriorities.

SteveGrand--he'stheoneontheleft,DouglasAdamsisontheright--SteveGrand,inhisbook,Creation:

LifeandHowtoMakeIt,ispositivelyscathingaboutourpreoccupationwithmatteritself.Wehavethistendencytothinkthatonlysolid,materialthingsarereallythingsatall.Wavesofelectromagneticfluctuationinavacuumseemunreal.Victoriansthoughtthewaveshadtobewavesinsomematerialmedium--theether.Butwefindrealmattercomfortingonlybecausewe'veevolvedtosurviveinMiddleWorld,wherematterisausefulfiction.Awhirlpool,forSteveGrand,isathingwithjustasmuchrealityasarock.

InadesertplaininTanzania,intheshadowofthevolcanoOlDonyoLengai,there'sadunemadeofvolcanicash.Thebeautifulthingisthatitmovesbodily.It'swhat'stechnicallyknownasabarchan,andtheentiredunewalksacrossthedesertinawesterlydirectionataspeedofabout17metersperyear.Itretainsitscrescentshapeandmovesinthedirectionofthehorns.Whathappensisthatthewindblowsthesanduptheshallowslopeontheotherside,andthen,aseachsandgrainhitsthetopoftheridge,itcascadesdownontheinsideofthecrescent,andsothewholehorn-shapeddunemoves.SteveGrandpointsoutthatyouandIare,ourselves,morelikeawavethanapermanentthing.Heinvitesus,thereader,to"thinkofanexperiencefromyourchildhood--somethingyourememberclearly,somethingyoucansee,feel,maybeevensmell,asifyouwerereallythere.Afterall,youreallywerethereatthetime,weren'tyou?

Howelsewouldyourememberit?

Buthereisthebombshell:

Youweren'tthere.Notasingleatomthatisinyourbodytodaywastherewhenthateventtookplace.Matterflowsfromplacetoplaceandmomentarilycomestogethertobeyou.Whateveryouare,therefore,youarenotthestuffofwhichyouaremade.Ifthatdoesn'tmakethehairstanduponthebackofyourneck,readitagainuntilitdoes,becauseitisimportant."

So"really"isn'tawordthatweshouldusewithsimpleconfidence.Ifaneutrinohadabrain,whichitevolvedinneutrino-sizedancestors,itwouldsaythatrocksreallydoconsistofemptyspace.Wehavebrainsthatevolvedinmedium-sizedancestorswhichcouldn'twalkthroughrocks."Really,"forananimal,iswhateveritsbrainneedsittobeinordertoassistitssurvival,andbecausedifferentspeciesliveindifferentworlds,therewillbeadiscomfortingvarietyofreallys.Whatweseeoftherealworldisnotth