Sean Carroll

So there is a certain standard of behavior that one adopts that I'm perfectly happy to do. One can always violate the rules in strategic ways, right? For emphasis, If you want to make a point especially hard, if there's a guest that I'm interviewing and they swear a blue streak, you know, then sometimes that's going to happen. Ti Nguyen was definitely like that, for example.

So there is a certain standard of behavior that one adopts that I'm perfectly happy to do. One can always violate the rules in strategic ways, right? For emphasis, If you want to make a point especially hard, if there's a guest that I'm interviewing and they swear a blue streak, you know, then sometimes that's going to happen. Ti Nguyen was definitely like that, for example.

There have been others. I remember when I was an undergraduate and I took a class, a philosophy class, actually, and the professor had, you know— He missed the first class.

There have been others. I remember when I was an undergraduate and I took a class, a philosophy class, actually, and the professor had, you know— He missed the first class.

So because he was traveling, he was at a conference and he came back for the second class and he was talking about, you know, he was sort of getting to know us and just sort of schmoozing or whatever before launching into the substance of the course. And he was talking about being in New Orleans and he ended up in this place in New Orleans and there was no beer being served.

So because he was traveling, he was at a conference and he came back for the second class and he was talking about, you know, he was sort of getting to know us and just sort of schmoozing or whatever before launching into the substance of the course. And he was talking about being in New Orleans and he ended up in this place in New Orleans and there was no beer being served.

And he was upset about this. He was like, come on, I'm in New Orleans. Where's the fucking beer? Yeah. And years later, because I got to know him pretty well, he explained that that was entirely preplanned, that he very intentionally tries to swear in every first class meeting of every class he teaches. Why? Because if he happens to swear in week five, it does not seem like such a big deal.

And he was upset about this. He was like, come on, I'm in New Orleans. Where's the fucking beer? Yeah. And years later, because I got to know him pretty well, he explained that that was entirely preplanned, that he very intentionally tries to swear in every first class meeting of every class he teaches. Why? Because if he happens to swear in week five, it does not seem like such a big deal.

You know, he's sort of already set the stage. This is just human relations. This is just accurately gauging what you're trying to do, what the impact of how you talk and what you say is. If you want to get grandiose about it, think about the conversation we had with Derek Guy about how to dress. You can dress however you want, sure. You can talk however you want.

You know, he's sort of already set the stage. This is just human relations. This is just accurately gauging what you're trying to do, what the impact of how you talk and what you say is. If you want to get grandiose about it, think about the conversation we had with Derek Guy about how to dress. You can dress however you want, sure. You can talk however you want.

You can present yourself however you want. You're totally welcome to do that. It's a free country. But you can't be naive. You can't just say, not only do I want to dress and talk and present myself however I want, but I don't want anyone else to react badly about it, to judge me, to think less or more of me based on how I talk or how I dress or whatever. That you don't have a right to.

You can present yourself however you want. You're totally welcome to do that. It's a free country. But you can't be naive. You can't just say, not only do I want to dress and talk and present myself however I want, but I don't want anyone else to react badly about it, to judge me, to think less or more of me based on how I talk or how I dress or whatever. That you don't have a right to.

You can talk and dress however you want, but people are going to react to it one way or another. We all live in a world where there are other people judging us all the time. Maybe you don't care. That's fine. You don't have to care. But if you do care, you should be cognizant of what it is. So I just want the podcast to be as pleasant and enjoyable for as many people as possible.

You can talk and dress however you want, but people are going to react to it one way or another. We all live in a world where there are other people judging us all the time. Maybe you don't care. That's fine. You don't have to care. But if you do care, you should be cognizant of what it is. So I just want the podcast to be as pleasant and enjoyable for as many people as possible.

And I talk like I do—I talk in the podcast like I do when I'm being a physics professor, more or less. Soonest Mended says, in the recent solo podcast on time, you argue that presentism versus eternalism question is important not because one or the other being true would change the predictions of physics, but because believing one or the other might influence future avenues of research in physics.

And I talk like I do—I talk in the podcast like I do when I'm being a physics professor, more or less. Soonest Mended says, in the recent solo podcast on time, you argue that presentism versus eternalism question is important not because one or the other being true would change the predictions of physics, but because believing one or the other might influence future avenues of research in physics.

Are there examples of other such questions where choosing a particular orientation has led to a research breakthrough that would otherwise have been unlikely or impossible? I don't know of a perfect example off the top of my head, to be honest. I know exactly what you mean.

Are there examples of other such questions where choosing a particular orientation has led to a research breakthrough that would otherwise have been unlikely or impossible? I don't know of a perfect example off the top of my head, to be honest. I know exactly what you mean.

So there's various places in physics where we have multiple ways of talking about exactly the same processes or phenomena or whatever. A classic example, especially for those of you who have read volume one of The Biggest Ideas in the Universe, Space, Time, and Motion, is the difference between Lagrangian classical mechanics and Hamiltonian classical mechanics.

So there's various places in physics where we have multiple ways of talking about exactly the same processes or phenomena or whatever. A classic example, especially for those of you who have read volume one of The Biggest Ideas in the Universe, Space, Time, and Motion, is the difference between Lagrangian classical mechanics and Hamiltonian classical mechanics.