Martin Rees Predicts the Future of Humanity and Science! (#366)

What’s written in our stars? Here to read humanity's horoscope is none other than Lord Martin Rees! 

Lord Martin Rees has played a huge role in my career and is an inspiration to me and millions of scientists around the world. There is literally nothing beyond his purview, and our conversation bore this out -- we covered everything from A to Z: artificial intelligence to zoology! Nothing was off-limits – we even shared our mutual and controversial distaste for alchemy and astrology!

Lord Rees of Ludlow, the Astronomer Royal, is the Co-founder of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk and an Emeritus Professor of Cosmology & Astrophysics at Cambridge University. He is the 38th Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. He is the author of ‘On the Future’ and 10 other books and the 60th President of the Royal Society.

Key Takeaways: 

• Intro (00:00)
• Judging a book by its cover: On The Future (01:48)
• Reading the Queen's horoscope (03:08)
• Do physicists envy mathematicians? (06:46)
• Why is Einstein so often a target of criticism? (10:21)
• The steady-state of the universe debate and cosmology's earlier days (15:56)
• Martin's prediction that the CMB could be polarized (22:02)
• Theories of Everything. Do we need them? (29:12)
• Complex vs. complicated (37:30)
• There may be some benefits to the pandemic! (56:09)
• What do you think about blockchain and Bitcoin? (57:56)
• How coins got their ridges (59:51)
• What is your ethical will? (1:16:14)
• Outro (1:26:10)

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📚 On the Future: Prospects for Humanity by Lord Martin Rees: https://amzn.eu/d/48JcB1Y 

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Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.

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